Stephanie Kodish

December 2, 2001

America lost her aura of invincibility on September 11, 2001, and the world instantaneously shifted into another era.  The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center signified a collision of world dilemmas that has triggered a long awaited, urgent response to the demand for change.  World tragedies necessitate the reaction of a united global society dedicated to responsible action and committed to peace.  Identifying a common motivation and mode of communication to which all individuals can relate is a prerequisite component to avoiding destruction and moving towards progress.  Humanity's dependence upon the planet earth serves as the natural primary connection between all people.  By joining this undeniable truth with the notions underpinning the Earth Charter,[1] a blue print for building a new foundation to address our current reality can be identified.

A Brief Background

The United Nations' (UN) prime focus, since its inception in 1945, has been world security.[2]  Significantly, the last three decades of international relations have realized the importance of prioritizing the safety and preservation of the world environment.[3]  Indeed, the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment signaled that the UN had expanded its understanding of "world security" to include ecological security.[4]  Soon after this shift in policy, in 1987, Gro Harlem Brundtland introduced the notion of the Earth Charter at the World Commission on the Environment and Development.[5]  The drafting process for the Earth Charter officially began in 1992 at the UN Conference on Environment and Development (also known as the Earth Summit), held in Rio de Janeiro.[6]  Since its inception, the aim of the Earth Charter has been to create a "universal declaration" that would create new norms "to maintain the livelihoods of life on our shared planet" and "to guide behavior in the transition to sustainable development."[7]

To understand why the Earth Charter can be an effective tool for global change, it is essential to consider the impressive planning behind the Charter's preparatory work.  Beginning in 1995, the Earth Council, and a number of its partner organizations, conducted extensive consultations and global dialogues in an array of interdisciplinary topics.  This research sought to achieve a common understanding of principles of environmental protection and sustainable living.[8]  The Earth Charter Commission was formed to oversee the consultation process and draft of the Charter.

During the following five years, conferences, regional and international conventions, and on-line forums were convened to discuss common values for the text for the Earth Charter.  These meetings brought together representatives of non-governmental organizations, National Councils for Sustainable Development, governments, international lawyers, grassroots community members, multi-stakeholders, experts in diverse fields, and a host of other groups.  On March 24, 2000, the council completed the final draft of the Earth Charter.[9]  As Professor Steven Rockefeller explained, this elaborate process was a dedicated effort by individuals representing diverse world religions, cultures, and economies to achieve agreement on concepts and definitions for an ethical foundation that would move the world's population towards a culture of peace.[10]

The Earth Charter

The preamble of the Earth Charter assesses the broad issues of our time.  It integrates the problems of our generation by recognizing the role of humanity and the choices it must continuously and consciously make.  The Earth Charter provides us with the opportunity to pursue an ethical lifestyle.[11]  Moreover, the Earth Charter's philosophy offers a basis for understanding the realm of possibilities from which humanity may determine its future.  These possibilities stem from four main principles: Respect and Care for the Community of Life; Ecological Integrity; Social and Economic Justice; and Democracy, Nonviolence, and Peace.[12]

The Earth Charter embodies ethical principles that-if employed by humanity-provide a path for transcending the violence, poverty, economic disparity, finite resources, inequality, and environmental devastation that confront our global community.[13]  Used as a guide, the Earth Charter provides the foundation for building a global society based on "respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice and a culture of peace."[14]  In this new era of global terrorism, the vitality of this mechanism suffuses every generation and culture with a role of responsibility and the ability to direct the future towards global security and sustainability.

The Life of the Earth Charter

The Earth Charter is grounded in ethics and articulates that the roles of human responsibility and decision are the determining factors of its effectiveness.  With language connecting individual lives to one other, to the well-being of community, and to the global society, the principles of the Earth Charter surpass the mundane, empty rhetoric of a political document.  Instead, the principles function as moral guidance, inspiration for a fresh societal paradigm, and as actions that can be brought into fruition without the necessity of cumbersome and often unavailable resources.  The vitality of these visionary principles are best expressed in life, not on paper.

The life of the Earth Charter is evidenced by the emergence of programs, projects, organizations, workshops, and celebrations happening throughout the world.[15]  These invaluable structures promote alternative patterns of thought and deed, which are employed to reshape and repair the issues facing our era.  The various forms function to educate, endorse, promote, campaign, and disseminate information about the Earth Charter.[16]  Whether the Charter's presence is manifested in diverse countries such as Tajikistan, the Philippines, Jordan, Greenland or Brazil, or in events including the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders, the IUCN World Conference, or Rock in Rio Music Festival, or through organizations like Green Cross International, Earth Scouts, UNESCO, or Australia National Earth Charter Committee, the involvement in the Charter is vast and contagious.[17]

No Useful Obstacles

Setting aside the youth of the Earth Charter, other obstacles are serving to impede association with-and therefore action on-its principles.  The conceptions embedded in the Earth Charter are idealistic and seemingly impractical to a skeptical mind, and, undeniably, multiple forces with aims contrary to the Earth Charter exist.  People are apathetic and reluctant to take responsibility for their own actions, let alone the future consequences of those actions.  But dwelling on barriers is underestimates the integrity and dedication of human capability.  With buildings falling, anthrax spreading, stones being thrown, AIDS festering, and other statistical nightmares and human travesties, there is no time for pessimism.  While awareness of the barricades are essential to move beyond them, focus must be directed towards aspirations and promising accomplishments.

Conclusion

No absolute solution exists.  There is no research that can provide definitive responses as to what will protect the security and ensure the sustainability of life.  Unless and until we recognize the inherent responsibility of human kind in determining its own fate, we will continue to be victims to those uninhibited by fear.  Through dedication and action upon the principles of the Earth Charter, a new global order may emerge based on principles that address and solve the ills of our world.  In this time of instability, mistrust, and fear it is vital to act with reverence toward the one home we all must share.  To do so effectively, it is imperative that we work together.  The Earth Charter provides the opportunity-through a stable and inclusive framework-to act progressively as a global community creating security and sustainability.

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[1] The Earth Charter Commission, The Earth Charter (March 2000), available at http://www.earthcharter.org/draft/charter.rtf.

[2] Earth Charter, The Earth Charter Initiative Handbook, 24 (last visited October 24, 2001), available at http://www.earthcharter.org/resources/handbook.pdf.

[3] Id.

[4] Id.

[5] Id. at 25.

[6] Id.

[7] Id.

[8] Id. at 26.

[9] Id. at 27.

[10] Professor Steven Rockefeller, Address at For Love of the Earth, A Celebration of the Earth Charter, Shelburne Farms, Vermont (September 9, 2001).

[11] See n.1.

[12] Id.

[13] Id.

[14] Id.

[15] The Earth Charter Initiative International Secretariat, The Earth Charter In Action 2000 (2000).

[16] Id.

[17] Id.