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Carlos Bello reads The Earth Charter, found in the Faith for Earth: A Call for Action resource, a document created by the Parliament of the World’s Religions and the United Nations Environment Programme Faith for Earth Initiative. This recording is used in the Center for Ecumenical and Interreligious Engagement’s Faith for Earth Canvas Guide to the document.
This is the 2nd blogcast in our Faith for Earth blogcast series where we’ll be highlighting the commitments and calls for action faith traditions have made around caring for the Earth.
This recording is originally from the Center for Ecumenical and Interreligious Engagement’s Faith for Earth Canvas Guide to the Faith for Earth: A Call for Action resource, a document created by the Parliament of the World’s Religions and the United Nations Environment Programme Faith for Earth Initiative. You can access the full Guide here.
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The mission of the United Nations Environment Programme and the Parliament of the World’s Religions align with the principles and goals articulated in The Earth Charter (Links to an external site.), an international declaration of fundamental values and ethical framework for building a just, sustainable, and peaceful global society in the 21st century. The Charter was launched in June 2000 by an independent international entity in a ceremony at the Peace Palace in The Hague. It is the product of a ten year, worldwide, cross-cultural dialogue on common goals and shared values, and is the most inclusive and participatory process ever associated with an international declaration. The Charter recognizes that the goals of ecological protection, the eradication of poverty, equitable economic development, respect for human rights, democracy, and peace are interdependent and indivisible. It provides an inclusive, integrated ethical framework to guide the transition to a sustainable future, and has been endorsed by over 6,000 organizations, including many governments and international organizations.
The Charter contains four basic principles, each of which includes a specific set of goals, commitments, and actions:
I. Respect and Care for the Community of Life (Links to an external site.)
1. Respect Earth and life in all its diversity.
2. Care for the community of life with understanding, compassion, and love.
3. Build democratic societies that are just, participatory, sustainable, and peaceful.
4. Secure Earth’s bounty and beauty for present and future generations.
II. Ecological Integrity (Links to an external site.)
5.Protect and restore the integrity of Earth’s ecological systems, with special concern for biological diversity and the natural processes that sustain life.
6.Prevent harm as the best method of environmental protection and, when knowledge is limited, apply a precautionary approach.
7. Adopt patterns of production, consumption, and reproduction that
safeguard Earth’s regenerative capacities, human rights, and community
wellbeing.
8. Advance the study of ecological sustainability and promote the open exchange and wide application of the knowledge acquired.
III. Social and Economic Justice (Links to an external site.)
9. Eradicate poverty as an ethical, social, and environmental imperative.
10. Ensure that economic activities and institutions at all levels promote human development in an equitable and sustainable manner.
11. Affirm gender equality and equity as prerequisites to sustainable development and ensure universal access to education, health care, and economic opportunity.
12. Uphold the right of all, without discrimination, to a natural and social environment supportive of human dignity, bodily health, and spiritual wellbeing, with special attention to the rights of Indigenous Peoples and minorities.
IV. Democracy, Nonviolence, and Peace (Links to an external site.)
13. Strengthen democratic institutions at all levels, and provide transparency and accountability in governance, inclusive participation in decision making, and access to justice.
14. Integrate into formal education and life-long learning the knowledge, values, and skills needed for a sustainable way of life.
15. Treat all living beings with respect and consideration.
16. Promote a culture of tolerance, nonviolence, and peace.
The Charter asks that human beings “imaginatively develop and apply the vision of a sustainable way of life locally, nationally, regionally, and globally”; preserve cultural diversity; and work collaboratively in the search for truth and wisdom. It calls on the arts, sciences, religions, educational institutions, media, businesses, nongovernmental organizations, and governments to offer creative leadership, and asks the nations of the world to fulfill their obligations under existing international agreements and support implementation of Earth Charter principles.
“Let ours be a time remembered for the awakening of a new reverence for life, the firm resolve to achieve sustainability, the quickening of the struggle for justice and peace, and the joyful celebration of life.”
This recording is originally from the Center for Ecumenical and Interreligious Engagement’s Faith for Earth Canvas Guide to the Faith for Earth: A Call for Action resource, a document created by the Parliament of the World’s Religions and the United Nations Environment Programme Faith for Earth Initiative. You can access the full Guide here.