Second Committee Approves Text Recognizing New International Economic Order for Sustainable Economic Development

Members Also Pass Draft Resolutions on Protecting Climate, Promoting Ecotourism

The General Assembly would reaffirm that international trade was an engine for development and sustained economic growth, benefiting all countries at all stages of development, according to the terms of one of four draft resolutions approved today by the Second Committee (Economic and Financial).

By other terms of that text, titled “Towards a New International Economic Order”, the Assembly would reaffirm the need to continue working towards a new international economic order based on the principles of equity, sovereign equality, interdependence, common interest, cooperation and solidarity among all States.  The Committee approved the text by a recorded vote of 120 in favour to 47 against, and 3 abstentions (Republic of Korea, Turkey and Ukraine).

The representative of Italy, speaking on behalf of the European Union, said the Bloc’s Member States voted against the draft.  She believed resolutions 3301 and 3302 from 1974 did “not at all reflect the current international order”.

Along the same line, Australia’s representative said the text lacked balance and did not recognize the different impacts of the global financial crisis on different countries.

Also making a general statement, the representative of Cuba said disparities between developed and developing countries continued to increase in a world governed by a system established at a time when most developing countries were not States.  Further, the current order had become “more chaotic, unjust and unpredictable”.

Approving a draft resolution titled “Protection of global climate for present and future generations of humankind” without a vote, the Committee decided to include in the provisional agenda of its seventieth session, under the item entitled “Sustainable development”, the sub-item entitled “Protection of global climate for present and future generations of humankind”.

Further, the text would decide to request the Secretary-General to make provisions for the sessions of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention and its subsidiary bodies in his proposed programme budget for the biennium 2016-2017.

The representative of Peru said his delegation looked forward to the twentieth Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Lima.

The United States representative, echoing other statements, said she looked forward to working with partners to address the issue in preparation for an ambitious result in 2015.

The Committee also approved, without a vote, two other draft resolutions entitled “International cooperation to reduce the impact of the El Niño phenomenon”, and “Promotion of sustainable tourism, including ecotourism, for poverty eradication and environment protection”.

Earlier today, the Committee heard the introduction of a draft resolution entitled “Specific actions related to the particular needs and problems of landlocked developing countries:  follow-up to the second United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries” by the representative of Bolivia on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China.

The Committee also postponed action planned on a draft titled “Towards the sustainable development of the Caribbean Sea for present and future generations”.

Also speaking today were representatives of Japan, United States, Indonesia, and Morocco.

The Committee will meet again at a date and time to be announced.

Background

The Second Committee (Economic and Financial) met this afternoon to take action on draft resolutions and to hear the introduction of another text.

Introduction of Drafts

The representative of Bolivia, on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, introduced a draft on groups of countries in special situations titled “Specific actions related to the particular needs and problems of landlocked developing countries:  follow-up to the second United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries” (document A/C.2/69/L.43).

Action on Drafts

The Committee postponed action planned on a draft titled “Towards the sustainable development of the Caribbean Sea for present and future generations” (document A/C.2/69/L.44).

Under the agenda item on sustainable development, the Committee then took up a draft titled “International cooperation to reduce the impact of the El Niño phenomenon” (document A/C.2/69/L.46) and the representative of Barbados made a brief statement as facilitator.

Acting without a vote, the Committee approved draft resolution A/C.2/69/L.46, withdrawing the text previously contained in document A/C.2/69/L.17.

The Committee then took up a draft titled “Protection of global climate for present and future generations of humankind” (document A/C.2/69/L.45), with the representative of Peru making a brief statement in which he looked forward to the twentieth Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Lima and made some corrections to the text.

The Committee then approved the draft, as orally corrected.

The representative of Japan said he joined consensus hoping that the work delegations had done would send a positive message to the upcoming climate conference in Lima.  In that context, he expressed reservations about operative paragraph four, which had been included in previous documents as a preambular paragraph.  He wondered how the paragraph would be operationalized and said he was concerned that it could send the wrong message to the Conference.

The representative of the United States looked forward to Lima, stressing the need to build on progress made in Durban, Doha and Warsaw.  She viewed operative paragraph four as having no effect on the mandate for negotiations agreed in Durban and she looked forward to working with partners to address the issue in preparation for an ambitious result in 2015.

In light of the adoption, the text previously contained in document A/C.2/69/L.9 was withdrawn.

Turning to globalization and interdependence, the Committee took up a draft titled “Towards a New International Economic Order” (document A/C.2/69/L.22) upon which a recorded vote was requested.

The Committee then proceeded to a recorded vote, approving the text with 120 in favour, 47 against, and 3 abstentions (Republic of Korea, Turkey and Ukraine).

The representative of the United States spoke in explanation of vote, saying the text, which was marking its fortieth anniversary, again fell short, failing to bring the international economic development debate into the twenty-first century.  The challenges of today were vastly different from those of the mid-1970s.  Trade and foreign investment had grown to create an increasingly interdependent global market, while emerging markets were now driving international growth, and hundreds of millions of people were experiencing rising incomes.  The economic system had to become more inclusive and promote sustainable economic development and growth.  Shared objectives like the Millennium Development Goals and the sustainable development goals were essential to that process but the current draft remained “dated, divisive and counterproductive” and she had voted against it.

The representative of Italy spoke on behalf of the European Union in explanation of vote, saying she and the Bloc’s member States had voted against the draft.  She believed resolutions 3301 and 3302 from 1974 did “not at all reflect the current international order”.  The text did not provide a useful framework for addressing the challenges of today’s globalized world.   She was concerned that reverting to concepts from the mid-1970s could send “an inaccurate message” about the Organization’s ability to contribute to solving the problems of today’s world and could marginalize its role in global economic governance.  Unlike all other macroeconomic resolutions during the session, the text continued to deal with substantive issues that were usually more constructively and effectively dealt with in other resolutions.

The representative of Indonesia took the floor to register a vote in favour of the draft.

The representative of Australia said he had previously abstained in votes on the draft but voted against it today because of the text’s lack of balance and the lack of adequate dialogue to address concerns.  The draft presented a generalized view of developed countries’ monetary policies and their impacts on global trade agreements and it did not recognize the different impacts of the global financial crisis on different countries.

Making a general statement, the representative of Cuba said disparities between developed and developing countries continued to increase in a world governed by a system that was established at a time when most developing countries were not even States.  That perpetuated inequality and it remained important to work towards a different international economic order, implementing the Declaration and the Programme of Action related to its establishment.  The situation now was “more chaotic, unjust and unpredictable” and action on trade, finance, technology transfer, industrialization, and the setting-up of a charter of economic rights and duties could make a big contribution to the global economy.  Developed countries continued to avoid addressing the issue, though, arguing that the issue was obsolete.  It was not the issue that was obsolete but the prevailing international economic order.

The Committee then took up a draft text titled “Promotion of sustainable tourism, including ecotourism, for poverty eradication and environment protection” (document A/C.2/69/L.37) under eradication of poverty and other development issues.

Acting without a vote, the Committee approved draft resolution A/C.2/69/L.37 and the representative of Morocco made a brief statement after approval of the draft.