By Eric Ojo
Few pressing issues aggregate as much consensus in national, regional and global discourse today as the need for a new development model for social and climate justice.
Stakeholders from every segment of the society including government, inter-government organizations, development partners, local and international civil society groups, media, women groups, development experts and environmentalists, as well as concerned individuals seems to unanimously agree on this for obvious reasons.
Within the global context, substantial efforts and work have been done by different interest groups and thinkers to help the shape a much-needed sustainable investment and proactive corporate action on sustainability in general and on ecological issues in particular.
Moreover, these efforts and interventions has started to come in sharper focus and have consequently intensified the clarion call for the creation of a new eco-social contract to drive emerging climate governance regime.
The current thinking on a new eco-social contract is intrinsically linked to amplifying and consolidating the vision of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and this goes beyond the social contract associated with Western welfare capitalism as well as the nuances of the different types of social contracts that have been adopted and practiced across the world, over the years.
According to the 2022 Flagship Report by the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), which was launched on October this year, “the basic idea of a new eco-social contract is to foster a range of deliberative processes at local, national, regional and global levels, in different sectors and with different sets of stakeholders, to arrive at a shared vision, concrete objectives and commitments and accountability mechanisms”.
The report which is entitled, “Crises of Inequality: Shifting Power for a New Eco-Social Contract”, acknowledged that a new development model is needed that promotes social, economic and environmental justice, reduces inequality and addresses economic, social, environmental and political crisis drivers.
“We propose a model that is grounded in an integrated approach consisting of three pillars that are mutually reinforcing (see figure O.5): alternative economic approaches that centre environmental and social justice and rebalance state–market–society–nature relations, transformative social policies underpinned by a fair fiscal contract, and reimagined multilateralism and strengthened solidarities”, the report said.
The UNRISD Report also observed that implementing the vision of new eco-social contract will require an integrated approach consisting of three pillars that are mutually reinforcing: alternative economic approaches that centre environmental and social justice and rebalance relations between the state, society, markets and nature; transformative social policies financed by a fair fiscal contract; and strengthened multilateralism and solidarities.
“Considering the linked economic, social, ecological and political crises faced worldwide, organizations and movements are calling for the creation of a new social contract among people, between citizens and governments, and between people and nature. The United Nations has a strong voice in this process, based on its charter and its comprehensive human rights framework; its different organizations working for peace, security, economic stability and sustainable development; and the emerging climate governance regime”, the report added.
It further explained that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development represents a high-level global consensus and commitment of UN member states on the key objectives that a new eco-social contract needs to fulfil.
“This report posits that the social contract needs a fundamental overhaul if we aim to achieve sustainable development for all; it must become an eco-social contract, incorporating the ecological dimension and creating a new contract for the planet and future generations.
“A new eco-social contract should be created through deliberative processes at local, national, regional and global levels, in different sectors and with different sets of stakeholders. To arrive at a shared, equitable vision and transform it into tangible results, we need normative, regulatory and policy changes and concrete objectives, commitments and accountability mechanisms tailored to local contexts”, the report stressed.
It also harped on the need to reverse the exploitation of people and planet and growing inequalities that erode the social contract, adding that there should be counter-narrative to the belief that free markets and the private sector on their own can deliver sustainable growth and development.
“Different actors, including governments, trade unions and international organizations, are proposing a Green New Deal, which will require international cooperation and a rethinking of multilateral institutions to ensure the rules work to promote social, economic and environmental justice, while guaranteeing it is also a good deal for the global South.
“Civil society and climate justice organizations in particular often propose just transition projects and plans that envision fundamentally different futures, are rooted in solidarity economy thinking and tackle different dimensions of existing injustices and inequalities intersectionally.
“Business actors are increasingly active in seeking ways to incorporate environmental, social and governance concerns into their operations, and new approaches to corporate sustainability reporting as proposed by UNRISD are a step toward measuring progress toward sustainable development more effectively while providing incentives to apply more transformative approaches”, the report further stated.
It equally recommended that the new eco-social contract needs to be grounded in a broad consensus between different stakeholders, embarking on a democratic, inclusive and participatory decision-making process at multiple levels, and feeding evidence-based policy proposals into decision-making forums.
The report stressed that the basic idea of a new eco-social contract is to foster a range of deliberative processes at local, national, regional and global levels, in different sectors and with different sets of stakeholders, to arrive at a shared vision, concrete objectives and commitments and accountability mechanisms.
“For a new eco-social contract to be sustainable, there has to be a broad societal and global consensus regarding the questions of what the common public goods are (for example, keeping global warming under 1.5°C, providing decent work for all, and maintaining global peace and security in line with the UN Charter), how to arrive there and how to finance them. Achieving such a consensus might not be a smooth process, nor a quick fix, but it should be a democratic, inclusive and transparent process.
“Bargaining for a new eco-social contract also requires being explicit about normative foundations and values. We need to rethink the current principles and values that guide our societies and economies and that underpin the policies and institutions needed to overcome urgent development challenges.
“Based on the evidence and analyses presented in this report, we argue that a new eco-social contract should be instrumental in reconfiguring a range of relationships that have become sharply imbalanced—those between state and citizens, between capital and labour, between the global North and the global South, and between humans and the natural environment”, it added.
This, according to the report, should be based on rebalancing hegemonic gender roles and relations rooted in patriarchy, remedying historical injustices and strengthening solidarity at community, national and global levels.
“New eco-social contracts can be guided by a vision that aims to make social contracts more inclusive, just and sustainable by applying seven principles: human rights for all; progressive fiscal contracts; transformed economies and societies; a contract for nature; historical injustices addressed; gender justice; and solidarity”, it further recommended.
Speaking on the essence and urgency of taking these crucial steps, the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres said: “The time has come to replace the broken social contract and to create a new one geared to greater inclusion and sustainability”.
Experts say the 21st century eco-social contract can be fostered through a raft of changes to policies and institutions so that they are democratic, inclusive and promote gender and environmental justice, coupled with alternative economies and transformative social policies.
In addition, it has become increasingly important for the international community to come together and learn from the diversity of communitarian visions and country experiences in all parts of the world, as we gravitate towards a new eco-social contract
Meanwhile, there are strong indications that the number of sustainability-minded investors all over the world, are keenly interested in and committed to sustaining this momentum in order to initiate and galvanize more robust corporate action on sustainability in general and on climate change in particular.