Future Perfect

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] 44

A sustainable, healthy, inclusive future –

the ground rules must be different

Sharan Burrow, General Secretary, International Trade Union Confederation

y any indicator, the planet, our economies and most

importantly, our communities are simply not sustainable

if we continue with business as usual. Twentieth century

models of capitalism are not serving and will not serve twenty-

first century societies. Inequality is the legacy of decades of

greed from individuals, corporations and nations mindlessly

competing for wealth. The people and the planet have both been

victims of this competition. Global Gross Domestic Product

(GDP) reached US$65 trillion in 2011, but while it has been

increasing over time, so have environmental degradation and

social inequalities. The share of global wealth for the bottom

40 per cent of the population remains less than five per cent.

The now much talked-about global imbalances have always been

obvious to the 1.4 billion people living on less than two dollars a day.

However, the extent of inequality as a substantial risk is now recognized

and is indeed growing both within and between nations, including in

the developed and emerging economies. The United Nation’s UNDP

Human Development Report 2011 shows that despite efforts that have

raised living standards, the projections are for a disturb-

ing reversal of those trends in the future, if environmental

deterioration and social inequalities continue to intensify.

A substantial proportion of people living in poverty are

in ‘middle income’ countries including India, China and

Nigeria. As countries emerge from poverty, the domi-

nant development models show increasing national and

regional inequalities within them. These gaping inequali-

ties will persist while wealth and power continue to remain

in the hands of a small number of people.

This risk has also been substantiated by the OECD

study ‘Divided We Stand: Why Inequality Keeps Rising’

(December 2011), which revealed that across the OECD

the average income of the richest 10 per cent is about nine

times that of the poorest 10 per cent. The income gap has

risen even in traditionally more equal countries such as

Denmark, Germany and Sweden, from a ratio of five to

one in the 1980s to six to one today. The gap is ten to one

in Italy, Japan, Korea and the United Kingdom, while it is

eople

social

inclusion

green

jobs

education

Greening the construction sector offers significant potential globally

Workers from across the globe support issues related to climate

change and sustainability, as in this march for the COP17 meeting in

Durban, South Africa, November 2011