To UN and G20 Leaders

The world is confronted by crisis; its dimension is global, its character is inexperienced. This crisis is the result of obsoleteness of social-Darwinist rules of politics and global economic order. They have very high ecosocial costs and they are shortsighted.

Today we can choose one out of three different ways and different responses to present challenges:

1. The first way leads finally to global military confrontation and war for access to deficit resources and clean environment.
2. The second way would be the "soft" continuation of social-Darwinist, “zero growth” social relations, by global Orwellian totalitarian order.
3. The third way means the “three pillars” sustainable development of the world society. For this end we have to integrate social development with economic development and environment protection, and base the policy on the world society common interest axiology principle. This third way means ecohumanistic transformation as partnership-based co-operation for the common good of all people (rich and poor, highly developed societies and underdeveloped countries), cooperation which protects natural environment, supported by science and high technology, including information culture.

The essence of the third way’s transformation includes creation of the new sustainable development economy, with possibility to account complex costs and effects - with social and environmental components. It would allow stimulating creative (cognitive and innovative) activity, directed on common good/common interest, guided by ecosocial justice.
In our opinion only the third way - oriented towards sustainable development of the world society - is reasonable. As the only realistic way of reversing present trends and avoiding the global catastrophe.

We noticed with hope some new proposals of European politicians, presenting new ideas which could lead us to sustainable development era. We support Angela Merkel protest against continuation of “zero growth” policy; also Nicolas Sarkozy’s call for creation of entrepreneurial capitalism is very important. It was later amplified by Angela Merkel call for sustainable economic activity and - for this end - creation of the United Nations Economic Council. These recommendations are complementary with Gordon Brown’s proposal to create global early warning system.

We call for a creative, productive, ecosocially useful capitalism - i.e. ecosocial market economy. For this end we need world comprehensive information system for sustainable development policy and economy. Thus, global warning system building – as Gordon Brown proposed - ought to be only the first stage of creation of information bases for sustainable development policy and economy. We need quite new economy – with complex accounting of costs and benefits, that includes social and environmental aspects in its components. Such new economy combines access to wealth with ecosocial usefulness of economic activity, especially cognitive and innovative one, directed on common good.

Future political and economic actions of the United Nations and whole UN system, must be supported by the World Sustainable Development Strategy Center and the United Nations Information Center.

Global early warnings and other relevant information, that are necessary for implementation of sustainable development economy, ought to be collected by and elaborated in the UN Information Center or under its guidance. On the basis of these warnings and its forecast, the Strategy Center would prepare the recommendations for UN Economic Council and other partners responsible for implementation of development strategy, including all member states and international financial institutions.

To support our proposals, we would like to remind some important statements from the past:

• “information is the key to (sustainability) transformation. When information flows are changed, any system will behave differently” - Meadows et. al., Limits to Growth, The 30 -Year Update, 2004.
• “in the new world of infinite information resources, one country's creation of wealth based on information can be shared by all. The value of information increases, the more it is shared”- Yoshio Utsumi, Secretary General of International Telecommunication Union, World Summit on the Information Society, Tunis 2005.

Unbiased and reliable information is the key issue and precondition to triumph over global crisis. Since - without creation of new, sustainable development economy that is conditioned upon world sustainable development information system including global warning possibility - we are condemned to a global catastrophe.

Without an effective information system, the introduction and implementation of any anti-crisis proposal will not be achieved. These include implementation or introduction of:

• Millennium Development Goals,
• "Three pillars" of sustainable development of the world society,
• New patterns of production and consumption,
• Fair globalization,
• Sustained economic growth.

Two important world anti-crisis events will be held in the 2009 year: G20 World Summit (London, April 2nd) and UN General Assembly. We strongly recommend inclusion of the following proposals into agenda of both events:

1. Creation of the UN Economic Council, together with the World Sustainable Development Strategy Center, including United Nations Information Center.
   
2. Introducing THE WORLD INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT POLICY AND ECONOMY, including GLOBAL EARLY WARNING, as the new UN Program.

It is impossible to overthrow speculative capitalism - the main source of current global crisis - without accepting these proposals.

Contact: Leslaw Michnowski, kte@psl.org.pl, www.psl.org.pl/kte