UNA-UK has written to UK political parties asking them for a clear statement outlining their vision for the UK's relationship with the United Nations. The responses are reproduced on our website in the order they were received. They represent the most comprehensive and, in some cases, the first UN-focussed party statements.
This work is part of UNA-UK's year-long campaign to promote informed debate on foreign policy, in particular, Britain's role at the UN, ahead of the general election on 7 May. While these matters are now - very belatedly - starting to be debated, these conversations are happening in reaction to events, a hallmark of successive UK governments' foreign policy.
UNA-UK is deeply concerned that British policy-makers have consistently underestimated the need to invigorate and develop the UN, which is essential to solving many of the serious challenges facing the UK and the world. If you agree, join us in calling for an active and progressive UK foreign policy
The Green Party’s position on the UK and the United Nations
1. What can be done to stimulate informed public debate on the need for more effective international cooperation?
An informed public debate on the need for more effective international cooperation already exists and we are part of it. For example, The Green Party supports campaigners standing up for global justice by taking a stand against the corporate power grab which is the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). Likewise, the UK’s membership of the European Union is a live debate. Our policies are designed to encourage people around the world cooperate and help each other.
2. What are your three priorities for improving the UN?
The Green Party calls for the reformation and democratisation of the UN.
Our number one foreign policy priority is to secure international agreement on climate change. We will work for a major new global deal, in particular at December 2015’s UN meeting in Paris, with a wide-ranging workable plan to arrest climate change and share global resources more evenly. We want a new agreement to say that being rich will no longer permit people to pollute the whole world’s atmosphere and climate.
We will help poorer countries to fund climate change adaptation and build resilient communities through the UN Adaptation Fund. We recognise that we owe them a climate debt for our disproportionately high emissions and contributions to global pollution and climate damage. Equally, ‘development’ should not be directed by rich countries, which too often have their own business interests in mind.
Additionally, the Green Party will support multilateral negotiations on a universally applicable nuclear abolition treaty to prohibit the use, deployment, development, production, stockpiling and transfer of nuclear weapons and requiring their complete elimination.
We will also enforce the UN Convention against Corruption to ensure that UK companies operate ethically overseas.
3. How should the UK go about ‘earning its keep’ as a permanent member of the UN Security Council?
The Green Party will work so that the UK’s role in the UN prioritises real action on climate change and global nuclear disarmament.
But we would abolish all permanent seats on the UN Security Council so that it better reflects the needs and interests of all countries. All countries deserve a voice in global decision-making.
Click here to read the question as it was posed to parties
Click here to read the other parties' responses
NB. party responses have been publised in the order they were received
