Russia-Ukraine and Restoration World Cooperation Institution

Reflection on the Cooperation Mechanism of the Rotterdam Convention

What we saw in the Russia-Ukraine war is also a picture of the consensus mechanism of world bodies which are powerless in the face of the development of the situation and democratisation. The unanimous agreement between the imbalance of positions is a kind of legalised trespass. The common good as the ultimate goal of world cooperation does not succumb to the majority of votes as well as does not become an elite as if only a small number of parties have full rights to determine the direction of the world's good.

 

In the last discussion of the Rotterdam Convention (2019) to include Chrysotile in the list of prior information consent (PIC) of hazardous materials in world trade transactions, Russia and several other countries trespassed with the available consensus mechanism. With the consensus mechanism, more than 67 countries that voiced to include Chrysotile in the PIC were not considered at all due to Russia and 10 other countries who voiced differently. Victims due to the asbestos trade which continues to grow are considered normal business impacts that can occur on other goods.

 

If in the Ukraine-Russia conflict, there are America and NATO with their hegemony influencing Ukraine, as if they will accept Ukraine as a member of NATO irritate Russia. As so in the Rotterdam Convention, Russia, China, and Kazakhstan have the hegemony not to include chrysotile in the PIC irritate asbestos related disease victims.

The US-NATO interest in becoming a hegemony in world defence is as great as the Russia-China-Kazakhstan interest in the carcinogenic mineral business exported worldwide. Just as democracy continues to be a product of defence pact sales over the world, chrysotile-asbestos is also a product that continues to be forced into selling goods throughout the world, regardless of the benevolence considerations of the target country.

 

Russia, which is in a strong position in world institutions, will indeed find it "easier" to face an opponent whose strength is also equal to it in the Ukraine-Russia conflict. America-NATO faces a difficult opponent in this Ukraine-Russia case. However, in the matter of the Russia-China-Kazakhstan chrysotile, this group does not have equal opponents in the debate over the process of including it in the PIC. As a result, until this day, chrysotile is still frozen to enter the PIC.

 

Seeing the propaganda that fills the public sphere even far away in Indonesia regarding the Russian attack on Ukraine, we can also reflect about the crisis debate. Ukraine, which builds narration and representations as victims of Russian violence, can be seen at the same level with the Russian campaign that asbestos-chrysotile is discriminated in the Rotterdam Convention.