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The challenges and opportunities of liberal democracies in promoting international value systems
(2024)
In 1948, the United Nations proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a guideline for the protection of human rights. Not legally binding, the declaration represents an ideal that must be promoted by those who are committed to it. Among other amendments adopted since 1948, in 1998 the General Assembly passed a declaration seeking to strengthen the responsibility and right to protect human rights. "Stressing that all members of the international community shall fulfill, jointly and separately, their solemn obligation to promote and encourage respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all" (UN General Assembly, 1998,) this declaration is one of the central starting points of this paper. The Universal human rights formed the basis for many subsequent international treaties and agreements, one of the most recent being the 2030 Agenda with the SDGs. The legal situation of these agreements differs greatly in terms of their binding nature and enforceability. These issues will be examined in more detail in the following parts of this publication series. However, it should be noted here that successful implementation of the written goals requires voluntary debate and implementation. In today's multicultural, international context, some countries have significantly higher financial as well as social capital to fulfill these responsibilities. Based on the assumption that many of the existing liberal democracies fulfill these criteria of higher capacities, which will be discussed again in the course of the data analysis, this paper attempts to answer the question of what special responsibilities but also what opportunities are offered in this particular position.
To begin with, the current data situation will be examined in more detail. The focus here is on the international comparison of various reference values that are relevant to the issue at hand. First, we will take a brief look at the Human Rights Index (HRI), as processed by Our World in Data, what characteristics it has in international comparison and what questions and challenges can be derived from it. We will then take a look at the 2023 Sustainable Development Report (SDR). Here, again, we will try to recognize certain patterns in the international comparison. In a second step, we will link the progress of the individual countries with the respective income level, as already shown in the SDR. In addition, we include the Democracy Index, published by The Enonomist, in our data analysis. In the final step, we use all the data to build an overall picture that allows us to see the progress of global development in our area of interest and the associated challenges. In the following step, the results of this data analysis will be combined with further research findings and the question of the responsibility of liberal democracies in an international context. The challenges but also opportunities and possible benefits of promoting human rights and SDGs will be examined in more detail. Before concluding, we will try to generalize our findings to paint a picture of the inherent resilience of human rights and SDGs.
Over forty years ago, physicist and deep ecologist Capra indicated: "Ecosystems sustain themselves in a dynamic balance based on cycles and fluctuations, which are nonlinear processes. Linear enterprises, such as indefinite economic and technological growth will necessarily interfere with the natural balance and, sooner or later, will cause severe damage. Ecological awareness, then, will arise only when we combine our rational knowledge with an intuition for the nonlinear nature of our environment. Such intuitive wisdom is characteristic of traditional, non-literate cultures, [...] in which life was organized around a highly refined awareness of environment." Since then, natural ecosystems are being pushed beyond their limits with human societies confronting unprecedented challenges like climate change, species extinctions and pollution. Various approaches like ecological restoration, conservation, renewable energies and car sequestration have been deployed to tackle the global ecological crisis. Yet, a crucial element remains largely overlooked: integrating local and traditional ecological knowledge as well as indigenous perspectives with modern western science to foster environmentally sustainable solutions. This student research paper explores how the concept of traditional ecological knowledge is defined in science, law and policy literatures and what contribution place-based communities such as the artisanal fishery of Chorrillos can serve for improving cooperative environmental and natural resources management. The method applied aims to evaluate existing literature, synthesizing ideas, and critically analyzing the status quo. Subsequently, the paper will provide recommendations for integrating ecological traditional knowledge in legal frameworks and practice through sound policy aimed at sustainable development.
A common answer to the financial challenges of green transformation and the shortcomings of the current taxation system is the “double dividend approach”. Environmental taxes should either feed the public purse in order to remove other distorting taxes, or directly contribute to financing green transformation. Germany adopted the former approach. However, this article argues, by using the example of Germany, that “good taxes” in terms of public finance should be neutral in terms of environmental protection and vice versa. Neutral taxation in terms of environmental impacts can be best achieved by applying the “Henry George principle”. Additionally, neutral taxation in terms of public finance is best achieved if the revenues from environmental taxes are redistributed to the citizens as an ecological basic income. Thus, distortive effects of environmental charges in terms of distribution and political decision-making might be removed. However, such a financial framework could be introduced step by step, starting with a tax shift.