A High-Level Collegium Calls For New Global Governance

By Catherine Saez for Intellectual Property Watch

A collegium of scientists, philosophers and former heads of state launched an appeal yesterday in Geneva for world governance they called “Global Solidarity, Global Responsibility.”

During a press conference, collegium representatives presenting the appeal [pdf] described weakened international organisations unable to reach agreements or “imposing essential global regulations.” They presented the concept of shared sovereignty, and called for redefined territorial jurisdictions to introduce a “justice system with global reach,” and to strengthen the principle of international security, including “a duty toward future generations and the biosphere.”

Among the members of the collegium who endorsed the appeal are former French Prime Minister Michel Rocard, former Swiss President Ruth Dreifuss, former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former French Ambassador to the UN Stéphane Heissel (whose book was said to have inspired civil protests in several countries such as Spain and Greece), former Mauritanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ould Abdallah Ahmedou, former US Ambassdor William Vanden Heuvel, and former Slovenian President Milan Kučan.

The France-based International Collegium, also called the International Ethical, Scientific and Political Collegium, was founded in 2002.