Published in The Daily Telegraph, 4 October 2009
SIR – Janet Daley (Comment, September 27) is correct to warn of the problems posed by global governance but is wrong to dismiss the idea out of hand. Her fear is that global governance will fail because the national interests of different countries conflict. Of course they conflict. That is precisely why global governance is necessary.
I may think I have solved the problem of garden waste by throwing it over the fence into my neighbour’s garden. My neighbour might very well think the same and throw it back into mine. Without a common effort between us, the problem of waste will remain unsolved.
This should not be taken by national leaders as licence to ignore their voters. The democracy and accountability mechanisms of global governnance need to grow in parallel with any powers that it might exercise.
Richard Laming
Federal Union
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