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WHAT
HAPPENS or doesn’t happen at the Summit effects these people and all of us.
We all breathe the same air and drink the same water. But for most people,
the Earth Summit is something that is happening far away, unrelated to them.
They have no way to be involved or to express their ideas and opinions about
the important issues being discussed there.
But, now they can. The first-ever Online Global Poll on the Environment is being
conducted in conjunction with the Summit to give the citizens of the world a
way to participate, express their ideas and opinions and make their voices heard
about the crucial issues that effect us all, both today and in the future.
REPORT ON LOCAL ISSUES
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We must experiment with new ideas in our own lives and also in
the collective life of our planet. Too often we have not been willing to take
chances and aggressively search for new solutions.
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This
in-depth online poll lets people register their opinions about current
environmental conditions in their own country and globally, access what
environmental issues are most important and, evaluate possible solutions and
policies. There is also a section where users can give demographic
information so that there will be valid, useful results balanced by age, sex,
regions of the world and other variables.
Never before has anyone ever tried to conduct such
a global poll of public opinion about these types of important public policy
issues. Will the poll results be a perfect reflection of public opinion of
all segments of the world’s population — of course not; no one expects that.
Only a small percentage of the people in the world have access to the
Internet, or even a telephone. Of the people who do have Internet access,
only a tiny few will take the poll or even hear about it. And, with the
problems of the ‘digital divide’ many groups will not even be represented at
all. The poll will not be perfect but, that’s not really important.
A GLOBAL ASSESSMENT
What is important is that this is a beginning —
the beginning of gauging, measuring and understanding public opinion on a global
level. We all know we live in a ‘global village,’ shouldn’t we try to
understand what the village as a whole thinks about the important issues that
effect us all? I think so. To the extent that the poll reflects the serious
deficiencies in broad access to the digital world, it will stand as a measure
of the great challenges we must confront.
The Internet and other new
communications technologies are radically changing the world. In every aspect
of our lives — from commerce to entertainment to education to government —
the new technologies are opening up exciting new possibilities. We must all
be constantly searching for new ways to apply these technologies to old
problems. We must experiment with new ideas in our own lives and also in the
collective life of our planet. We in governments have too often been slow to
see the possibilities and opportunities. Too often we have not been willing
to take chances and aggressively search for new solutions.
NEW TOOLS FOR OLD PROBLEMS
This is what the Online Global Poll is really all
about — experimenting with applying new possibilities to old problems.
A lot of people have worked hard to make this new
bold experiment a success. The UN Earth Summit and its leaders have supported
the project. Three of the largest media companies in the world, the BBC,
AOL/Time Warner and Microsoft, all helped promote the poll on their Web
sites. Countless groups, companies and individuals have sent the poll’s
Internet link [www.NetPulseGlobalPoll.com] to their members, employees and
friends and encouraged them to participate. And, the development of poll and
the technical support is being provided by NetPulse Global Poll, a division
of PoliticsOnline, UTS and Fredricks Polls. The Andreas Papandreou Foundation of Greece
organized the project.
DIGITAL DEMOCRACY
As a Greek, I take great historical pride in
knowing that the basic principles of democracy were first developed in the
Golden Age of Greece 2,500 year ago. The ideas they first put into practice
have radically changed the world. Democracy remains now as ever the
foundational principle of sustainable development. Our inspiration for this
Online Global Poll draws on the forms of direct democracy that enabled
Ancient Greek citizens to take part in the shaping of their destiny. The
great promise of ‘digital democracy’ is that we can find new ways to
strengthen and re-invigorate our current democratic institutions and processes.
We should all be excited about the opportunities
to use these new technologies to make the world a better place for all of us.
George Papandreou is the
Foreign Minister of Greece.
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