Post by Olivia Gilmore
Yesterday’s
event hosted by the Earth Charter, "Collaboration and Dialogue on Ethics, Sustainability, and the Earth Charter", brought a broad range of
perspectives, talents, and stories to the stage. The opening session
began with a poem read by Severn
Suzuki. She then spoke to the relevance of the Earth Charter to
Rio+20 and sustainability today. While voicing her disappointment
that declarations born out of this year’s convention are not likely
to be as ambitious as those in Rio in 1992, she remarked that it is
still uplifting to see 50,000 people here pursuing similar goals.
Rio+20 is but one part in the global sustainability movement. Suzuki
asks us to question how we can go forward if we cannot agree to a set
of guiding principles? She thinks the Earth Charter can bridge the
gap between ideology and policy. She concluded with the following
thought, “One of the most powerful tools for the human race is
intergenerational love. Intergenerational love is the reason I know
we will find a path […] to a just, democratic, sustainable future.”
In
first session alone powerful questions were asked and discontent with
the status quo made apparent. Severn Suzuki asked, “What does it
mean when leaders neglect to lead?” When huge institutions such as
the World Bank and IMF are becoming dated and we are in need of an
entirely new system of economics, documents such as the Earth
Charter, a people’s document, can create a credible momentum of the
people from the grassroots to policy level.
In
the following session on viewing business models through an Earth
Charter lens, panelist Ricardo Young built upon these sentiments,
asserting that the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights is
dated and fragmented. The declaration is anthropocentric in focus,
as if all things on Earth exist only to serve man’s purposes. In
contrast, the Earth Charter accounts for the systemic complexity of
life on earth. Young believes that every sentence in the Earth
Charter has a huge pedagogical impact. He suggests that companies in
the private sector adopt the Earth Charter as their ethical
benchmark.
Marina
Silva joined the panel and was presented with this question: What is
your dream for companies in the future? What changes should they
make? In response, Silva spoke at length on the current crisis we
are facing as a civilization, a crisis that involves social,
environmental, economic, and ethical issues. She lamented the lack of
a strong UN body to enforce environmental regulations and funding
mechanisms for environmental initiatives. The Earth Charter, she
says, is a document of commitment. It should be given to heads of
states and addressed at the highest levels of government. If we
leave Rio with a generic agreement it will be very unfortunate for
this severe situation.
Each
session brought forth a different perspective than the last, from
reforming our education systems to green capitalism vs. green economy
to the collective depression caused by a consumerist society. It was
an emotionally charged day, which more than anything else,
highlighted the inspiration so many people have found in the Earth
Charter.
Dear Olivia, thank you very much for your report of this wonderful event. You thouhgt that Severn Suzuki was reading a poem to open the event, in fact she was reading from the Earth Charter. What a compliment indeed. Ayla van Kessel spoke at the Earth Charter Youth event and she recommended all to read the Earth Charter document, then you will see it is indeed very poetic and very relevant even more than 10 years after its launch. I am even more impressed by the Earth Charter as a movement which crosses borders and unites people from all over the world. Warmly, Alide
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