The Earth Charter and You

In 1987, the Brundtland Commission (World Commission on Environment and Development) called for a new charter to guide global sustainable development.

Discussions about a Charter for our Earth were held leading up to the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992. In 1994, Maurice Strong (Secretary-General of the Rio Summit and founder of Earth Council) and Mikhail Gorbachev (founder of Green Cross International), began to develop an Earth Charter for civil society. Their initial draft was based on hundreds of international documents.

An independent Earth Charter Commission was formed in 1997 to oversee the development of the Charter, based on consultation and consensus. Drafts were released in 1997 and 1999. The Commission released the final document in March, 2000, and it was formally introduced in ceremonies at The Peace Palace in The Hague.

The Earth Charter is now a global statement on the meaning of sustainability, the necessity of sustainable development, and the principles by which this development should be achieved. It can be used as a basis for educational tools, peace negotiations, and decision-making for legislators, business leaders, and individuals.

Visit the Earth Charter site to learn more.

To read the rest of the Preamble, click here. Click on image to order card on Zazzle.

Caring for the community of life can take you into a lot of different areas - spirituality, animal rights, deep ecology, feminism, wilderness preservation, etc.

I am choosing to highlight Annie Dillard's work because she has a deep reverence and respect for the entire community of life. Her work is poetic and mystical, and comes from a sense of presence and awareness of the world around her.

With an increasingly globalized world, how do we interact in just, sustainable, and peaceful ways?

This principle speaks to future generations and so I automatically thought about the long-term effects of climate change. Sometimes when I talk about the Earth Charter, people will dismiss it by saying that they don't believe that climate change is caused by humans. The Earth Charter does not take a stand on issues such as these. Instead, it provides guidelines for living. We all know that, as humans, we sometimes make decisions that are harmful to our planet and to us as humans. The Earth Charter provides a blueprint for doing what is ethical and beneficial for Earth and for us.

I do not have one specific book to recommend so I will let Amazon list its most popular.

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There is good constructive debate around the precautionary principle.

According to Wikipedia, "The precautionary principle is a moral and political principle which states that if an action or policy might cause severe or irreversible harm to the public or to the environment, in the absence of a scientific consensus that harm would not ensue, the burden of proof falls on those who would advocate taking the action."

As always, a thorough and long-term view is required. Here are some books that address the debate.

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This principle can be explored in several different areas - unlimited growth, our consumerist society, population explosion, reproductive issues, etc. A principle is defined as "an accepted or professed rule of action or conduct." This particular principle does not imply a stand on a particular issue, but asks us to thoughtfully explore issues in terms of Earth's regenerative capacities, human rights, and community well-being in both the short term and long term.

This principle covers the following areas:

a. Supporting international scientific and technical cooperation on sustainability, with special attention to the needs of developing nations.

b. Recognizing and preserving the traditional knowledge and spiritual wisdom in all cultures that contribute to environmental protection and human well-being.

c. Ensuring that information of vital importance to human health and environmental protection, including genetic information, remains available in the public domain.

This principles involves basic human rights for....

a. Potable water, clean air, food security, uncontaminated soil, shelter, and safe sanitation.
b. Education and resources to secure a sustainable livelihood, and social security and safety nets for those who are unable to support themselves.
c. The ignored, the vulnerable, and those who suffer.

I Like My Coffee Fair by kimmanleyort

This principle addresses the following areas:

a. Wealth disparities.
b. International debt.
c. Fair trade and labor standards.
d. Corporate transparency and responsibility.

This principle revolves around the rights of women and girls and strengthening families.

This principle speaks to eliminating discrimination of all kinds and restoring places of cultural and spiritual significance.

a. Uphold the right of everyone to receive clear and timely information on environmental matters and all development plans and activities which are likely to affect them or in which they have an interest.

b. Support local, regional and global civil society, and promote the meaningful participation of all interested individuals and organizations in decision making.

c. Protect the rights to freedom of opinion, expression, peaceful assembly, association, and dissent.

d. Institute effective and efficient access to administrative and independent judicial procedures, including remedies and redress for environmental harm and the threat of such harm.

e. Eliminate corruption in all public and private institutions.

f. Strengthen local communities, enabling them to care for their environments, and assign environmental responsibilities to the levels of government where they can be carried out most effectively.

a. Provide all, especially children and youth, with educational opportunities that empower them to contribute actively to sustainable development.

b. Promote the contribution of the arts and humanities as well as the sciences in sustainability education.

c. Enhance the role of the mass media in raising awareness of ecological and social challenges.

d. Recognize the importance of moral and spiritual education for sustainable living.

a. Prevent cruelty to animals kept in human societies and protect them from suffering.

b. Protect wild animals from methods of hunting, trapping, and fishing that cause extreme, prolonged, or avoidable suffering.

c. Avoid or eliminate to the full extent possible the taking or destruction of non-targeted species.

a. Encourage and support mutual understanding, solidarity, and cooperation among all peoples and within and among nations.

b. Implement comprehensive strategies to prevent violent conflict and use collaborative problem solving to manage and resolve environmental conflicts and other disputes.

c. Demilitarize national security systems to the level of a non-provocative defense posture, and convert military resources to peaceful purposes, including ecological restoration.

d. Eliminate nuclear, biological, and toxic weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.

e. Ensure that the use of orbital and outer space supports environmental protection and peace.

f. Recognize that peace is the wholeness created by right relationships with oneself, other persons, other cultures, other life, Earth, and the larger whole of which all are a part.