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The Platform for Survival

These public policy proposals, if adopted together, will greatly reduce the risk of six grave, inter-dependent threats to humankind. Wherever you are on the planet, if you accept at least 20 of the 25 “planks,” please scroll down and add your endorsement.  Ask your organization to endorse too, listing its website here and announcing its public events. Then please visit this website frequently as a member of a worldwide community, sharing information, video discussions, and podcasts.

 

War and Weapons

Plank 1. All states owning or hosting nuclear weapons shall immediately de-alert them and commit to no-first-use.
Plank 2. All states, including those in NATO, shall sign, ratify, and within 10 years comply with the TPNW¹Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
Plank 3. All states shall reduce their militaries and not plan war for “national security.”
Plank 4. All states shall develop a UN Emergency Peace Service to protect civilians and respond to crises.
Plank 5. All states shall ratify and fully implement the Arms Trade Treaty.
Plank 6. UN Convention on CCW²The “Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons” is the body that can negotiate rules banning “killer robots.” and all states shall prohibit developing or deploying lethal autonomous weapons.

Global Warming

Plank 7. All states shall swiftly adopt maximally stringent efficiency standards for cars, trucks, ships, and aircraft.
Plank 8. The International Code Council³The International Code Council is an association with over 64,000 members. It develops model codes and standards used in the design, build and compliance process to construct safe, sustainable, affordable and resilient structures. Some countries use its standards instead of developing their own. About 40 percent of emissions come from existing buildings, which could be 80% more efficient. Currently, design is done with consideration for payback by cost from utility savings. However, higher carbon fuels cost less right now than renewable energy, so buildings are being built to use fossil fuels instead of lower carbon fuel sources. They are not designed to be ready to use renewable energy sources. shall adopt stringent performance-based building codes.
Plank 9. All states shall adopt norms and procedures for the production, recovery, and recycling of materials.
Plank 10. All states shall accelerate R&D of HVDC⁴Research and Development of High voltage direct current electric grids electric grids, energy storage, and Demand System Management.
Plank 11. All states shall incorporate environmental considerations in developing national dietary food guides.
Plank 12. All states shall negotiate to preserve and protect forests and enhance carbon sinks.

Famine

Plank 13. All states shall accelerate SDG⁵Sustainable Development Goals efforts to end poverty and enable all to obtain food and potable water.
Plank 14. All states shall support improvements of soil health for resilient food production and carbon sequestration.

Pandemics

Plank 15. WHO shall promote nations’ use of Incident Management System⁶“Incident Management System” is an approach to disaster management developed by firefighters. for early detection and response to pandemics.
Plank 16. UN shall adopt a ‘one health approach’ integrating veterinary and environmental science⁷Pandemics often result from contact between humans and animals, whereby a virus jumps from an animal to a person. This risk is increasing because people are cutting down forests and living closer to the animals they displace, and because global warming enables some animals and insects to move into formerly temperate zones. to mitigate pandemics.

Radiation Exposure

Plank 17. All states shall shift rapidly to effective generation of electricity by using renewable energy.*⁸This plank recognizes that phasing out all nuclear power plants, including subsidies and uranium mining, may be an outcome in the future.
Plank 18. All states shall prioritize the long-term control and safe storage of radioactive wastes, with public review.

Cyber Attacks

Plank 19. The UN shall declare cyberspace a peaceful commons and create a binding treaty for international cyber norms.
Plank 20. Manufacturers of ICT⁹Information and communications technology hardware and software shall be liable for negligent security failures that cause harm.

Enabling Measures

Plank 21. All states shall support SDGs; tax wealth and financial transactions; and redistribute funds equitably.¹⁰Actors: The April 2017 version of the Security & Sustainability Guide (SSG) identifies 52 finance organizations: G7 and G20, the Bretton Woods organizations (IMF, World Bank),the Belmont Forum (of funding agencies), Bloomberg New Energy Finance, World Economic Forum (Davos), Climate Bonds Initiative, European Investment Bank, OECD’s Financial Action Task Force, Global Innovation Fund, Green Climate Fund (UNFCCC), UN Financing for Development), Green Investment Bank (UK), and the UNEP Finance Initiative; and The Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures. Actions include: Tobin tax, universal financial transactions tax, convening World conference to design a global financial architecture, including agreement on taxing wealth and redistribution. Canada’s Just Transition Task Force is now getting underway.
Plank 22. All multilateral institutions shall heed the demands of international civil society alliances for justice.¹¹Actors: World Social Forum, LEAP, Climate Action International, ecumenical and interfaith coalitions, CCIC, IUCN and other INGOs.
Plank 23. Sub-national governments and non-state actors shall exercise leadership in solving global problems.¹²The Bretton Woods organizations (IMF, World Bank),the Belmont Forum (of funding agencies), Bloomberg New Energy Finance, World Economic Forum (Davos), Climate Bonds Initiative, European Investment Bank, OECD’s Financial Action Task Force , Global Innovation Fund, Green Climate Fund (UNFCCC), UN Financing for Development), Green Investment Bank (UK), and the UNEP Finance Initiative; and The Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures. Actions: Use opportunities available around meetings and processes of organizations like G7, G20, UNFCCC, UNGA, ECOSOC, WTO, IMF, World Bank annual meetings, World Economic Forum, national governments. Actors: C40, ICLEI, World Parliament of Mayors, Mayors for Peace, UNFCCC, UN Habitat, UN Global Compact Cities Programme, and 100 Resilient Cities (a $100m initiative of the Rockefeller Foundation), Federation of Canadian Municipalities, Canadian Urban Institute, The Urban Renaissance Institute at the University of Toronto.
Plank 24. Investors and regulators shall compel all businesses to comply with the U.N. Global Compact.¹³Actors: Business-led Groups such as the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, Ethical Groups such as the UN’s Global Compact, Broadened Accounting Groups seeking new and appropriate measures, Certifying Organizations, Green Investing Groups, Sustainability Consultants, and Green Business Publishing, OHCHR-Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, Stock Market disclosures; Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), G20, Trade Agreements, OECD, WEF.
Plank 25. Social movements and states shall prioritize Sustainable Common Security¹⁴Sustainable Common Security priorities are: to develop a common agenda that covers immediate threats, underlying causes and long-term consequences; to build bridges of understanding, support and solidarity in a movement of movements; to address shared global challenges; and, to counter the national security narrative of nuclear deterrence and further preparation for war, with steps toward a more effective peace system.
Actions might include: work for military transformation, economic conversion and progressive UN reform including a UN Emergency Peace Service, a UN Parliamentary Assembly, the strengthening of the International Criminal Court and support for equal participation of women in all UN processes and decision making to address shared global challenges to address shared global challenges.

Fatal combinations

When dealing with a system, it can be easier to solve the whole combination of problems together than any one of them singly. That is true when one of the problems is causing most of the other problems. If you solve it, the others will be easy. So it’s important to prioritize—to choose which issues to work on and in which order. Afterward we may all keep specializing in solving a single small part of the problem, but we’ll understand how the parts fit together as a big picture. When you’re working on a jigsaw puzzle, it helps to see the picture on the box lid and get a notion as to where each piece may belong. So, this course is meant to be like a picture on the box of our huge puzzle called “How to save the world.” Read more here…

Recent Platform endorsements

Duncan MacMartin
Fernando Mazorra
Yahaya Abdullah
Adegboye Onigbinde
Don Wickson
Dennis Mural
Wendy Turner
Jan Noel
Ángel Alvarez
Lester Kurtz
Lewis Luo
Moses Orembe
Mary Clark
Anthony Rapoport
Ron Shirtliff
David Walsh
Shana Salaff
Michel Duguay

Recent Group Signatories

Canadian Pugwash Group
Design with Dialogue
Drawdown Toronto
Global Cooperation Day Turtle Island
Physicians for Global Survival
Peace Magazine
Sitata Corporation
Priorities & Choices
Tenwek Mission Hospital
Urgent Action for Democracy and Development
Glico Shamba Fresh Farms