E A R T H C H A R T E R I N T E R N A T I O N A L

Introducing

The Earth Charter

Values and Principles for a Just, Sustainable, and Peaceful

Global Society in the 21st CenturyThere is nothing else in global civil society

with the demonstrated power of the Earth Charter

to unite people from across divisions

of culture, religion, and politics ...

background, sector, and profession ...

and inspire them to work together for a world that is

more just, more sustainable, and more peaceful.

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The Earth CharterRepresents a Global Consensus on Shared Values and Ethics

for Building a More Just, Sustainable, and Peaceful World

1. Respect Earth and life in all its diversity.

2. Care for the community of life ...

3. Build democratic societies ...

4. Secure Earth's bounty and beauty ...

5. Protect and restore ... Earth's ecological

systems ...

6. Prevent harm ... apply a precautionary

approach

7. Adopt [sustainable] patterns of production,

consumption, and reproduction ...

8. Advance the study of ecological

sustainability ...

9. Eradicate poverty ...

10. Ensure that economic activities ... promote human development ...

11. Affirm gender equality ... ensure universal access

12. Uphold the right of all ... to a natural and social environment

13. Strengthen democratic institutions ...

14. Integrate [sustainability] into formal education and life-long learning ...

15. Treat all living beings with respect and consideration

16. Promote a culture of ... peace

I. Respect for

nature

II. Universal human

rights

III. Economic justice

IV. A culture of peace

Core sustainability values + Shared ethical principles = Widely endorsed and inspiring call to action

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Universal Responsbility

Respect

Community of Life Common but Differentiated ResponsabilityCommon Good

Peace and Non-Violence

Interdependency

Eradication of poverty

Equitable Economic Development

Human Rights

Democracy

Environmental Protection

Sustainable Living

Transnational Responsibility

Respect for Nature

Participation

Gender Equality

Key Themes of the Earth Charter

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A Brief History of the Earth Charter Initiative

1987 -1992

Origins - The Brundtland Commission calls for “a new charter or universal declaration” on environment and development to “guide state and inter-state behavior.” UN Earth Charter process is stopped at Earth Summit; Rio Declaration adopted instead (1992)

1994 -2000

Phase 1 - Development and Global Consultation

Maurice Strong and Mikhail Gorbachev relaunch Earth Charter as a civil society initiative; drafting and consultation process begins (1994); Earth Charter Commission created (1997); 5,000 people contribute comments

2000 -2005

Phase 2 - Launch and EstablishmentFinal text approved and launched, and endorsement campaign begins (2000); Earth Charter promoted strongly at WSSD in Johannesburg, but not formally adopted (2002); local and grassroots action grows, important international endorsements continue (such as IUCN, 2004)

2006 - Phase 3 - Expansion with Action OrientationStrategic review conducted (2005); decision taken to expand the Initiative, with new international centers and programs, and intent to greatly increase awareness, impact, and active commitment to sustainable development

E A R T H C H A R T E R I N T E R N A T I O N A L

A Brief History of the Earth Charter Initiative

1987 -1992

Origins - The Brundtland Commission calls for “a new charter or universal declaration” on environment and development to “guide state and inter-state behavior.” UN Earth Charter process is stopped at Earth Summit; Rio Declaration adopted instead (1992)

1994 -2000

Phase 1 - Development and Global Consultation

Maurice Strong and Mikhail Gorbachev relaunch Earth Charter as a civil society initiative; drafting and consultation process begins (1994); Earth Charter Commission created (1996); 5,000 people contribute comments

2000 -2005

Phase 2 - Launch and EstablishmentFinal text approved and launched, and endorsement campaign begins (2000); Earth Charter promoted strongly at WSSD in Johannesburg, but not formally adopted (2002); local and grassroots action grows, important international endorsements continue (such as IUCN, 2004)

2006 - Phase 3 - Expansion with Action OrientationStrategic review conducted (2005); decision taken to expand the Initiative, with new international centers and programs, and intent to greatly increase awareness, impact, and active commitment to sustainable development

E A R T H C H A R T E R I N T E R N A T I O N A L

A Brief History of the Earth Charter Initiative

1987 -1992

Origins - The Brundtland Commission calls for “a new charter or universal declaration” on environment and development to “guide state and inter-state behavior.” UN Earth Charter process is stopped at Earth Summit; Rio Declaration adopted instead (1992)

1994 -2000

Phase 1 - Development and Global Consultation

Maurice Strong and Mikhail Gorbachev relaunch Earth Charter as a civil society initiative; drafting and consultation process begins (1994); Earth Charter Commission created (1997); 5,000 people contribute comments

2000 -2005

Phase 2 - Launch and EstablishmentFinal text approved and launched, and endorsement campaign begins (2000); Earth Charter promoted strongly at WSSD in Johannesburg, but not formally adopted (2002); local and grassroots action grows, important international endorsements continue (such as IUCN, 2004)

2006 - Phase 3 - Expansion with Action OrientationStrategic review conducted (2005); decision taken to expand the Initiative, with new international centers and programs, and intent to greatly increase awareness, impact, and active commitment to sustainable development

E A R T H C H A R T E R I N T E R N A T I O N A L

A Brief History of the Earth Charter Initiative

1987 -1992

Origins - The Brundtland Commission calls for “a new charter or universal declaration” on environment and development to “guide state and inter-state behavior.” UN Earth Charter process is stopped at Earth Summit; Rio Declaration adopted instead (1992)

1994 -2000

Phase 1 - Development and Global Consultation

Maurice Strong and Mikhail Gorbachev re-launch Earth Charter as a civil society initiative; drafting and consultation process begins (1994); Earth Charter Commission created (1997); 5,000 people contribute comments

2000 -2005

Phase 2 - Launch and EstablishmentFinal text approved and launched, and endorsement campaign begins (2000); Earth Charter promoted strongly at WSSD in Johannesburg, but not formally adopted (2002); local and grassroots action grows, important international endorsements continue (such as IUCN, 2004)

2006 - Phase 3 - Expansion with Action OrientationStrategic review conducted (2005); decision taken to expand the Initiative, with new international centers and programs, and intent to greatly increase awareness, impact, and active commitment to sustainable development

E A R T H C H A R T E R I N T E R N A T I O N A L

Earth Charter as global ethics

• Earth Charter is consensus on integrated vision on shared moral values, basic ethical principles and practical guidelines

– Expresses common core of attitudes that can unite people in the midst of all their diversity

• Recognizing that our environmental, economic, social, political, and spiritual challenges are interdependent

– The Earth Charter provides a new integrated framework for thinking about and addressing these issues

• The result is a fresh broad conception of what constitutes a sustainable society and sustainable development

• Earth Charter drives for a global partnership of all peoples and nations to ensure for present and future generations the well-being of humanity and the larger community of life

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• The principle of universal responsibility, stated in paragraph five of the Preamble of the Earth Charter, is of fundamental importance in meeting the critical challenges of the twenty-first century

• Can govern the conduct of people, organizations and nations in their relations with each other and the Earth

• It challenges people to think about ethical values and to expand their ethical consciousness

– A moral ideal – of how people could ideally live with one another and in relation to the natural world

• EC provides a framework, a tool for testing our moral thinking

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• It is important to recognize that the Earth Charter contains general ethical principles as distinct from rules

– Rules tell one exactly what to do in a specific situation – General principles tell us what to think about when we are deciding

what to do– We also live in a complex world and there will be at times conflict

between different ethical principles • There is frequently a tension between individual freedom and securing justice

for all

• There can be tension between the needs of present generations and the needs of future generations

• Also between the short-term interests of people and the long-term health of ecosystems

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• We believe it is the discomfort many people have with the current state of the world and their search for an alternative vision of development that ensures a better future for all. Many want to change the way we relate to each other and to the larger living world. Individuals and groups with different concerns see the Earth Charter as a meaningful instrument that speaks to their concerns and helps connect to a larger collaborative good

• It may also have to do with the fact that an ethic is a publicly shared set of values and norms – this may or may not mean that it is precisely stated in some set of words like a declaration or charter, but the fact that something is embedded in the form of a public statement which can be endorsed or accepted gives it a certain social reality and thus, if it is signed up to by many thinkers throughout the world, a certain claim to being a global ethic in this sense

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Why Earth Charter?

• It is global in that it is actually accepted by large number of people from all over the globe

– a public document available for endorsement by individuals who do so in the knowledge that they endorse something endorsed by hundreds of thousands of others

– The values of the Earth Charter are not merely shared in the sense that they are the same for different people; they are shared in the stronger sense of people belonging to a community of shared values

• It is global in that it was formed as a result of a wide process of global consultation

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• The Earth Charter should not be read as a final moral truth but as a tool for promoting international cooperation and solidarity for changes which need to be made in the way we collectively behave

– Endorsing it or treating it as one's global ethic is not signing up to everything in it nor should it be treated by others as so doing. Rather it’s an ethical perspective from which one is prepared to think, deliberate and engage in dialogue

• Many of the key principles are capable of different interpretations

– it should not be seen as the final unambiguous set of moral truths but a best approximation which humans can use and co-operate in using to forge common understandings and develop common goals

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What Earth Charter can offer

• A global citizen who is in search of reasonable global ethic can find it in the Earth Charter

– a concrete expression of a global ethic which otherwise might seem too abstract and undefined

• Through the Earth Charter can be also found a genuine and real community of like-minded people across the world united in its inspirational power

– It is not just an idea in the mind of the global citizen but actually shared by agents from all over the world

• The Earth Charter provides one approach for educating and motivating people and governments to act with the necessary sense of universal responsibility

– stresses both the inner motivational resources of individuals and the external social structures and institutions

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• The UNESCO General Conference of member states endorsed the Earth Charter in 2003 as “an important ethical framework for sustainable development” and as “an educational tool.”

• UNESCO has chosen to emphasize the importance of teaching and learning about the values and life styles that communities must embrace, if they are to make the transition to sustainable development.

– In this regard, UNESCO is recommending the Earth Charter as a valuable ethical guide and teaching tool. The Earth Charter is already being used widely in schools, colleges, and universities

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The Earth Charter Initiative is a global network of people, organizations, and institutions who participate in promoting the Earth Charter, and in implementing its principles in practice in different areas, including ...

Education forSustainable Development

Youth Action & Empowerment

The MediaBusiness Engagementin Global Ethics

Global Governance

Religion & Sustainability

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Earth Charter Initiative

• Armenia • Austria • Belarus • Denmark • Finland • France • Germany • Greenland • Hungary • Italy • Kazakhstan • Kyrgyzstan • Latvia • Netherlands • Norway • Portugal • Romania • Russian Federation • Serbia • Spain • Sweden • Switzerland • Tajikistan • United Kingdom • Uzbekistan

• Argentina • Belize • Bolivia • Brazil • Chile • Costa Rica • Cuba • Curacao • Dominican Republic • Honduras • Mexico • Peru • Trinidad And Tobago• Canada • United States

• Benin • Burkina Faso • Cameroon • Congo • Democratic Republic of Congo • Egypt • Ethiopia • Gambia • Ghana • Israel • Jordan • Kenya • Liberia • Mali • Mauritius • Niger • Nigeria • Rwanda • Sierra Leone • South Africa • Togo • Tunisia • Uganda • Zambia • Zimbabwe

• Australia • Bangladesh • China • India • Indonesia • Japan • Malaysia • Nepal • New Zealand / Aoteroa • Pakistan • Singapore • South Korea • Sri Lanka • Thailand • The Philippines

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The Earth Charter youth network

Inspiring Young People to Take Action to Create a More Just, Peaceful and

Sustainable World

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The Earth Charter youth network

• Is active in over 70 countries and at the global level, with diverse individual activists, Youth Groups and Partners

• 60 Earth Charter Youth Groups (ECYGs) in 35 countries use the Earth Charter in various action programs to promote Earth Charter principles

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Earth Charter Youth/Student Groups (ECYGs)

• ECYGs work in their local communities

• Youth groups include a great diversity of young women and men from various ethnic, religious, and socio-economic groups

• Some are existing groups that have decided to become ECYGs due to inspiration of the Earth Charter

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What does an ECYG do?

ECYG activities vary from region to region.

Many groups aim to:

• Raise awareness• Take action• Build local capacity• Help their community• Attend conferences

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What can you do?

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Be part of the Earth Charter Community!

• Make the Earth Charter values part of your daily life

• Promote the Earth Charter vision

• Endorse the Charter

• Volunteer your time for Earth Charter International

• Join the Earth Charter Youth Initiative

• Use Earth Charter Tools

• Take action to realize Earth Charter values in your community, organization, and personal life

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“We stand at a critical moment in Earth's history, a time when humanity

must choose its future. As the world becomes increasingly interdependent and fragile, the future at once holds great peril and great promise. To move forward we must recognize that in the midst of a magnificent diversity of cultures and life forms we are one human family and one Earth community with a common destiny. We must join together to bring forth a sustainable global society founded on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice, and a culture of peace. Towards this end, it is imperative that we, the peoples of Earth, declare our responsibility to one another, to the greater

community of life, and to future generations.” — PreambleThe Earth Charter 2000