"we are the peoples, not the market"

I am currently chairing a policy review on behalf of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) Youth Caucus for the Secretary General review of Energy and Climate Change Policy for Sustainable Sevelopment.

I came across a statement I made at the UN a few months ago during the a plenary session and I got inspired to keep revising policy for a few more hours. I thought i should bring the essence of the statement to this page. For the full statement, please visit the UN website.

....We have come to review work, not to anchor profit at the center of our efforts. We believe in
environmental justice and encourage to remember that, as embodied in the Rio Declaration,
"Human beings are at the centre of concerns for sustainable development".
We believe the private sector can play a role in achieving more sustainable development, but
only if governments take leadership, and provide them with the policy framework and incentives
to make that possible. In addition, we must recognize that the goals of Agenda 21 will never be
accomplished entirely by the private sector. Government delegates do not ignore the
responsibilities which you signed on to in Rio, and affirmed in Johannesburg.
Fellow human beings - indeed - we are the peoples, not the market. ...