In less than a year, the United Nations will convene a special Millennium Assembly as a global summit on the future of theworld. This event will crown a decade of preparation to launchthe new millennium on a new system of global governance. The blueprint was published by the Commission on Global Governance in 1995.

Now, a Charter to achieve global governance has been developed for presentation at the Millennium Assembly nextSeptember. It will be published publicly on UN day, October 24th. [2000] It is called The Charter for Global Democracy. Ithas already been signed by influential leaders in 56 nations, and has the support of civil society non-government organizationsaround the world.

The first of 12 principles calls for the consolidation of all international agencies under the direct authority of the UnitedNations.

The second principle calls for regulation by the UN of all transnational corporations and financial institutions, requiringan "inter- national code of conduct" concerning the environment and labor standards.

Principle number 3 demands an independent source of revenue for the UN, such as the "Tobin tax" and taxes on aircraft andshipping fuels, and licensing the use of the global commons. The "global commons" is defined to be "outer space, the atmosphere,non-territorial seas, and the related environment that supports human life."