Fritz Hinterberger and Giovanni Mastino have been invited to join a working group on Sustainable development and Environment for the Genoa Non Governmental (GNG) Initiative in occasion of the G-8 meeting in Genoa to encourage a dialogue and a discussion Forum on global issues between the G-8 and non governmental actors. Other members of the working group include Gianfranco Bologna, Wolfgang Sachs, and Norman Myers.

Neither completely free trade and untamed competition nor an over-regulated society with a dearth of space for innovation and creativity are likely to foster a sustainable development path. SERI therefore suggests an intermediate steering option involving the identification of a desirable framework for globalisation and the definition of guiding posts indicating a trajectory which would circumvent ecological and social deterioration. Through the development of such a regulatory framework and a set of rules, the direction of globalisation can be influenced with respect to central indicators of sustainable development without having to directly intervene in socio-economic processes.

On 2-3 April 2001, the GNG initiative held a meeting in Palazzo Vecchio in Firenze, where a large group of national and international NGOs discussed reccomendations for the Italian G8 presidency. The discussion was divided into three main environmental issues: climate change, Rio+10 and Export Credit Agencies. These three themes will be priority areas for the G8 agenda. You will find below the results from the workshop divided into the three above mentioned areas. Each section includes a brief introduction to the topic and a few key points, and is followed by a point-by-point outline of the actual recommendations presented at the conference.