PM launches global governance report
The Prime Minister presented 'Governance for Growth' at the G20 summit
Download: Prime Minister’s foreword to Governance for growth (word, 39kb) Download: Governance for growth (pdf, 249kb)
The Prime Minister David Cameron today set out proposals to strengthen the G20, Financial Stability Board (FSB) and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and make global governance more focused on delivering global growth.
The proposals in the report Governance for Growth provide a practical way forward to improve governance, ensuring we have the right tools to deliver global growth.
They provide a practical way forward to improve governance, ensuring we have the right tools to deliver global growth.
The report highlights three areas where we can make a difference now.
- First, that we must uphold the spirit of informality of the G20. The G20 represents 85 per cent of global GDP but is not a formal institution. No other group has this mix of flexibility, economic weight and diversity. No other group can come together to reach political agreement on the most difficult economic issues;
- Second, we must prioritise the areas where improvements to governance will matter most. That means taking immediate steps to strengthen the Financial Stability Board and reinforcing the World Trade Organisation’s role at the heart of the multilateral trading system;
- Third, we need common principles to guide the development of the standards that govern our global economy, from tax transparency to anti-corruption. And we need common objectives that encourage our institutions to work together on complex issues.
The reports recommendations include:
- Formalising the Troika of past, current and future Presidencies; supporting it with a small secretariat staffed by officials from G20 countries and based in and chaired by the Presidency; which will help pursue the G20’s agenda consistently through time;
- That the G20 Leaders should establish the FSB as an independent legal entity so that it has the identity, authority and capability required to play a fully effective coordination role at the international level;
- Strengthening the WTO’s role as guardian of the world trade system, including enhancing its surveillance to guard against protectionism, refining its dispute settlement mechanisms; updating outdated trade rules; and pushing for innovative approaches to trade liberalisation.
Prime Minister David Cameron said:
We know that in the modern, globalised economy, we can only tackle this crisis by working together, diverse in our experience, and united in our action.
We know too that our citizens have one simple question for all of us: how are we going to clear away the obstacles to global growth, so that they can look to the future once again with hope, confident of ever rising standards of living and a better life for their children and their grandchildren?
The answer is not to be found in elaborate new institutions and global architecture. We have the machinery that we need already. No - what we need above all is the most precious and intangible commodity - political will. Political will to act together, and to build the consensus we need to squarely confront the problems before us so that we can return our economies to health and vigour. Political will to keep tackling poor regulation, barriers to growth and global disparities. That is what our citizens are entitled to expect of us. And that is what we must deliver.
Now, more than ever, how nation-states fare in a globalised economy rests on having governance that works. We cannot solve governance issues overnight. But taken together, the proposals in this report provide a pragmatic way forward for improving governance. This is an ongoing endeavour, but getting governance right can bring the reward of global growth that benefits all of us.
Notes to Editors:
- President Sarkozy asked Prime Minister Cameron to report on global governance for the Cannes Summit. The Prime Minister agreed to focus on practical proposals for improving the G20, the institutions that it delivers through and the governance of wider global issues.