TheEarth Charter is an international declaration of fundamental values and principles considered useful by its supporters for building a just, sustainable, and peaceful global society in the 21st century. Created by a global consultation process, and endorsed by organizations representing millions of people, the Charter "seeks to inspire in all peoples a sense of global interdependence and shared responsibility for the well-being of the human family, the greater community of life, andfuture generations."[1] It calls upon humanity to help create a global partnership at a critical juncture in history. The Earth Charter's vision proposes thatenvironmental protection,human rights, equitablehuman development, andpeace are interdependent and indivisible. The Charter attempts to provide a new framework for thinking about and addressing these issues. TheEarth Charter Initiative organization exists to promote the Charter.
The idea of the Earth Charter originated in 1987, byMaurice Strong andMikhail Gorbachev as members of TheClub of Rome, when theUnited NationsWorld Commission on Environment and Development called for a new charter to guide the transition tosustainable development. In 1992, the need for a charter was urged by then-Secretary GeneralBoutros Boutros-Ghali at theRio de JaneiroEarth Summit, but the time for such a declaration was not believed to be right. TheRio Declaration became the statement of the achievable consensus at that time. In 1994, Strong (Chairman of the Earth Summit) and Gorbachev, working through organizations they each founded (the Earth Council andGreen Cross International respectively), restarted the Earth Charter as acivil society initiative, with the help of the government of theNetherlands.[2]
Strong died in November 2015.[2]
"TheArk of Hope[3] was created for a celebration of the Earth Charter held at Shelburne Farms, Vermont on September 9, 2001."[3]
The drafting of the text was done during a six-year worldwide consultation process (1994–2000), overseen by the independent Earth Charter Commission, which was convened by Strong and Gorbachev with the purpose of developing a global consensus on values and principles for a sustainable future. The Commission continues to serve as the steward of the Earth Charter text.
One of the members of the Earth Charter Commission and Steering Committee wasSteven Clark Rockefeller, who, among other things is professor emeritus of Religion atMiddlebury College and an advisory trustee of theRockefeller Brothers Fund.[4] According to a 2001 interview with Rockefeller,[5] he "chaired the Earth Charter international drafting committee". Other members includedAmadou Toumani Touré (Mali),Princess Basma bint Talal (Jordan),Mohamed Sahnoun (Algeria),A. T. Ariyaratne (Sri Lanka),Wakako Hironaka (Japan),Erna Witoelar (Indonesia),Ruud Lubbers (The Netherlands),Federico Mayor (Spain),Mercedes Sosa (Argentina),Leonardo Boff (Brazil),Yolanda Kakabadse (Ecuador),Shridath Ramphal (Guyana),Elizabeth May (Canada),Severn Cullis-Suzuki (Canada), and others.[6]
The final text of the Earth Charter was approved at a meeting of the Earth Charter Commission at theUNESCO headquarters in Paris in March 2000. The official launch was on 29 June 2000 in a ceremony at ThePeace Palace inThe Hague, Netherlands.Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands attended the ceremony.
The approximately 2,400 word document is divided into sections (called pillars), which have 16 main principles containing 61 supporting principles.[7] The document opens with a preamble and ends with a conclusion entitled "The Way Forward".
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.[8]
The four pillars and sixteen principles of the Earth Charter are:[8]
I. Respect and Care for the Community of Life
II. Ecological Integrity
III. Social and Economic Justice
IV. Democracy, Nonviolence, and Peace
The Charter has been formally endorsed by organizations such as theUNESCO,[9] over 250 universities around the world,[10] theWorld Conservation Union of IUCN, the Indian National Capital Territory ofDelhi,[11] the 2001U.S. Conference of Mayors,[12] and dozens of youth organizations.[13]
Various religious groups from a wide range of religions support the Earth Charter. TheSoka Gakkai International, representing more than 12 million Buddhists worldwide, has supported the Earth Charter since its inception.[14] TheUnitarian Universalist Association of Congregations representing over 1000 Unitarian Universalist congregations in the United States supports the measure.[15] The official body of theBaháʼí Faith religion reacted by saying "While not officially endorsing the Earth Charter, the Baháʼí International Community considers the effort toward drafting it and activities in support of its essential objectives to be highly commendable, and it will continue to participate in related activities, such as conferences, forums and the like."[16] The World Pantheist Movement, which supports a naturalistic view of religion, endorses the plan.[17] TheLeadership Conference of Women Religious, a Catholic organization in the United States approved the measure in 2004.[18] TheEpiscopal Diocese of Newark (New Jersey), an Episcopalian Christian organization, endorsed the Earth Charter in 2009.[19]
In May 1992, more than 650 representatives ofindigenous peoples adopted their own 109-point Indigenous Peoples Earth Charter.[20] Representatives of indigenous peoples also participated in the Earth Charter consultations in 1996.[21] In 2000, the Russian Association of the Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON), representing 31 indigenous peoples living in Siberia and far eastern Russia, formally endorsed the Earth Charter.[22]
Mayor Hsu ofTainan, a city of 750,000 inTaiwan, endorsed the charter in 2007.[23] The cities ofCorvallis (Oregon), Berkeley (California), Pickering (Canada) and 21 towns in Vermont have endorsed the measure.[24][25][26] Nine other towns in Vermont rejected measures endorsing the Earth Charter.[27]
Engineers Without Borders, an international association whose mission is to help its member groups assist poor communities in their respective countries and around the world, also endorses the Earth Charter.[28] The Green Party ofBotswana supports the plan.[29] TheAfrican Conservation Foundation describes the Earth Charter movement as a "partner".[30]
In the UK, Bournemouth Borough Council endorsed the Charter in 2008.[citation needed]
Earth Charter International, the organization responsible for promoting the Charter, states in its literature that the Earth Charter is respectful and inclusive of all religious traditions. They say that the Charter itself makes no statements to support claims of intent to supplant any of the world's religions or to create a world government. ECI asserts that the Charter is a statement of common ethical values towards sustainability, that recognizes humanity's shared responsibility to the Earth and to each other.[31]
The Charter has received opposition from several groups. For example, in theUnited States, members of religious groups, such as theReligious Right have objected to the document on the grounds that it issecular, and espousessocialism, even though it does not; "From time to time critics of the Earth Charter express a concern that it promotessocialism. This reflects a misunderstanding of the nature and purpose of the document.The Earth Charter highlights the importance of social and economic justice, but it doesnot advocate socialism as a political and economic strategy for achieving it."[32] In addition, some conservatives[who?] cite an informal comment by Mikhail Gorbachev that the document is "a kind ofTen Commandments"; and point to the fact that at the 2002World Summit on Sustainable Development inJohannesburg,South Africa, a copy of the document was placed symbolically in an "Ark of Hope"[3] — an independent project by the American artist Sally Linder.
