Movements and organizations from Asia have made a declaration rejecting the “Green Economy” being proposed by global institutions and now the subject of debate in the Rio+20 process, for several reasons including:
*The Green Economy is premised on a highly inequitable and undemocratic structure where a few control a vast portion of resources – natural, economic, financial; it upholds profit generation as the main motivation for economic undertakings; is premised on continued integration of national and local economies of South countries with global markets, resulting in the net outflow of resources and wealth from the South to the North and only benefitting local elites; it does not recognize and account for discrimination and disparities based on gender, class, race and ethnicity, nor does it recognize social reproduction and activities outside of the public sphere such as the invisible work of women thus reinforcing injustices arising from these.
*The Green Economy will not green agriculture, feed the hungry, generate decent jobs or eliminate poverty. Instead it will distort entitlements in favor of those who can pay, cut subsidies in areas crucial to the poor and lead to the disintegration of local, diverse food systems.
*The Green Economy does not recognize the principle that land, water, forests, atmosphere, eco-systems and territories should not be subjected to private ownership and control, nor does it recognize the rights of all to fair and sustainable access to and use of the commons. In fact, the Green Economy is being defined on quite the opposite principle – to treat nature and the functions of nature as capital. The proposal to treat nature and the capacities and functions of nature as capital is clearly intended to subject them to private ownership, and to package them as commodities for trading in global markets and for profit generation.
But humans do not own nature; rather, we are part of nature.
The Asian movements call for the re-establishment of the balance with our Earth System and preserve the vital cycles of nature. We call for an immediate stop to the commodification, privatization and financialization of nature, and all its components and functions (see http://www.focusweb.org/content/asian-movements%E2%80%99-statement-green-economy-fight-our-future-no-price-nature).
