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June 1997 The Earth Charter in its Context By Richard M. Clugston

The Earth Charter - a legally binding ethical framework that acknowledges the sentience and intrinsic worth of animals and nature - is currently in the drafting stage. Richard Clugston explains its origin and why it's necessary.

The Earth Charter provides a significant arena for advancing a more ethical vision for human relations with the natural world, and for promoting lifestyle and policy directions for a less violent society. For over 10 years, representatives of major sectors of international policy-making - including business, government and civil society - have debated the shape of such a guiding ethical vision. The recently developed Earth Charter Benchmark Draft suggests the dimensions of an emerging ethical consensus, which includes a moral obligation on the part of humans to recognize the intrinsic value of nature and to treat animals decently.

The History of the Earth Charter

The proposal to create an Earth Charter can be traced back to Our Common Future, the report issued in 1987 by the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED). In this report, the Commission recommended that the United Nations undertake "to consolidate and extend relevant legal principles in a new charter to guide state behavior in the transition to sustainable development." The proposed new charter should serve as "a universal declaration" that sets forth "new norms for state and interstate behavior needed to maintain livelihoods and life on our shared planet."

    At the first meeting of the United Nations Preparatory Committee for the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) - the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro - the UNCED Secretariat proposed taking up the challenge of creating an Earth Charter. The proposal attracted much support and several draft Earth Charters were prepared and widely circulated. However, the time was not right for intergovernmental agreement on an Earth Charter. In its place, the Earth Summit approved the "Rio Declaration on Environment and Development." The Rio Declaration falls short of the aspirations many people had for the Earth Charter, and it is quite anthropocentric. At the conclusion of the Earth Summit, Maurice Strong, the UNCED Secretary General, called for ongoing international efforts to reach an agreement on an Earth Charter.

    A new Earth Charter initiative was started in 1994 through the collaborative efforts of Maurice Strong and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Following the first international workshop on the Earth Charter in May 1995, an Earth Charter Management Committee, chaired by Strong, was established to oversee the project. During the past two years, Earth Charter consultation has been carried out in connection with the "Rio Plus Five" review organized by the Costa Rica-based Earth Council, set up after the Earth Summit to monitor progress towards sustainable development.

    The Earth Council has emphasized practices and living belief systems that most effectively promote sustainable living. During the Rio Plus Five Forum for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in March 1997, participants identified relevant ethical principles and practical guidelines to include in the Earth Charter. The benchmark draft of the Earth Charter reflects these discussions, incorporating key themes that emerged in the presentations and workshops.

Why We Need an Earth Charter

We must change the worldview that controls our modern age. Animal exploitation and the destruction of nature are encouraged by mistaken human assumptions that animals and nature have no sentience or value apart from their usefulness to humans. Until there is a widespread shift in these beliefs and attitudes, we will be unable to create a truly humane society.

    Such beliefs and values have shaped our culture. They have led to callous and violent treatment of animals and the earth. It is clear that our basic assumptions must change. Scientists, religious leaders, educators and politicians must begin to recognize that the community of life on earth, as Thomas Berry says, is a communion of subjects, not a collection of objects. With such a shift in worldview, we would see our economics, science, and education engender compassion for all sentient beings, and contribute to lifestyles and business practices which are ecologically sound, socially just and humane.

    The Earth Charter process is the major international arena for debate over the ethics and values that should guide economies and societies in the 21st century. The consultation will last until March 1998 and will be followed by a two-year advocacy campaign ending in June 2000. At that time, it is hoped that the Earth Charter will be approved by the U.N. General Assembly to facilitate the translation of these principles into law and practice by governments throughout the world. Between now and March 1998, you and your constituencies are invited to send us input on the benchmark draft. A plan for advocacy will be drawn up in June 1998 to initiate the next stage. Suggestions for the campaign are also welcome. Richard M. Clugston, Ph.D, is Executive Director of Center for Respect of Life and Environment (CRLE), 2100 L St., NW, Washington, DC, 20037. CRLE@aol.com. CRLE is assisting in gathering input for the final Earth Charter. CRLE is deeply committed to promoting those earth ethics and compassionate practices necessary for a humane and sustainable world. This article is adapted from two papers: "An Ethical Framework for a Humane Society," by Richard M. Clugston, HSUS News, Summer 1997; and "The Earth Charter Process," by Steven Rockefeller, Earth Ethics, Winter/Spring 1997.

Some additional information.

Here follow the basic principles outlined in the Earth Charter.

1. Respect Earth and all life. Earth, each life form, and living beings possess intrinsic value and warrant respect independently of their utilitarian value to humanity.

2. Care for Earth, protecting and restoring the diversity, integrity, and beauty of the planet's ecosystems. Where there is risk of irreversible or serious damage to the environment, precautionary action must be taken to prevent harm.

3. Live sustainably, promoting and adopting modes of consumption, production and reproduction that respect and safeguard human rights and the regenerative capacities of Earth.

4. Establish justice and defend without discrimination the right of all people to life, liberty and security of person within an environment adequate for human health and spiritual well-being. People have a right to potable water, clean air, uncontaminated soil and food security.

5. Share equitably the benefits of natural resource use and a healthy environment among the nations, between rich and poor, between males and females, between present and future generations, and internalize all environmental, social and economic costs.

6. Promote social development and financial systems that create and maintain sustainable livelihoods, eradicate poverty and strengthen local communities.

7. Practice non-violence, recognizing that peace is the wholeness created by harmonious and balanced relationships with oneself, other persons, other life forms and Earth.

8. Strengthen processes that empower people to participate effectively in decision-making and ensure transparency and accountability in governance and administration in all sectors of society.

9. Reaffirm that indigenous and tribal peoples have a vital role in the care and protection of Mother Earth. They have the right to retain their spirituality, knowledge, lands, territories and resources.

10. Affirm that gender equality is a prerequisite for sustainable development.

11. Secure the right to sexual and reproductive health, with special concern for women and girls.

12. Promote the participation of youth as accountable agents of change for local bioregional and global sustainability.

13. Advance and put to use scientific and other types of knowledge and technologies that promote sustainable living and protect the environment.

14. Ensure that people throughout their lives have opportunities to acquire the knowledge, values and practical skills needed to build sustainable communities.

15. Treat all creatures with compassion and protect them from cruelty and wanton destruction.

16. Do not do to the environment of others what you do not want done to your environment.

17. Protect and restore places of outstanding ecological, cultural, esthetic, spiritual and scientific significance.

18. Cultivate and act with a sense of shared responsibility for the well-being of the Earth Community. Every person, institution and government has a duty to advance the invisible goals of justice for all, sustainability, world peace, and respect and care for the larger community of life.

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