STWR - Share The World's Resources

In order to stimulate further public engagement and activism on global issues, it is important for those promoting the sharing economy to place far greater emphasis on the environmental and social benefits of sharing rather than any purely personal benefits, such as financial gain.

Land value taxation embodies the principle that natural resources are the creations of nature and should therefore belong to society as a whole, not individuals – and as STWR acknowledges, the ramifications of this conceptual shift for a more just and sustainable world are potentially immense.

There are many policies that governments could implement to raise the finances needed to reverse austerity measures, tackle climate change and prevent needless poverty-related deaths. But we cannot rely on governments to change the current world direction - the only hope is a huge groundswell of popular support in favour of global sharing. 

Oxfam's chief executive makes some thought-provoking observations about transitioning to a sustainable and just world, and points towards an important question: what will it take to spur a mass engagement of ordinary people around the need to end poverty and social injustice?

The executive summary of a report by Share The World's Resources outlines how governments could mobilise over $2.8 trillion to finance the global sharing economy as an immediate global priority - but this will only happen with an unprecedented groundswell of public pressure for sharing and justice.

In a presentation given to a distinguished audience from Eurasian countries, STWR highlighted the need for the international community to immediately end life-threatening deprivation and needless poverty-related deaths by implementing 10 redistributive policies that could strengthen and scale up the ‘global sharing economy'.

Of the many and varied examples of organisations, professionals and engaged citizens across the world that call for greater sharing in our societies, here's one example from the NGO world: Christian Aid's new strategy for 2012 that puts sharing at the centre of its work and campaigning priorities.