World Social Forum London International Model United Nations 21St Session | 2020

World Social Forum London International Model United Nations 21st Session | 2020

London International World Social Forum Model United Nations 2020 orld

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION LETTER 4

Introduction to the Committee 9

TOPIC A: Disarm Finance and Achieve Tax Justice 11

Introduction 12

Definitions 14

Timeline of Events 15

Discussion of the Problem 17

Block Positions: 26

Conclusion: 27

Questions a Resolution should answer : 28

Further Reading 29

Bibliography 30

TOPIC B: Migration and International Mobility 33

Introduction 34

Definitions 35

Timeline of Events 36

Discussion of the problem: 37

Block Positions: 42

London International World Social Forum Model United Nations 2020 orld Conclusion 46

Questions a Resolution should answer: 46

Bibliography 49

London International World Social Forum Model United Nations 2020 orld

INTRODUCTION LETTER

Dear Delegates, The Chairing Team welcomes you to the World Social Forum at LIMUN 2020! We, Rigel, Monika, Michael and Annika are looking forward to working together with you closely to ensure that everyone will have the best LIMUN experience possible.

The World Social Forum is an annual meeting of civil organizations and can be considered the central forum for the global civil society. World Social Forum defines itself as "an opened space – plural, diverse, non- governmental and non-partisan – that stimulates the decentralized debate […] among movements and organizations engaged in concrete actions towards a more solidarity, democratic and fair world”. It can be viewed as a rival event to the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland and takes place at the same time in January to promote alternative answers to world economic problems in opposition to the WEF.

Embracing the non-formal spirit of the World Social Forum, we are going to adopt an interactive committee structure which will diverge slightly from

London International World Social Forum Model United Nations 2020 orld the standard MUN procedure. The process is described in detail in the study guide, please go through it carefully and familiarize yourself with the structure as well as the topics. We recommend for you to research further using the recommended readings and additional resources to be prepared for the debate to your best ability. Preparation will ensure that we all have an engaging, inspiring and rewarding experience!

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions leading up to the conference. We are looking forward to working with you and wish you best of luck in your preparations!

Michael, Monika, Rigel and Annika

London International World Social Forum Model United Nations 2020 orld Director – Annika Stechenmesser

Hello everyone! My name is Annika and I am honoured to welcome you to this committee as your director. Chairing the World Social Forum will be a unique opportunity for me, and I am very excited to embark on this journey with you as delegates and my wonderful assistant chairs of course! I am 25 years old and from Germany, however I have also lived in the UK for three years. I studied maths for my undergraduate and postgrad degrees and recently started my PhD in Climate Science, where I now use mathematical methods to answer questions concerning climate change and the economy and society. I have been a delegate at LIMUN for the past two years and had an absolutely amazing experience!

As a chair, I now want to give back to the LIMUN community and can’t wait to meet you all! I’m looking forward to a respectful but thought-provoking debate!

All the best,

Annika

London International World Social Forum Model United Nations 2020 orld

Assistant Director – Rigel R. Gomez Hello! I’m Rigel and I am excited to welcome you to LIMUN 2020 as one of your assistant directors. I have chaired in several MUNs around Europe and Asia over the past few years. I studied Chemical Engineering and Business Administration and am one of the first government certified Naturopathic practitioners in the Philippines. While I do R&D on the side with one of my start-ups, I also host and direct some radio programs. I also chaired LIMUN last year and it was great way to celebrate my birthday. I love to try out new food and drinks, as well as other fun and interesting experiences. I also love random reading and videogaming when I have free time. I can’t wait to meet all of you this coming LIMUN and I look forward to an exciting and competitive debate.

Assistant Director - Michael Bornholdt Hello everyone, my name is Michael and looking forward meeting all of you in London! I grew up in the north of Germany and have and have studied Physics and applied Maths at the University of Hamburg, Imperial College London and now at the Technical University of Munich. I enjoy organizing conferences for student organizations, doing sports and I am also a big card game nerd! I know you will thoroughly enjoy LIMUN as I have attended past conferences as a delegate and know that this years’ secretariat is doing an awesome job – see you there!

Assistant Director – Monika Patriarchea

London International World Social Forum Model United Nations 2020 orld Hello! My name is Monika and I will be one of the Assistant Directors of this committee! I am originally from Greece and currently studying at King’s College London as an Erasmus Student from SciencesPo Paris. I’ve been doing MUN for a while so as you can guess I am a big MUN nerd. I am really looking forward to LIMUN and to meeting each and every one of you! I am sure we’ll have the best committee in and out of the sessions! See you very soon!

London International World Social Forum Model United Nations 2020 orld Introduction to the Committee “Another world is possible”, under this motto thousands of activists assemble each year at the World Social Forum. The aim of this large-scale international meeting of civil society is to find creative and alternative solutions to the problems of our time, covering a topic range from social equality to non-capitalistic economy approaches to environmental concerns and human right disputes. Other than a formal debate, the World Social Forum (WSF) is meant to encourage thinking and acting outside the box. Participants share their opinion and develop ideas in a series of workshops, conferences, artistic performances, protests and many other creative formats.

The first World Social Forum was held in Porto Alegre, Brazil in January

2001. In an Interview1 with the InMotion Magazine Oded Grajew, one of the WSF founders, explained how the idea was born. A businessman himself, he felt strongly about the social responsibilities that companies have. After unsuccessfully trying to change the agenda of the World Economic Forum in order to incorporate more social aspects, he decided to found a counter movement which grew to become the WSF. In the first year 60.000 people from 120 countries and 200 organisations participated.

In this formative year, the WSF also drew up the World Social Forum

Charter of Principles2 which created a framework for the continued success of the event. The Charter clearly outlines the core values which drive the WSF and its participants: pluralism, democracy, socialism and international collaboration. The UN acknowledges the World Social Forum as an important player in international cooperation and recognizes its

1 https://inmotionmagazine.com/global/ogwsf_int.html 2 https://fsmm2018.org/world-social-forum-charter-principles/?lang=en

London International World Social Forum Model United Nations 2020 orld special capacity for building links between civil society and political decision makers3. A UNESCO delegation participates in the WSF to strengthen the ties to the UN.

Since 2001 the WSF experienced a political activation. While in the first years the discussions were mostly defensive and criticising the globalisation development4, the WSF has grown considerably and led to several achievements such as the creation of the Internet Social Forum5 and countless proposals ranging from reforming the UN to solving external debt, water, the fight against poverty.

3 https://wayback.archive-it.org/10611/20161101094010/http://portal.unesco.org/shs/en/ev.php- URL_ID=7360&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html 4 https://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/174/30722.html 5 Katsiaficas, George. "The World Social Forum and the Internet Social Forum". Sri Lanka Guardian. Sri Lanka Guardian. Retrieved 3 April 2016.

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TOPIC A: Disarm Finance and Achieve Tax Justice

London International World Social Forum Model United Nations 2020 orld Introduction Taxes are arguably the most important source of government revenue because they combine three critical functions: the generation of government revenue for the realization of rights, achieving equality and tackling discrimination and strengthening governance and accountability. Higher and more stable government revenues result in increased sustainable investment in public services, infrastructure and other developmental needs and improve the competitiveness of economies over the long term. Therefore, tax is a critical tool for both tackling inequality and realizing human rights.

However, some countries struggle to collect sufficient tax revenues. Domestic resource mobilization (i.e. the generation of savings from domestic resources and their allocation to economically and socially productive investments) can be hampered by inadequate global tax standards, race-to-the-bottom tax competition or the lack of financial transparency. For example, developing countries often do not adequately benefit from the extraction of their natural resources in parts due to lack of transparency, regulation and fair and effective taxation.

Regressive fiscal and tax policies being pursued in countries from the global North and South pose a serious threat to the economic and social rights of already disadvantaged groups. In terms of individual income and wealth, a regressive tax imposes a greater burden on the less wealthy. Such basic injustice can fuel deeper economic, gender, and political inequalities, and erode trust in government institutions.

Thus, tax policy is public policy and cannot be left to the unaccountable discretion of governments. The goal of the WSF is to use tax laws, policies and practices to end structural discrimination rather than to entrench inequalities. It wants to work with governments to implement tax policy to

London International World Social Forum Model United Nations 2020 orld the highest standards of transparency, public participation, and meaningful accountability in line with human rights principles.

London International World Social Forum Model United Nations 2020 orld

Definitions Gender-responsive budgeting: Gender-responsive budgeting ensures gender-equitable distribution of resources. It involves analysing government budgets for their effect on genders and the norms and roles associated with them. It also involves transforming these budgets to ensure that gender equality commitments are realized. (https://policy-practice.oxfam.org.uk/publications/a-guide- to-gender-responsive-budgeting-620429)

Race-to-the-bottom: The race to the bottom describes deregulation of the business environment or reduction in tax rates in order to attract economic activity in their country/region. C.W. (27 November 2013). "Racing to the bottom". The Economist. Retrieved 15 March 2016

Regressive fiscal policies: Tax levied at a rate that decreases as its base increases. "Regressive" describes a distribution effect on income or expenditure, referring to the way the rate progresses from high to low, so that the average tax rate exceeds the marginal tax rate. (Britannica Concise Encyclopaedia: )

Tax: Following the OECD classification, the term “taxes” is confined to compulsory, unrequited payments to general government. Taxes are unrequited in the sense that benefits provided by government to taxpayers are not normally in proportion to their payments. (https://www.oecd.org/daf/mai/pdf/eg2/eg2963e.pdf)

Tax evasion and Tax avoidance

London International World Social Forum Model United Nations 2020 orld Tax avoidance is the legitimate minimisation of taxes, using methods included in the tax code.

Tax haven: While there is no formal definition of a tax haven, we understand a tax haven as a place which provides facilities that enable people or entities escape (and frequently undermine) the laws, rules and regulations of other jurisdictions elsewhere, using secrecy as a prime tool. Those rules include tax – but also criminal laws, disclosure rules (transparency,) financial regulation, inheritance rules, and more. (https://www.taxjustice.net/faq/tax-havens/)

Tax justice: Tax justice has many different definitions but was first defined by Adam Smith in 1776 as a system in which “the subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities.”

Tax shifting: Passing the tax burden form one economic agent to another.

Timeline of Events

2004 - Creation of the UN Tax committee In its resolution 2004/69, ECOSOC decided to rename the Ad Hoc Group of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters the Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters with a mandate to keep under review and update as necessary the UN Model Double Taxation Convention between Developed and Developing Countries and the Manual for the Negotiation of Bilateral Tax Treaties between Developed and

London International World Social Forum Model United Nations 2020 orld Developing Countries. (https://www.un.org/esa/ffd/tax-committee/about- committee-tax-experts.html)

2008 - Financial crisis The financial crisis of 2007 and 2008 was a severe worldwide economic crisis considered by many to have been the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

It began in 2007 with mortgage crisis in the United States and then developed into an international banking crisis with, most notably, the collapse of the Lehman Brothers bank. The European debt crisis, a crisis in the banking system of the European countries using the euro, followed shortly after.

2013 –2016 - Tax haven scandals The most recent and partly ongoing tax haven scandals include the Offshore leaks of 2013, the LuxLeaks of 2014, the Swiss Leaks of 2015 and - most notably - the Panama Papers of 2016. All include some kind of forthcoming of illegal purposes through offshore business entities or other methods. The Panama Papers for example, contain 11.5 million leaked documents which detail financial and attorney–client information of wealthy individuals showing illegal tax operations.

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Discussion of the Problem

Tax and human rights Tax systems are important fiscal tools for directing the processes of economic growth and are used to redistribute wealth and encourage socially acceptable behaviour by re-pricing certain goods and services (e.g. excises on cigarettes and alcohol). Mobilising public domestic resources through tax revenue is becoming increasingly difficult in a context marked by extreme tax competition to attract corporate investments, austerity measures and illicit financial flows. Tax abuses, tax evasion and the weight of debt payments from developing to developed countries reduces revenue available to national governments for development and fulfilment of human rights, including women’s rights. A recent study conducted by Eurodad6 found that developing countries are losing twice the amount of money they earn because of issues like tax evasion, profits taken out by foreign investors and interest repayments on debt.

6 https://eurodad.org/files/pdf/5492c1109c4c6.pdf

London International World Social Forum Model United Nations 2020 orld Responses to the financial crisis in 2008 highlight the catastrophic and inequitable impacts of austerity measures, including those of fiscal policy aiming to lower public expenditure, on the poorest and most vulnerable. Cuts in vital social protection sectors such as health care, education, unemployment insurance, pensions, care systems have undermined the lives of people and signify a regression and neglect in the fulfilment of human rights.

Governments could establish robust mechanisms for taxing the corporate sector and reforming the financial structure through progressive redistributive measures. For example, incorporating financial transaction taxes which, according to estimates, could raise as much as $650 billion and at the same time regulate markets that tend to have a destabilising trading practice. Taxing the rich 1%, though crucial to raise revenues, still only addresses the consequences of inequality - one may argue - not the root causes that enabled concentration of wealth in hands of the few to occur in the first place.

In summary, strengthening the role of human rights frameworks in fiscal policy decision-making is key. Human right instruments and mechanisms should be the basis for ethical and accountability frameworks, challenging the current narrow focus on efficiency and growth that has only taken us to the dismantling of social protection floors with dire consequences for human rights.

Tax & Gender Equality Tax systems are not gender neutral. Explicit tax gender biases arise from specific laws or regulations that explicitly treat men and women differently. Implicit biases are indirect effects that the tax law might have on the wellbeing of people of a specific gender.

London International World Social Forum Model United Nations 2020 orld In fact, many tax systems hinge on certain concepts and inequitable assumptions that are themselves gendered (e.g. male breadwinners). These assumptions tend to put women at a disadvantage reinforcing stereotypes about women’s income being secondary to that of the male and does not recognize nor help to distribute unpaid care work which women take on disproportionally often. Decrease in government revenues often leads to cuts in social expenditure in key areas such as health, education, public jobs, care work, with disproportionate impact on women who often shoulder a greater unpaid care burden. Current trends in tax reform indicate a big shift away from taxing income to taxing consumption, through value-added taxes, which is significant given gendered consumption patterns – i.e. women take care of a larger proportion of household expenditure and thus the extent to which the value-added tax (VAT) is applied to basic consumption goods such as food affects women disproportionately. Policy makers should carefully consider the set of goods and services that should be domestically zero-rated or exempted.

Poorly designed fiscal policies undermine progress towards gender equality. But policy makers are yet to make the clear connection, even with increasing concerns that tax systems are biased against women, and that contemporary tax reforms may increase the incidence of taxation on the poorest women while failing to generate enough revenue to fund the programmes needed to improve these women’s lives.

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Tax & Climate Action The global climate crisis is one of the most pressing topics in world politics and one of the biggest challenges' humanity is facing. Experts agree that to achieve the goals of the Paris agreement (“holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre- industrial levels”) it is necessary that global emissions peak by the year 2020 at latest. This requires a radical global decarbonization process to reduce emissions. Carbon tax is a core policy for reducing and eventually eliminating the use of fossil fuels. It describes the process of taking a fee for burning carbon-based fuels (gas, oil, coal). Studies have shown that pricing CO2 would not only set a strong incentive to lower emissions but also generate the necessary revenues governments need to invest in sustainable infrastructure which will lead to a substantial and long-lasting increase of public welfare. However, the implementation of a carbon tax has multiple challenges.

1. Carbon taxing and social equity

London International World Social Forum Model United Nations 2020 orld Carbon taxation can have a profound impact on people’s everyday life and touches areas of basic human and societal needs such as access to electricity, transportation and space heating. If comparing high-income households to low- and middle-income households, the latter spend a proportionally higher share of their income on basic necessities. In 2014 for example, the wealthiest 20% of U.S. household spent 2.7% of their after-tax income while the percentage for the bottom 20% was four

times as high (10.8%)7. Without tax-shifting or dividends a carbon tax would have disproportionate impacts on lower-income families. Consequences of such policy making can for example be observed in France where the Yellow-Vest movement was initiated due to rising fuel prices in October 2018. The escalation of the demonstrations led to injuries and fatalities. A similar situation could be observed in Ecuador in 2019 were the public reacted with riots to austerity measures that included the cancellation of fuel subsidies. This illustrates that implementing carbon taxation as a social policy is crucial for national security and public wellbeing.

2. Carbon taxing and international trade Carbon taxing is conducted on a national level and therefore presents a national solution to a global problem. On the free market, international differences in carbon control could cause two issues: carbon leakage and competitiveness disadvantages. Carbon leakage describes the process of business transferring production to other countries with laxer emission constraints to avoid the costs of carbon taxation. This would not only lead to governments missing out on revenues expected from carbon taxation but also create a new type of carbon havens and potentially lead to an overall increase in emissions due to increased transportation. This issue stresses the

7 https://www.carbontax.org/ensuring-equity/

London International World Social Forum Model United Nations 2020 orld need for international cooperation on the issue of carbon taxation. However, if in an energy-intensive sector comply with the stricter national carbon taxation policies they might have a competitiveness disadvantage on the global market which could substantially damage national economies. A possible tool to combat this issue are border carbon adjustments, which are a key part of the “European Green Deal” the recently elected new EU commission president is working on. Border carbon adjustments describe the process of imposing a fee on any product imported from a country without a carbon pricing plan. The price of the imported goods could then be controlled in a way that ensures competitiveness of domestic products. However, designing such an adjustment tool poses serious challenges: The design would need to be technical feasible, the necessary data would have to be collected and available, the possible implied exclusion of developing countries from international trade would have to be avoided and compatibility within the World Trade Organisation legal framework would have to be achieved. So far there is no feasible suggestion for carbon border adjustments.

3. Alternatives to Carbon taxing Alternative ways of CO2 pricing are so called cap-and-trade systems. In a cap-and-trade-system one would set a maximum level of pollution (the cap) and distribute emission permits among businesses. Companies would need a permit to cover all the emissions they produce which could be obtained either through allocation or through auctions. Alternatively, they could buy permits from other companies. Due to the constraint of the cap, the permit price would fluctuate with supply and demand. Ideally, such a system would have the same impact on emissions as a carbon tax. However, there is a lot of criticism concerning the cap-and- trade approach, including concerns about implementation, transparency and security.

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Summary map of existing, emerging and potential regional, national and subnational carbon pricing initiatives (ETS and tax)

Tax justice in the Word Social Forum

London International World Social Forum Model United Nations 2020 orld Tax justice has been a central topic at the World Social Forum in many years. One of the main goals is to inhibit tax dodging by multinationals and wealthy individuals, to replace race-to-the-bottom tax competition by multilateral tax cooperation and to make governments raise revenue through redistributive and progressive taxation. This can be done by having transparent, country by country tax reporting of all multinational companies, automating tax information exchange between jurisdictions and by ending the existence of tax havens. Additionally, sectors such as the finance sector should be heavily regulated through for example a financial transaction tax.

Taxing the rich 1% is another mean of tax equality, though crucial to raise revenues, still only addresses the consequences of inequality - one may argue - not the root causes that enabled concentration of wealth in hands of the few to occur in the first place. A strategy to reduce inequality would be a shift from indirect taxes to direct taxes which would serve as a more progressive and equitable system of taxation. Many in the WSF also call for greater international tax cooperation, something that could be achieved by upgrading the UN Tax Committee so that governments can coordinate national taxation regimes to ensure corporate tax rates deal with trade mispricing and other tactics used by multinational corporations to avoid paying taxes.

Listed below are years in which WSF declarations concerning tax were published. For this committee, these WSF declarations can serve as examples for potential committee resolutions. Please be aware that the declarations listed here do not compose a full list of WSF declarations on this topic.

WSF 2013:

London International World Social Forum Model United Nations 2020 orld In 2013 the World Social Forum held in Tunis adopted a declaration titled “Tax Justice for Social Justice” in which the WSF committed itself to a continued strong advocacy to influence policy-makers to strive for tax justice and to further push for a global social movement to end tax dodging. Furthermore, the Global Alliance on Tax Justice was founded which remains one of the strongest networks for global tax justice until today. (http://www.world- psi.org/sites/default/files/documents/research/declaration_on_tax_justice _at_the_wsf_in_tunis-4.pdf)

WSF 2015: Declaration “Tax justice to end inequality” (https://eurodad.org/files/pdf/551bebd39bcc7.pdf)

WSF 2016: Declaration “Disarm Finance and Achieve Tax Justice”. (https://www.globaltaxjustice.org/en/blog/disarm-finance-achieve-taxjustice-world-social-forum-2016-declaration)

Some of these issues have been acknowledged and addressed by the G20 which in response requested the OECD to find solutions to the under- taxation of TNEs in an increasingly digitalised economy.

The OECD tax reform In October of 2019, the OECD Secretariat published its proposed ‘unified approach’ which should reform international tax rules to address tax challenges posed by digitalisation of the world. The proposal aims to ensure that highly profitable large transnational enterprises (TNEs) pay tax in the country in which they generate profits from significant activities.

Although tasked with the most dramatic change to century-old international tax rules, the OECD proposal has been criticised for only tinkering at the

London International World Social Forum Model United Nations 2020 orld margins. According to the TJN, the biggest winners of the reform will be developed economies (such as US, UK, Germany, France) and large developing economies (like China and India) whereas small economies, particularly the small developing economies where the TNEs locate their production, will lose out. Since the proposal is limited to ‘consumer-facing’ businesses with some carve-outs yet to be decided, pure ‘business to business’ (B2B) transactions and extractive industries are fully excluded.

On the bright side, the Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation (ICRICT) appreciates the intention to stem the ‘race to the bottom’ due to tax competition by providing a floor with a global minimum corporate tax.

Overall, the WSF calls for a greater tax transparency to inform discussion of such reforms. Currently publicly available data on TNEs’ country-by- country reporting fall short of what is needed by countries to be able to assess the likely impacts of the proposal.

Block Positions: The different positions and opinions in the WSF may not be as clearly cut as in other committees due to the high diversity in NGOs and countries.

For countries, however, there will be a clearer divide between those who have less restrictive tax policies regarding large companies and those who feel like they are the direct victims of tax haven regions. It is a much-debated question in the WSF what reforms of international tax alliances would have the largest improvement and since convincing the international community of all methods described above (minimal tax boundaries, consumer facing tax, financial transaction taxes, etc.) will be highly unlikely delegates will need to concentrate on a core package.

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Furthermore, the NGOs within the WSF have different priorities when it comes to the what most daunting challenges the world is facing. Some may prefer to concentrate on climate justice and climate sustainability while other will focus on gender equality or fighting financial inequality. While solving all these issues at once would be optimal it may be impossible to do so in the limited time that the committee has.

Conclusion: On the last pages we have displayed why the World Social Forum is a diverse and interesting space for those who want to make the world a better place. It is arguably the most bottom-up body of the international space and thus plays a special role in the development of our world order. We have also seen how taxation is a crucial part of governance and that - if done incorrectly – leads to stark inequalities. Apart from the apparent financial disadvantage, bad taxation policies can create inequalities in human right, gender equality, climate action and injustice between countries themselves.

Some slow progress has been done to inhibit and resolve these tax inequalities, but a comprehensive reform still seems far away. Only a clear, strong and united WSF can have an impact on the international community change the status quo.

London International World Social Forum Model United Nations 2020 orld Questions a Resolution should answer :

 How can progressive tax policies help tackle inequality within countries?  What are fair international tax rules that make it impossible for multinational companies to avoid taxes?  How can a CO2 pricing system be implemented that support net-zero- emissions by 2050 while at the same time promoting equality and avoiding carbon leakages?

Embracing the inspiring and creative style of the world social forum, we will adapt the workings of this committee while still operating under the usual LIMUN 2020 ROPs. In the following section we will explain the workings of this committee in more detail, please don’t hesitate to send questions to your chairing team at [email protected] if you experience any unclarities.

1. Participants of the LIMUN WSF 2020 The committee will be composed of delegates representing countries as well as of delegates representing Non-Governmental-Organisations (NGOs). Countries and NGOs will be entirely equal in this committee and also have equal voting rights. This mixed allocation reflects the diversity of stakeholders at the WSF.

2. Aim of the committee The aim of the committee is to pass a draft resolution which we will in our context refer to as a WSF declaration, as the WSF is not an official UN body. WSF declarations do not necessarily have to be written in draft resolution format, the acceptance of more creative formats will be up to discretion of the chairs. It is possible to submit both a declaration in draft resolution format and a creative piece, the chairs encourage this.

London International World Social Forum Model United Nations 2020 orld The introduction of working papers and draft resolutions can happen as a creative process (for example a presentation, video etc, interactive session etc.). Inappropriate or offensive presentations will be ruled dilatory.

The declarations should propose concrete solutions to the questions posed in this section. As the World Social Forum itself is not political, specific measures proposed in the declaration should be addressed to specific UN bodies or organisations that can ensure their implementation.

Further Reading

Background reading on tax havens: https://projekte.sueddeutsche.de/paradisepapers/wirtschaft/tax-havens- fuel-inequality-e168550/ Background reading on taxation and gender equality: https://www.oecd.org/dac/gender-development/44896295.pdf Background reading on the global climate crises and the need for emission reduction: https://mission2020.global/climate-turning-point/ Background reading on the new green deal: https://www.gp.org/green_new_deal Background reading on the lima declaration on tax justice and human rights: https://www.cesr.org/endorse-lima-declaration-tax-justice-and-human- rights

London International World Social Forum Model United Nations 2020 orld Bibliography

• OECD. (2009, December 14) TAXATION AND AID FOR DOMESTIC RESOURCE MOBILIZATION (D.R.M.) AID: HELPING OR HARMING DOMESTIC RESOURCE MOBILIZATION IN AFRICA , https://www.oecd.org/site/devaeo10/44272298.pdf • Allan, B. B. ( 2019, October 23) The E.U.’s looking at a ‘carbon border tax.’ What’s a carbon border tax? The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/10/23/eus- looking-carbon-border-tax-whats-carbon-border-tax/ • Paget-Clarke, N. (2004, September 1) “Another World Is Possible” In Motion Magazine https://inmotionmagazine.com/global/ogwsf_int.html • Soulard, F. (2017, September 19) World Social Forum Charter of Principles FSMM2018 https://fsmm2018.org/world-social-forum- charter-principles/?lang=en • C.W. (2013, November 27). "Racing to the bottom". The Economist. Retrieved 15 March 2016 • Wallerstein, I. ( 2007, February 1) The Wrold Social Forum: From Defense to Offense Agence Global https://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/174/30 722.html • Katsiaficas, G. (2016, April 3) "The World Social Forum and the Internet Social Forum". Sri Lanka Guardian. http://www.slguardian.org/2015/04/the-world-social-forum-and- the-internet-social-forum/ Sri Lanka Guardian. • Stephenson, M.A. (2018, February 28) A guide to Gender- Responsive Budgeting OXFAM https://policy- practice.oxfam.org.uk/publications/a-guide-to-gender- responsive-budgeting-620429

London International World Social Forum Model United Nations 2020 orld • Expert group no. 3 (1996) Negotiating group on the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) Definition of Taxes (Note by the Chairman) OECD https://www.oecd.org/daf/mai/pdf/eg2/eg2963e.pdf • Tax Justice Network (2020) Tax Havens TJN https://www.taxjustice.net/faq/tax-havens/ • Rahmstorf, S. Levermann, A. (2017) Why global emissions must peak by 2020 Real Climate http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2017/06/why- global-emissions-must-peak-by-2020/ • Eurodad (2020) Toolkit for the media, The State of Finance for Developing Countries, 2014 Eurodad (https://eurodad.org/files/pdf/5492c1109c4c6.pdf) • United Nations (2011) UN Model Double Taxation Convention between Developed and Developing Countries and the Manual for the Negotiation of Bilateral Tax Treaties between Developed and Developing Countries. UN https://www.un.org/esa/ffd/tax- committee/about-committee-tax-experts.html • Postdam institute for climate impact research (2015) How finance ministers could fall in love with carbon pricing PIK https://www.pik-potsdam.de/news/press-releases/how-finance- ministers-could-fall-in-love-with-carbon-pricing • Rocchi, P., Serrano, M., Roca, J., Arto, I., (2018) Border Carbon Adjustments based on Avoided Emissions: Addressing the Challenge of Its Design EU Science Hub (https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/publication/border-carbon- adjustments-based-avoided-emissions-addressing-challenge-its- design) • World Social Forum (WSF) (2013) Tax Justice for Social Justice: World Social Forum 2013 Declaration WSF 2013

London International World Social Forum Model United Nations 2020 orld http://www.world- psi.org/sites/default/files/documents/research/declaration_on_ta x_justice_at_the_wsf_in_tunis-4.pdf • WSF (2015) Declaration “Tax justice to end inequality” (https://eurodad.org/files/pdf/551bebd39bcc7.pdf) • WSF (2016) Declaration “Disarm Finance and Achieve Tax Justice”. (https://www.globaltaxjustice.org/en/blog/disarm- finance-achieve-tax-justice-world-social-forum-2016-declaration)

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TOPIC B: Migration and International Mobility

London International World Social Forum Model United Nations 2020 orld Introduction Millions of people travel around the world every month for a wide variety of reasons. Demand for transport is expected to increase dramatically, with annual air passenger traffic expected to grow by 50% and global freight volume by 75%8 However, the opportunity to travel, trade and explore is not open to all. For example, more than 1 billion people in low-income countries do not have access to an all-weather road.

These examples illustrate the dual role that transport could play in the future: It is both an opportunity and a threat. Sustainable and accessible transport could improve the lives of billions of people, foster international relations and innovation, and help mitigate climate change. However, transport can also be a root cause of gross inequalities, pollution and accidents. The international community must address the fairness, efficiency, safety and environmental impact of mobility. To this end, the Wold Bank has founded the "Sum4All" (Sustainable Mobility for All) project, which addresses these issues in an international framework.

People from all backgrounds migrate for work, studies or to join family and countries compete for best-qualified employees from all around the world. In 2019 the number of people residing in a country different to their birth country reached 272 million9. Large-scale movements of refugees affect all countries of the world and require international collaboration on a number of questions. How can labour rights for migrants be strengthened? How can migration data be collected more efficiently to enable evidence- based policies? How can migration benefit individuals as well as communities and whole countries?

8 https://sum4all.org/the-global-mobility-system-today 9 https://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/migration/index.html

London International World Social Forum Model United Nations 2020 orld In 2018 the World Social Forum on Migrations took place in Mexico to discuss these questions. The organizer summarized the efforts in one sentence: “We believe that we are at the threshold of a new stage of migration. Where before the question centred around perceptions of migratory phenomena and expanding recognition of human mobility based on a relatively open multilateral environment, now we must come up with new conceptual models for global stability and a form of globalization that responds to the needs of a radically interdependent world”10.

Definitions Migrant: The UN Migration Agency (IOM) defines a migrant as any person who is moving or has moved across an international border or within a State away from his/her habitual place of residence, regardless of (1) the person’s legal status; (2) whether the movement is voluntary or involuntary; (3) what the causes for the movement are; or (4) what the length of the stay is.

Internal Migration: moving within a state, country or continent. External Migration: moving to a different state, country or continent. Emigration: leaving one country to move to another Immigration: moving to a new country Seasonal Migration: moving with each season or in response to labour or climate conditions. Mobility: the ability to move or be moved freely and easily. In this committee, the term will refer to the transport of people and goods.

10 https://fsmm2018.org/8th-world-social-forum-migrations-mexico-2018/?lang=en

London International World Social Forum Model United Nations 2020 orld Timeline of Events 2015 – Adoption of the 17 Sustainability Goals by the UN member states The 2030 agenda for sustainable development for the first time recognizes the contribution of migration to sustainable development.

2015 – COP 21 Paris The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon calls for a coherent vision for transport.

2016 – Climate Action Summit (Washington DC) Concept of Sustainable Mobility for All (Sum4All) accepted.

2017 – UN Resolution on International Migration and Development Adopted by the General Assembly, stresses the need to deepen the interaction between Governments and civil society in order to find responses to the challenges and the opportunities posed by international migration.11

2017 – ASEAN Consensus on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers signed in Manila First step for establishing a framework for cooperation on migrant workers in the region and contribute to the ASEAN Community building process.

2019 – Launch of the Global Roadmap to Action (Washington DC) Launch of Sum4All’s global policy tool which allow the user to explore over 180 policies to achieve sustainable movement in their country.

11 https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N16/461/16/PDF/N1646116.pdf?OpenElement

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Discussion of the problem: Universal Access In rural areas, where the vast majority of low-income people live, limited connectivity is a critical constraint. Based on the current Rural Accessibility Index, it is estimated that about 450 million people in Africa - more than 70 per cent of the total rural population - are not connected due to the lack of infrastructure and transport systems. In urban areas, where an additional two billion people are expected to live in cities by 2045, population growth far outstrips that of public transport, limiting access to economic and social opportunities. Urban transport systems and services need to be modernised - and in some cases planned from scratch - in an

London International World Social Forum Model United Nations 2020 orld integrated manner to ensure balanced access for urban residents, regardless of income, travel mode, gender or disability. Urban mobility should promote and enable cities to flourish, without creating over- dependence on any particular mode of travel.

Women’s mobility, it is of concern in both rural and urban areas. Although there is no official database on public-transit-related crimes, there is evidence that security issues constrain women’s mobility. The lack of personal security, or the inability to use public transport without the fear of being victimized—whether on public transport, walking to or from a transit facility or stop, or waiting at a bus, transit stop, or station platform—can substantially decrease the attractiveness and thus the use of public transit.

Access to transportation is part of Sustainable Development Goals 4, 8, 10, 13 and 16 which identify transport (and mobility) as a key factor for access to education and employment and recognize its importance regarding climate change.

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Source: http://www.slocat.net/sdgs-transport

Efficiency Efficiency needs to be taken into account for all policy decisions concerning mobility as it seeks to ensure that transport demand is met effectively and, and at the least possible cost. Since efficiency cuts across multiple aspects, we understand efficiency here as the optimization of resources—energy, technology, space, institutions, and regulations—to generate an efficient transport system or network. There are no internationally agreed global targets concerning transport efficiency which suggests that the international community should invest in better understanding and measuring this objective—a critical aspect for the future of mobility.

New technology will help improve the efficiency of transport systems. Yet, a recent global survey on digital readiness shows that the transport sector is less ready to embrace digitalization than other sectors. Positive global

London International World Social Forum Model United Nations 2020 orld trends include improvement in logistics performance and fuel economy during the last decade, both of which contribute to reducing the aggregate cost of goods as well as fossil fuel energy consumption. But institutional and regulatory barriers—especially in land-locked developing countries and their transit neighbours—continue to prevent reduction in transport costs.

Safety 1. Safety of Transport Improving the safety of mobility across all modes of transport by avoiding fatalities, injuries, and crashes from transport mishaps needs to be one of the first priorities concerning mobility. Internationally agreed global targets for road and air transport safety are for example developed by the World Health Organisation. Road transport claims the bulk of transport related fatalities worldwide: it accounts for 97 percent of the deaths and 93 percent of the costs. On roads, the fatality risk for motorcyclists is 20 times higher than for car occupants, followed by cycling and walking, with 7 to 9 times higher risk than car travel, respectively. Bus occupants are 10 times safer than car occupants. Rail and air are the safest transport modes. Globally, 40 to 50 percent of traffic fatalities occur in urban areas. Evidence suggests that the highest fatality rates occur in cities in the developing world—the proportion of fatalities in urban areas is high and rising in low- and middle- income countries. The WSF has stresses the work on unsafe mobility in any of these transport modes can pose significant public health risks, and can lead to social and economic losses.

2. Safety in Migration Processes The term of “safety” is not well defined for migration processes. Safety is up to subjective interpretation and might differ across for example, different sectors of employment. Due to this lack of

London International World Social Forum Model United Nations 2020 orld definition it is difficult to create a clear set of rights migrants can claim to achieve their personal safety and the well-being of their families.

Green Mobility Green mobility aims to address the threat transportation and mobility poses on climate change through mitigation and adaptation with the goal to reduce both air and noise pollution. It is related to SDG13 of the 2030 Agenda which aims to take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts, and is anchored in the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Its targets will be designed to achieve a net-zero-emission economy by 2050, and improve other dimensions such as air quality and climate resilience by 2030, as set forth in the SDG targets.

In 2012, transport was the largest energy consuming sector in 40 percent of countries worldwide, and in the remaining countries it was the second- largest energy consuming sector. In one projection, energy related CO2 emissions are expected to grow by 40 percent between 2013 and 2040. The sector already contributes 23 percent of global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions and 18 percent of all men-made emissions in the global economy.

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Source: International Energy Association. IEA and IPCC (2014) Summary for Policymakers

Moving Forward: The Vision If the international community wants to keep its commitments to the SDGs and the Paris agreement, we are striving for a future where mobility is sustainable, cities and remote communities in rural areas will all be connected to jobs, markets and opportunities, so that “no one is left behind”. Transport will become the lifeline for all, including vulnerable groups as transport services will reach them all. Transport networks will be seamlessly integrated to meet mobility needs through motorized and active modes (such as walking and cycling). Landlocked developing countries will have swift access to the sea and, together with small island developing States, will be fully integrated into the global economy. In this vision of the future transport-related fatalities and emissions are fully minimized.

Block Positions: The challenge in this topic will be to find a set of measures which are effective while at the same time being manageable. It is important to define concrete goals and not overwhelm a WSF declaration with a multitude of unachievable aims.

London International World Social Forum Model United Nations 2020 orld Position of the EU: The EU has experienced the height of a migration crisis in 2015 with refugees coming to Europa following the Central Mediterranean or the Eastern Mediterranean routes. The intensity of the crisis has on the one hand inspired humanitarian help but on the other hand also provoked disagreements between the EU member states themselves. In response, the EU implemented measures to better control external borders and migration flows which reduced irregular arrivals to the EU by more than 90%. Central to this was a close cooperation between the EU and Turkey. The EU focusses on achieving effective, humanitarian and safe migration and has established a legal framework for asylum seekers, highly skilled workers, students and researchers, seasonal workers and family reunification. While each member state is independent and has individual migration policies that are also dependent on the party in governance, these frameworks unite EU countries.

The European Commission drive European policies for future mobility. Aims include the complete connection of Europe, creating jobs, fostering innovation and encouraging clean and sustainable movement.

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Source: https://ec.europa.eu/transport/sites/transport/files/mobility- package-factsheet-overall.pdf

Position of NGOs: NGOs concerned with migration usually either focus on short term support and relief or on long-term solutions and integration (or both). Depending on their primary goals they might have different priorities when it comes to suggesting concrete measures.

Position of developing countries: Citizen emigrating from developing countries often do so with the prospect of a better education or career. They then in many cases send money back to their country of origin to support their remaining family. According to the OECD these money transfers by migrants constitute an important source of development finance for developing countries. However, these often fail to stimulate long-term development because of the lack of adequate supporting policies. Remittances represent on average 8% of GDP across

London International World Social Forum Model United Nations 2020 orld the IPPMD countries12, but few households make investments due to lacking financial infrastructure and education. This represents a missed opportunity when it comes to channelling these payments towards a more efficient national development. Similarly, immigrants who move to developing countries could lead to a better national development with the proper policies in place. A missing legal framework often leads to immigrants not obtaining a regular status and limits their access to social protection and integration measures. These issues lead to lower levels of investment, for example according to the OECD in countries like Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire and the Dominican Republic immigrant household heads with a regular migration status are more likely to own a business.

Position of least developed countries (LDCs), landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) and small island developing States (SIDS): The negative impacts of climate change disproportionately affect these countries as they lack the infrastructure that would support mitigation and have a geographical disadvantage. In combination with other factors, this makes LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS some of the most vulnerable groups of countries in the world. The Istanbul Programme of Action, the Vienna Programme of Action and the SAMOA Pathway analyse this vulnerability due to external shocks and recognizes the role of migrants in the development of their communities through knowledge and technology transfer as well as remittance.

Please be aware that this analysis of the interests of different groups is not comprehensive. Please research your country position in detail.

12 https://www.oecd.org/dev/migration-development/developing-countries-need-more-coherent-policy-agenda- make-most-migration-says-new-oecd-development-centre-report.htm

London International World Social Forum Model United Nations 2020 orld Conclusion To sum up, international mobility is undoubtedly a necessity in a rapidly changing world such as the one we live in today, especially for migrants. Throughout this study guide, we have identified the key points that still need to be addressed by the WSF, starting with security, which is not always guaranteed in transportation. At the WSF of LIMUN 2020, security will be at the heart of the discussions. Another key point that delegates must take into account at all times is green mobility, as environmental issues are beginning to pose threats to international security as a whole. Universal access, such as the provision of mobility for all, in all content and in rural areas, should also be deepened. WSF is the ideal place to include the socio-economic aspects such topic entails to provide efficient solutions around mobility.

Questions a Resolution should answer:

• How can access to transportation be improved, especially for people from low-income households and in rural areas? • How can people be motivated to rely increasingly on public transport and other more sustainable ways of travel? • How can the cross-border safety of migrants be improved? • How can the legal status of migrants be improved? • How can the international community work together to make mobility more efficient? • How can increasing mobility be designed to go hand in hand with net- zero-emissions in 2050?

London International World Social Forum Model United Nations 2020 orld this committee in more detail, please don’t hesitate to send questions to your chairing team at [email protected] if you experience major unclarities.

3. Participants of the LIMUN WSF 2020 The committee will be composed of delegates representing countries as well as of delegates representing Non-Governmental-Organisations (NGOs). Countries and NGOs will be entirely equal in this committee and also have equal voting rights. This mixed allocation reflects the diversity of stakeholders at the WSF.

4. Aim of the committee The aim of the committee is to pass a draft resolution which we will in our context refer to as a WSF declaration, as the WSF is not an official UN body. WSF declarations do not necessarily have to be written in draft resolution format, the acceptance of more creative formats will be up to discretion of the chairs. It is possible to submit both a declaration in draft resolution format and a creative piece, the chairs encourage this. The introduction of working papers and draft resolutions can happen as a creative process (for example a presentation, video etc, interactive session etc.). Inappropriate or offensive presentations will be ruled dilatory.

London International World Social Forum Model United Nations 2020 orld Further Reading http://globalworkplaceanalytics.com/telecommuting-statistics https://newsroom.cisco.com/press-release-content?articleId=1771211 6 Cisco 2017.“Cisco Visual Networking Index: Global Mobile Data TrafficForecast Update, 2016–2021,” White Paper.

International Energy Agency. Energy Technology Perspectives.

International Energy Agency 2013. Policy Pathways – A Tale of New Cities.

World Economic Forum 2013. Enabling Trade – Valuing Growth Opportunities

Bleijenberg, A. N. (2017). New mobility: beyond the car era. Delft: Eburon.

Roberts, Peter, K. C. Shyam, and C. Rastogi 2006. Rural Access Index: A Key Development

Indicator. Transport Papers TP-10. Washington, DC: World Bank. World Bank 2017. Enabling the Business of Agriculture 2017. Washington, DC: World Bank

See Mobilizing Transport for Sustainable Development. Analysis and Policy Recommendations from the United Nations Secretary General’s Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport, October 2016.

London International World Social Forum Model United Nations 2020 orld Bibliography • SUM4ALL (2020) Homepage Sustainable mobilitiy for all https://sum4all.org/ • OECD (2019) Migration OECD https://www.oecd.org/migration/ retrieved 2019 Dec • Migration policy centre (2020) Homepage http://www.migrationpolicycentre.eu/#0 • United Nations (2019) Migration https://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/migration/index.html • United Nations (2020) The Sustainable Development Agenda https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/development-agenda/ • Soulard, F. (2017) World Social Forum Charter of Principles FSMM2018 https://fsmm2018.org/world-social-forum-charter- principles/?lang=en • Shumba, O. (2017) Safe migration in a world on the move UNDP https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/blog/2017/safe- migration-in-a-world-on-the-move.html • Calderón, C., and L. Servén (2004) “The effects of Infrastructure Development on Growth and Income Distribution.” Washington, D.C.: World Bank.

• United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2015) World Population Ageing 2015 (ST/ESA/SER.A/390). New York: United Nations.

• United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2014) World Urbanization Prospects: The 2014 Revision, Highlights (ST/ESA/SER.A/352). New York: United Nations.