The paper chase!

Multilateral diplomacy is fast becoming the order of the day. Hardly a month passes without a headline about another of those infernal international or regional conferences having concluded its momentous deliberations. The inevitable result is a plethora of resolutions, platitudes, expressions of good intentions, and reams of diverse documents in several languages. One is invariably left to wonder: does anyone ever read the wretched things?

Allow one to clarify: one’s intention is not to run down multilateral diplomacy, nor to make fun of it. One’s modest intent is merely to attempt to evaluate its intricacies and intent to a layman not conversant with it.

Considering the rash of meetings and conferences that multilateral diplomacy spawns, the inescapable conclusion is that some weighty results would emanate from such ponderous deliberations. The sight of bleary-eyed, briefcase-laden diplomats with furrowed brows oft flashed across TV screens is both edifying and awe-inspiring.

At this point, one may take a cursory look at the input and output of these conferences in terms of the paper consumed and the other output i.e. hot air. The question that presents itself is: where does all this paper come from? Who pays for it? Is its cost taken into account in the cost-benefit ratio of such gatherings?

How do they manage to read all the papers produced anyway? Do they read them at all? What happens to it once the conference is over? One can visualise truck-loads of paper destined for a damp basement or a garbage dump. Has the idea of recycling caught up with the proponents of international diplomacy? The diplomats definitely recycle ideas and resolutions like mad!

Concern for the environment is very much in vogue these days. Fashionable people have made this the subject of discussion in drawing rooms. The developed world is having sleepless nights over the destruction of tropical forests in developing countries. Paper (made conveniently from wood pulp) is being pushed out in feverish campaigns to “save forests from extinction”. International multilateral conferences, all attended by well-meaning people concerned about the environment, think nothing about pushing out umpteen copies of documents in their gallant efforts to save the forests. The whole thing is very moving indeed!

One wonders if any do-gooder has paused to give a wee thought to cutting down on paperwork in conferences to do the environment a good turn? The “paper chase” appears to have become an end in itself rather than the means. The more “papers” you churn out the more satisfaction you derive. At least this appears to be the guiding principle of multilateral diplomacy. Already international diplomacy is cluttered with “experts” who love the sound of their own voices get a kick out of seeing their outpourings reproduced on paper. And so the vicious circle goes on!

So, the next time you learn about an international conference, do spare a thought for the myriad trees sacrificed to produce the paper on which the “hot air” that is the (principal) outcome of these multilateral gatherings is produced. To what end, one is tempted to ask?

A conservative estimate shows that for every resolution – adopted or otherwise – a minimum of 50,000 paper sheets are wasted. And this does not account for the paper participating states expend on explanatory memoranda or the copies of their statements meant for distribution.

Another allied question that presents itself is: are the results worth the paper that goes into the process? The mighty multilateral diplomatist prides himself on his “eloquence” and skill in drafting. But does he take his own effort seriously? He gets so involved in his rhetoric that he lacks the residual energy to follow the results of the deliberations. A “successful” outcome of the conference itself is the objective. It all reminds one of the stories of knights in shining armour of yore who were constantly engaged in the futile but never-ending quest for the “holy grail”. Or is one talking out of turn?

 

Published in The Express Tribune, December 23^rd, 2019.

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