Selecting our sources for information

Finding "objective" data can prove to be very difficult. Economic and political stakes bring about ferocious resistance on behalf of the "winners of the non-sustainable policy". In order to approach "the truth", it is necessary to cross-check data and information sources, to find organisations relying on external independent consultants, collective organisations or decision-makers with opposite interests, to check the methodologies used, to verify the "relative" impartiality of the experts, etc.In some cases, we have to rely on lowest estimations (i.e. when an oil company declares it has lost ‘x’ tons of oil at sea, it is legitimate to assume that this is a minimum).The sources and links mentioned here are not immune to omissions and errors, but we have nevertheless decided to consider these organisations as being trustworthy.Each year, since 1990, the UNPD (Untied Nations Programme for Development) publishes an annual report on the state of our world - Human Development Report. In order to compensate for the omissions inherent in assessing development in terms of GDP (cf. previous section), the UNPD has created the Human Development Indicator (HDI). The HDI is a composite indicator that measures the progress of a country based on three human development criteria: health and life expectancy (measured according to life expectancy at birth), knowledge (measured according to literacy rates in adults and gross combined schooling for primary, secondary and higher education), and a decent standard of living (GDP per inhabitant, expressed in US dollars Purchasing Power Parity). It is commonly agreed that globalisation obviously produces positive consequences (improvement of life conditions for millions of people, increased product availability, lower costs for many goods, enhanced awareness regarding global issues, international solidarity in case of natural disasters, etc.). Nevertheless, several major global issues have been identified in the UNPD report:

Democracy :

• 51 countries have not ratified the ILO Convention (International Labour Organisation) on freedom of unions. 


• 39 countries have not ratified the ILO Convention on collective negotiation.


• 38 countries have not ratified the United Nations International Pact relative to civil rights and policies.


• 41 countries have not ratified the International Pact relative to economic, social and cultural rights.


• 7 countries (Germany, Saudi Arabia, USA, Russia, France, Japan and United Kingdom) represent 46 % of the voting power within the World Bank, and 48 % within WMF (International World Monetary Fund).


• The report notes that at the WTO "... most important decisions are made by the major economic powers as part of informal meetings".

Economic Justice :

• The income per capita in Central and Western Europe and in the CIS countries dropped by 2.4 % per year, during the 1990s.


• The income per capita has dropped by 0.3 % per year in sub-Saharan Africa. 20 countries in the region (representing more than 50 % of the population) are poorer than they were in 1990 and 23 countries are poorer than they were in 1975.


• The number of people living in extreme poverty has risen from 242 million to 300 million over the past ten years.


• At the end of the 1990s, 47 % of the world’s population were living on a maximum of $1 per day. That is the same proportion as in the early 90s, and by taking the rise in demography into account, this means that the number of poor has increased.

Health and Education :

• 85 countries, representing 60 % of the planet's population, are facing great difficulty in reducing mortality in children under 5 years old.


• The ratio of vaccination of children has dropped to under 50 % in sub-Saharan Africa. 


• 11 million children die each year around the world of diseases for which a cure is available.


• 1 billion people will be infected with tuberculosis by the year 2020; 35 million will die of the disease.


• During the past decade, the number of people suffering from hunger has only receded by 6 million per year. At such a rate it will take more than 130 years to eliminate hunger. 40 countries (28 % of world population) are not in a favourable position to reduce by 50 % the number of people suffering from hunger.


• 25 countries (32 % of world population) are unable to reduce by half the number of people who have no access to decent water facilities. 


• 40 million people in the world are infected by HIV, of which 90 % live in emerging countries and 75 % are in sub-Saharan Africa.


• 22 million people have died of AIDS. 13 million children have become orphans as a consequence of this disease.


• 500 000 women die each year as the result of complications related to pregnancy, or while giving birth.


• Although 51 countries (40 % of world population) are on the path to ensuring universal access to primary school education, 24 countries are behind or significantly behind schedule. 113 million children (1 out of 6) old enough to attend primary school don't go to school (of which 97 % are in emerging countries).

Peace and Safety :

• Civil and political liberties are restricted in 106 countries.


• Victims of civil war and ethnical conflicts are 16 times more numerous than those killed in inter-state conflicts. Half the victims of civil wars are children.


• 123 States have ratified the 1997 Treaty forbidding the use of landmines. China, Russia and the USA have not signed this treaty. Each year, 15 000 to 20 000 people fall victim to anti-personnel mines placed throughout 90 countries. "The HDI has sometimes been criticized for not extending its evaluation criteria enough and for not weighting the GDP by a more detailed analysis. The association Redefining Progress proposes to use the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI). Like the GDP, this indicator is based on interpersonal transactions, but it does not reduce human relations to the amount of dollars spent. Three types of transactions are taken into account (voluntary work, work from home, etc./ residual value from investments / public services such as road maintenance and schools). On the other hand, expenses related to road accidents, weapons, crime and offences, as well as the cost of pollution on the environment, are not included in the GPI.