REPA Booklet - Stop Epa
REPA Booklet - Stop Epa
REPA Booklet - Stop Epa
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Spirituality, family life, traditional economy, cultural values, mutual care and respect are components of the concept of<br />
the Island of Hope which prioritises relationships, celebrates quality of life and values human beings and creation over<br />
the production of things. The Island of Hope is an alternative to the project of economic globalisation which entails<br />
domination through an unjust economic system. …<br />
Following Christ, we must make a choice. We oppose the ethics of economic globalisation and join others who do the<br />
same. This choice is costly. It requires us to share what we have. It demands of us a commitment to give up what binds<br />
us to the system that exploits and enslaves our sisters and brothers (Mk 10:17-31). It leads into conflict and perhaps into<br />
persecution (Mk 10:32-34). Making this choice is a question of life and death.<br />
We are obliged to choose between serving God or Mammon, power or people. Everyone, politicians and business<br />
people included, are responsible for the consequences of their actions. We will be held accountable by the people who<br />
suffer the consequences. We have a chance to turn around (Mt 6:12.13). We also hear the promise of the Gospel that<br />
choosing life will create an alternative and truly ecumenical community of sharing and solidarity (Mt 14:13-21; Acts 2:41-<br />
47) in response to the prayer “that all may be one as we are one” (John 17:11).<br />
The power of the churches’ spirituality and ethics of life for all provides the basis to confront the power enshrined in unjust<br />
trade relationships and accumulated wealth. Achieving this requires more than the reform of the unjust theories,<br />
practices and institutions that drive neoliberal globalisation. It calls for transformation that recognizes the common<br />
destiny as co-inhabitants of one earth which we all share responsibility for and from which we should all equally benefit;<br />
the full participation of all people and all communities – especially those marginalized by poverty and disempowerment<br />
– in the economic, social and political decisions that affect their lives; and the dignity of the human person as an<br />
expression of the intrinsic value of creation.<br />
Transformation compels us as Churches to move beyond the difficult-but-conceivable to imagine, discover, embrace<br />
and embody the truly liberating, and then to make the liberating become the possible. Breaking free and leaving any<br />
allegiance the death-dealing paradigm of neoliberal globalisation behind, we espouse a life-affirming vision of the<br />
“oikoumene” - an earth community where all peoples live in just relationships with each other, with all creation and with<br />
God.<br />
Principles for Just Trade can serve as indicators of a new paradigm of trade agreements that must<br />
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be premised on the basic principles of love, solidarity, redistribution, sustainability, security and self-determination;<br />
protect and advance the interests of small, weaker and vulnerable states;<br />
deliver sustainable development and poverty reduction, as defined by the people themselves;<br />
give primacy to people’s right to food, water and the necessities of life, and protect the ability of small producers to survive<br />
and thrive;<br />
be subordinate to international law and agreements that guarantee universally recognized human rights including civil,<br />
political, economic, social, religious and cultural rights, gender equity, labour rights, migrant worker rights and rights of<br />
indigenous peoples;<br />
recognise the inalienable rights of Indigenous Peoples to their territories, resources and traditional knowledge;<br />
strengthen respect for creation with ecological standards that safeguard the interests of future generations and the<br />
survival of the earth;<br />
respect the right and responsibility of governments to ensure the well-being of all members of society, democratic<br />
participation and public stewardship;<br />
contribute to world peace by ensuring the equitable distribution of resources and restraining powerful governments from<br />
using trade as a weapon to advance their economic, military and political interests;<br />
ensure greater corporate social responsibility and accountability;<br />
be initiated, concluded, implemented and monitored through transparent processes that ensure the full, informed and timely<br />
participation of those whose lives will be affected; and<br />
respect the sovereign rights of peoples to choose a diversity of development paths including the right to withdraw from or<br />
renegotiate such agreements.<br />
A People’s Guide To The Pacific’s Economic Partnership Agreement 9