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Politics

Agenda 2030

Alliance Sud advocates Swiss policies that are coherent across all issues and systematically aligned with the UN 2030 Agenda. Approved in the autumn of 2015 by 193 Heads of State, this framework for a new "world domestic policy" lays out 17 Sustainable Development Goals. They stand for fair and lasting balance between the social, environmental and economic fields – today and for future generations. Responsibility rests with both North and South; global and national interests ought not to be played off against one another. Together with Swiss non-governmental organizations, Alliance Sud monitors Switzerland's compliance of the SDGs.

Political article

We need sustainability assessments!

Sustainability cannot become a request show. If the Federal Council takes it seriously, the monitoring of it should be built into free trade agreements as a matter of course.

Article as analysis

The contentious migration pact

Swiss politics has painted an unworthy picture in recent weeks. The bickering over the UN's well-balanced declaration of intent gives a foretaste of the 2019 election year.

Political article

Having a voice is a prerequisite for development

In functioning societies, civil society acts as a critical counterpart to the government. There is a worldwide trend toward restricting or even closing down spaces for participation and critical engagement by NGOs.

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Multilateral institutions

International development is coordinated and steered by numerous UN organizations and bodies. In addition, there are international organizations where, as a rule, the economically strongest are able to impose their interests. From a developmental standpoint, special mention may be made of development banks like the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as well as the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). As part of an international network, Alliance Sud strives to influence multilateral institutions from a civil society perspective..

Note: Articles on multilateral institutions that can be clearly assigned to an Alliance Sud dossier (2030 Agenda, development policy, climate and environment, trade and investment, taxes and finances, multinational enterprises) can either be found there, or via the search function. .

Article as analysis

AIIB: New global player under scrutiny

“The AIIB can contribute significantly to (…) promoting sustainable economic development in Asia”, the Swiss Government stated in August 2015 justifying Switzerland's involvement in the AIIB. Time for an interim appraisal.

Article as analysis

Safeguards reform: an important crossroads

The World Bank is changing. Some aid recipients have become competitors. What has not changed is civil society’s struggle for more co-decision and better rules when it comes to investments in development.

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Climate and environment

Alliance Sud advocates a Swiss environmental and climate policy that respects the limits of our planet and atmosphere. The basis for this lies in the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement, which strives to limit global warming to 1.5-2.0°C over the pre-industrial level. Not only must Switzerland reduce its CO₂ emissions to zero by 2040, it must also acknowledge its share of responsibility for the causes and effects of global climate change. The global South needs support in coping with the consequences of climate change. Alliance Sud is calling on Switzerland for a major financial commitment above and beyond traditional development assistance; climate financing cannot be at the cost of poverty reduction, education and health.

Article as analysis

Climate policy in the slow lane

The COP 24 climate summit in Katowice, Poland is expected to approve the regulatory framework for implementing the Paris Climate Change Agreement. A herculean task with an uncertain outcome. Meanwhile, major policy issues remain unresolved.

Political article

Swiss Climate Politics in International Headlines

The recent decision of the Swiss National Council to abolish the domestic climate target has raised eyebrows in Katowice.

Political article

A summer as an object lesson

Summer 2018. Heat, drought, millions in damage. Extremes of climate in the northern hemisphere. It could, it must be the turning point in the perception of climate change. Even in Switzerland.

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Finance and tax policy

Alliance Sud advocates for a Swiss tax and finance policy that is in harmony with sustainable world development. As a member of the Global Alliance for Tax Justice, it strives to combat worldwide tax avoidance by wealthy individuals and multinational enterprises, as tax flight undermines democracy and well-being worldwide. Switzerland bears very special responsibility in this regard, being still the world's largest offshore financial centre and a prominent tax haven. Alliance Sud militates in Switzerland for effective regulations on financial markets designed to promote the fair distribution of resources worldwide and contribute substantially to halting the economic exploitation of countries in the South.

The upcoming referendum on corporate tax reform

On 19 May, Switzerland votes again on its corporate tax reform, which Parliament has linked to additional funding of its pension system (AHV). From a development policy point of view, the tax proposal does not represent any significant progress.

Political article

A “No” to doping is no longer enough

Referendum or no referendum on Tax Proposal 17: the progressive forces in tax policy must develop a sustainable alternative to the doping of profit shifting from abroad.

SV17; Steueroase Schweiz

TP17: The tax loopholes for multinationals

Profit shifting by multinational corporations to Switzerland is doing enormous harm to the countries of the global South. The present Tax Proposal 17 (TP17) will not change this – quite the contrary. Alliance Sud research bears this out.

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Trade and investments

Alliance Sud analyses the rules of international trade and strives for them to be made more equitable. Negotiations in the multilateral framework of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are being increasingly supplanted by bilateral free trade agreements or partnership agreements such as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) or the Trade in Services Agreement TISA. Both are attempts initiated by industrialized countries to further deregulate markets and limit the capacity of States to defend their own interests. As pertains to investment protection agreements, Alliance Sud also champions not only the protection of human rights, environmental standards and the inclusion of the Sustainable Development Goals, but also the compliance and monitoring of them.

Political article

Mercosur negotiations behind closed doors

Anger is widespread in Mercosur countries over free trade negotiations with the EU. It is feared that industrial jobs will disappear to make way for a commodity-exporting economy. Things are not much different in the case of EFTA.

Mercosur and EFTA: Transparency requested!

Four Swiss NGOs and Friends of the Earth Uruguay ask State parties to guarantee transparency in the free trade negotiations between Mercosur and EFTA.

Article as analysis

Who should pay: the elderly or foreign investors?

Argentina hopes to economize US$6 billion through the pension reform adopted in December 2017. Its debts to foreign investors amount to 8.65 billion. Another 11 billion must be paid to vulture funds.

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Business and human rights

Alliance Sud is part of the broad coalition of Swiss non-governmental organizations that jointly launched the Responsible Business Initiative in the spring of 2015. In previous years, Government and Parliament had refused to take legislative measures to implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, in force since 2011. These guidelines call for sustained improvement in corporate observance of human rights by means of an appropriate smart mix of voluntary measures and statutory regulations.

For responsible corporations

What happens when multinational corporations from Switzerland abuse human rights and damage the environment in the South? Often nothing at all. The Responsible Business Initiative aims to change that.

Article as analysis

Little Switzerland stands tall

Swiss corporations are major world market players. Not least of all in developing countries where governance is weak. Using four charts, guest author Markus Mugglin explains why Switzerland in particular ought to be taking global responsibility.

Political article

Things do occasionally move, after all!

The discussion on human rights and environmental responsibility on the part of Swiss multinationals has now become mainstream. The Parliament is dealing seriously with the Responsible Business Initiative.

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