A New International Settlement

Perhaps the most important thing the financial crisis has taught us is that no country is able to solve all of its problems on its own. As we face the greatest challenge to the world economy in modern times, the looming catastrophe of climate change and the continued emergency of global poverty, co-operation between nations has never been more important.

The G20 agreements reached constitute a global plan for recovery on an unprecedented scale. Commitments have been made to strengthening our global financial institutions, promoting global trade and mitigating the impact on the world’s poorest countries. We should not simply try to get back to the way things were before. Global co-operation is essential to creating a new world economy – designed to provide for all our long term interests, rather than short term gains for a few.
The Co-operative Party will campaign for:

• An International Transaction (Robin Hood) Tax – To help ensure our future economic stability, and ensure that banks pay the full cost of their bailout, we will campaign for the global introduction of taxes on capital transfers in the international stock, credit derivative and currency markets.... find out more about a fairer global economic system
• Protecting the future of our planet – We will continue to campaign for a comprehensive climate deal at the Mexico Summit, that will radically cut global emissions and provide the support needed by poor countries that are already struggling to cope with a changing climate... find out more about climate change
• Tackling Global Poverty – Co-operatives put people at the centre of development, giving communities the power to bring themselves out of poverty. We will campaign for the creation of a co-operative agency for international development, which will build capacity for co-operatives across the globe. >>  find out more about international development
• Fair Trade – through assisting fair trade producers to own an increasing proportion of their supply chain, we can allow primary producers to capture more profits and allow some of the world’s poorest farmers to collectively own sophisticated international businesses... find out more about Fairtrade
• Trade Justice – we will work with governments to replace free trade with just and equitable trade. We will seek to ensure that fair trade rules and development concerns are central to a global trade deal... find out more about a fairer global trade system