PPP’s exacerbate warming.

PSI’s report “Why Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) don’t work” explores the importance of public investment. This accompanying report examines private sector motives, capabilities, influence and performance. It is the culmination of thirty years experience with and assessment of privatization, in countries both rich and poor. It demystifies the shadowy PPP processes, most of which hide behind confidential negotiations to protect commercial secrecy. There are no public consultations, lots of false promises, and incredibly complex contracts, all designed to protect corporate profits. There is also a fair amount of bribery, as privatization contracts can be extremely valuable. PPPs are used to conceal public borrowing, while providing long-term state guarantees for profits to private companies. Private sector corporations must maximize profits if they are to survive. This is fundamentally incompatible with protecting the environment and ensuring universal access to quality public services. The report concludes that PPPs are an expensive and inefficient way of financing infrastructure and services. The report is an excellent working paper that PSI is proposing to affiliates to better understand privatization and its dangers. The different arguments need to be considered on their own merits and in conjunction with the others, as privatization is an inherently complex process. Unions can extract information from this reference document and apply it to their specific contexts.