Global Governance in an Era of Planetary Disruption

On October 12, policy professionals, academics, and industry experts gathered at New America’s offices in Washington DC for the event “Global Governance in an Era of Planetary Disruption” featuring former President of Liberia and Nobel Laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and leading experts from around the world in global digital governance and just energy transitions.

Taking place shortly after the 78th session of the UN General Assembly and in the lead-up to COP28, the event featured conversations about how to revitalize multilateralism and global governance such that international institutions are more responsive to today’s challenges and inclusive of all the world’s peoples. The event was hosted by New America’s Planetary Politics Initiative, a call to action for reimagining a more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable global order.

EVENT SYNOPSIS

Welcome (2:00pm - 2:10pm ET)

• Opening Speaker: Paul Butler (President & Chief Transformation Officer, New America)

Fireside Chat:The Call for a New Global Governance with President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (2:10pm - 3:00pm ET)

• Moderator: Bina Venkataraman (Author of The Optimist’s Telescope: Thinking Ahead in a Reckless Age)
• Keynote Speaker: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (Former President of Liberia, co-chair UN High-Level Advisory Board for Effective Multilateralism)

A lifelong champion of democracy and women’s empowerment and most recently the co-chair of the UN Secretary General’s High-Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism, President Sirleaf framed the new governance challenges we face today. Asked by moderator Bina Venkataraman, author of The Optimist’s Telescope: Thinking Ahead in a Reckless Age and a former New America Fellow, about the current international crisis in the Middle East, the Ukraine invasion, and threats posed by novel technologies such as AI, President Sirleaf emphasized that we have to go back to the root causes of decay in our international institutions. “There's been a crawl toward a fracturing of global governance structures,” President Sirleaf said. “Effective multilateralism and global cooperation have been undermined over the past decade.”

She emphasized that the UN, Bretton Woods Institutions, and other multilateral bodies were established during a different era and have not adapted to the new threats facing the global community. President Sirleaf called for reform of international institutions guided by principles of inclusivity and leadership, demanding better representation for the developing nations and an updating of practices, such as how global financial institutions allocate financing and capital.

Panel: A Just and Equitable Digital Future (3:00pm - 4:00pm ET)

Moderator: Candace Rondeaux (Senior Director of Planetary Politics)

• Panelists: 
  • Alejandro Pisanty (Professor, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico [UNAM])
  • Nanjira Sambuli (Ford Global Fellow, CEIP Fellow)
  • Rohinton Medhora (Distinguished Fellow, CIGI)

The panel “A Just and Equitable Digital Future” focused on governance pathways to a just, safe, and innovative digital future amid the rapid emergence of AI and escalating great power competition over the digital domain. Moderated by Planetary Politics’ Senior Director Candace Rondeaux, the discussion featured three experts with deep and varied experience in digital technology governance.

Alejandro Pisanty, Professor at Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico and an Internet Hall of Fame inductee, emphasized that governance of technology is really governance of human behaviors that are either amplified, enabled, or otherwise affected by a certain technology. Nanjira Sambuli, a Kenyan tech policy expert, researcher, and writer, expanded on his point arguing that the concern over AI comes from us “not liking what we're seeing in the mirror and we're running off panicking rather than looking deeply and staring deeply into what is being reflected for us to fix”.

The discussion shifted to existing governing and regulatory models. Centre for International Governance Innovation Distinguished Fellow Rohinton Medhora explained the challenge of aligning national models driven by different logics – for example,Canada and the EU have risk-based frameworks, while China regulates the technology itself. Effective global digital governance depends on finding commonalities among varying national approaches, he argued.

A just workforce transition was another highlight of the discussion, as Nanjira Sambuli explained the downsides of outsourcing the data training required for AI to the Global South. It creates a new low-wage labor market performing data labeling tasks that draws in the young workforce instead of developing their skills. As a result, new labor laws and workers rights are crucial for a just digital future.

Lastly, the discussion turned to data access and data sovereignty, a particular challenge in the Global South. The panelists discussed different governance solutions including potential tax treaties requiring big data companies to pay tax on raw data giving back data ownership.

Panel: Climate Change and Financing a Just Transition (4:00pm - 5:00pm ET)

Moderator: Heela Rasool-Ayub (Director of Planetary Politics)

• Panelists:
  • Heather McTeer Toney (Executive Director for Beyond Petrochemicals Campaign) 
  • Syed Mohammad Ali (Non-Resident Scholar at the Middle East Institute; lecturer at the Advanced Academic Programs at Johns Hopkins University)
  • Kamila Camilo (Executive Director of Oya Institute and CreatorsAcademyBrazil)

The final panel focused on climate change and financing a global just energy transition. Experts from frontline communities in the U.S. and the Global South explored the urgent need for sustainable solutions, shared insights on equitable financing, and discussed how we can ensure a fair and inclusive transition to cleaner energy sources. Moderator Heela Rasool-Ayub, Director of Planetary Politics, started by emphasizing perhaps the most pressing issue of the energy transition–overcoming the environmental and social challenges caused by power imbalances.

Executive Director for Beyond Petrochemicals Campaign Heather McTeer Toney argued that understanding the injustices of the past is the first step to addressing why today marginalized communities are disproportionately exposed to harmful impacts of climate change. Syed Mohammad Ali, Non-Resident Scholar at the Middle East Institute and lecturer at the Advanced Academic Programs at Johns Hopkins University, highlighted global institutional asymmetries that stymie a just energy transition. Kamila Camilo, Executive Director of Oya Institute and CreatorsAcademyBrazil, added that institutions and forums for international climate policy are inaccessible to youth and many in developing nations, which prevents frontline communities from making their needs and concerns heard.

Heather McTeer Toney summed up the problem of climate justice with a metaphor: “We're all in the same storm, but we're not in the same kind of boat.” She argued that a just energy transition will only be possible if the bigger boats piloted by rich nations and communities can block the incoming waves (the impacts of climate change) for the smaller boats (those who have been historically marginalized and have fewer resources). The panelists pointed to venture capital funding for people of color, indigenous communities, and other marginalized communities globally to develop local climate solutions as a key instrument for achieving this.

Every conversation in the event highlighted the importance of inclusive governance solutions to address the complex challenges the planet is facing today. Cutting across all the issues our global institutions face are persistent inequalities and injustices. Only by prioritizing equity can our global institutions build trust and deliver for people and the planet.