The 109th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Recognising the increased globalisation and interdependence among world economies, and the enormous importance acquired by Global Public Goods,

Stressing the importance of the United Nations Millennium Declaration in increasing political and economic stability and reducing worldwide poverty,

Recognising the need for disseminating the concept of Global Public Goods as a new rationale for international cooperation,

Emphasising the collective responsibility of nations to debate resolutions to accelerate the process of development assistance by helping determine, with the appropriate parliamentary debates and national consultations of constituent groups, the definition of Global Public Goods and the way to finance them,

Noting the emphasis placed on Global Public Goods by the World Bank, the United Nations and the Inter-Parliamentary Union in tackling the problem of world food security,

Further noting that a definition of Global Public Goods will enable governments to have a greater influence on the development of their countries, especially with respect to provision of such goods at the domestic level,

Considering the impact of Global Public Goods on neighbouring countries and regions,

Emphasising that the consumption of traditionally defined Global Public Goods by one person does not reduce the possible consumption by another, irrespective of income levels,

Acknowledging that countries have differing incomes, economic structures and social priorities,

1. Calls on both developed and developing countries to recognise that Global Public Goods have transnational effects and therefore require joint assumption of responsibility;

2. Calls on both developed and developing countries to promote an active debate among public policy makers, civil society, businesses and academia, while stimulating further research on the subject of Global Public Goods;

3. Urges governments, parliaments, international organisations and donor agencies to channel financial resources to poor countries, especially those in the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) category, and to pay special attention to the debt burden of developing countries, which hinders them from providing Global Public Goods at the domestic level;

4. Emphasises the need for close cooperation among governments, parliaments, businesses, international organisations and NGOs if Global Public Goods are to play a role in the pursuit of economic growth, which is necessary for the eradication of world poverty, but which should not be achieved at the expense of the environment;

5. Urges the representatives of States to meet to evaluate preferences for Global Public Goods that cross borders;

6. Encourages governments jointly to identify and rank various Global Public Goods in order of financial feasibility and ease of implementation in order to lessen friction arising from the choice of alternatives;

7. Stresses the need to build financial solutions on the principle that nobody should be able to gain from Global Public Goods at the expense of another person and on the principles agreed upon at the UN Summit Meetings, for example the "polluter pays" principle;

8. Urges the governments of developed and developing countries to ensure that Global Public Goods are not financed at the expense of traditional sources of development finance;

9. Calls on governments to convene in a forum to exchange information about various financing mechanisms, including innovative use of private sources of funding, to be managed within the framework of the World Solidarity Fund adopted by the United Nations on 20 December 2002;

10. Calls on the IPU Member parliaments to encourage governments to adopt, if required, the legal frameworks needed to institute agreed financing mechanisms, and to monitor the pursuit by governments of the above-mentioned objectives.

* The delegation of India expressed reservations on certain parts of the text.

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