UN-sponsored international negotiations, for example on carbon emissions, have two major and potentially fatal draw-backs:

1. They deal with only one issue at a time. This is problematic because, on any particular issue (eg. carbon emissions), there will always be winners and losers. And because only one issue is on the table, there is no way for losers to be compensated, so virtually assuring their non-cooperation.
2. When it comes to global policy, the people have no say and effectively no sway on their governments. There is consequently no electoral pressure on governments - no direct political incentive for them to cooperate with one another.

Simpol solves both these problems. Firstly, by offering a multi-issue policy framework where nations that may lose out on one issue can gain on another, Simpol uniquely offers a far better prospect of getting all nations to co-operate. Moreover, by allowing citizens to use their votes to incentivise politicians and governments, Simpol may ultimately offer a more likely means of solving today's global problems. But whether it does or not, Simpol can be supported without compromising your party's policy or the government's position in current international negotiations. Simpol works in parallel, and so is entirely complementary to those efforts.

So please sign the Simpol Pledge and lend YOUR support to Simpol.

Simpol's policy content will, when the time comes, be developed by citizens via processes to be hosted by each national Simpol organisation, and overseen by the International Simultaneous Policy Organisation. These processes would be launched only once sufficient support in principle for Simpol was forthcoming from politicians around the world.

Should that point be reached, these policy development processes will allow supporters in each country to design, propose and refine Simpol's policies. For this, they may draw on proposals from NGOs, politicians, think-tanks or on those provided by their own chosen experts.

This would be followed by an international negotiation to arrive at a final set of measures to be implemented by nations globally and simultaneously. Prior to implementation, citizens in democratic countries would be invited to confirm their agreement.

In that way Simpol's policy content remains:

• Flexible: The policies remain open to revision at all times until the point of implementation so ensuring they are fully appropriate for then-prevailing world conditions;
• Democratic: Supporters joining the campaign after the launch of the policy development process would still have the opportunity to contribute until final policies had been internationally negotiated and agreed.

Simpol is also globally inclusive. Not only will it allow citizens in democratic countries to participate in developing policy, the governments of non-democratic nations would, at the appropriate point, be invited to participate in international negotiations to reach a final agreement.

Because policy development would only commence once sufficient support from politicians were forthcoming, politicians who sign the Simpol Pledge at this stage support to the campaign only in principle. Should the process for developing Simpol's policy content eventually commence and result in any international agreement, and had you already signed the Pledge, you would be invited to re-confirm your support prior to voting in parliament to implement those policies.

Thus, not only is your support for Simpol given only in principle at this stage, Simpol's policy development, when it occurs, would remain open, democratic and flexible at all times until implementation and you would be asked, at that point, to re-confirm your support. This means you can sign the Pledge without risk, and without coming into any conflict with your party's present policies.

To ensure Simpol only includes policies that genuinely require simultaneous implementation, the process incorporates a unique criterion for screening out national policies. In this way it achieves a healthy subsidiarity between the global level and the national level, so safe-guarding national sovereignty. This criterion is expressed in the following question:

Would the unilateral implementation of the policy by a single nation (or by a restricted group of nations) be likely to cause it a significant competitive disadvantage?

If the answer is:

• No: the policy does not qualify for inclusion in Simpol because it could be implemented by any nation (or restricted group of nations) alone.
• Yes: the policy qualifies for inclusion in Simpol.

In this way, only appropriate policies are included while the national sovereignty of all nations is maintained. By signing the Simpol Pledge you are therefore promoting your nation's interest to cooperate to solve global problems while still protecting its right to self-determination on all issues that have no international impact.

No, for several reasons:

1. The development of Simpol's global policies remains an on-going work-in-progress at all times until Simpol's implementation. As such its policies, although emerging in outline, remain to be fully defined and are likely to remain flexible until shortly before implementation. As such, for the foreseeable future, signing the Pledge remains only a commitment in principle; a confirmation of your support only in principle for Simpol and the process it has set in train.
2. Since Simpol's policies remain to be fully defined, there can be no conflict with your party's current international policies. Both you or your party as a whole can support Simpol in parallel to your present policies.
3. Simpol's condition of simultaneous international implementation allows politicians to support important global policies but only on condition that they are implemented by all or sufficient nations together. So, not only can you support such policies without any risk to national economic competitiveness, you can be seen to advocate them while making clear the condition for your support; that condition being, that the policy is to be implemented simultaneously, only when all or sufficient nations also do so. If all nations move together, we all win.

So, carry on supporting your party, but support Simpol too. Doing so is a risk-free, win-win proposition! Please confirm your support today by signing the Simpol Pledge.