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Charter For A Better World
Usha Srinivasan usrinivasan@devalt.org
The youth and children of India are to
be deployed as ambassadors to bring about changes in basic attitudes and
lifestyles in an initiative by Earth Charter and CLEAN-India
In the new
millennium, we are confronted with three major challenges - the
challenge of security, of poverty and of environmental sustainability.
The only hope and answer is the Earth Charter, a movement supported by
millions of people all over the world as an important initiative.
The
Earth Charter is an authoritative synthesis of values, principles, and
aspirations that are widely shared by growing numbers of men and women
in all regions of the world.
The
principles of the Earth Charter reflect extensive international
consultations conducted over a period of many years. These principles
are also based upon contemporary science, international law, and the
insights of philosophy and religion. Successive drafts of the Earth
Charter were circulated around the world for comments and debate by
nongovernmental organizations, community groups, professional societies,
and international experts in many fields.
The Earth Charter
initiative
Origin :
In 1987 the United Nations World Commission on Environment and
Development issued a call for creation of a new charter that would set
forth fundamental principles for sustainable development. The drafting
of an Earth Charter was part of the unfinished business of the 1992 Rio
Earth Summit.
In 1994
Maurice Strong, the secretary general of the Earth Summit and chairman
of the Earth Council, and Mikhail Gorbachev, president of Green Cross
International, launched a new Earth Charter initiative with support from
the Dutch government. An Earth Charter Commission was formed in 1997 to
oversee the project and an Earth Charter Secretariat was established at
the Earth Council in Costa Rica. Meeting at the UNESCO Headquarters in
Paris in March 2000, the Commission approved the final version of the
Earth Charter.
Purpose :
The mission of the Earth Charter Initiative is, "To establish a sound
ethical foundation for the emerging global society and to help build a
sustainable world based on respect for nature, universal human rights,
economic justice and a culture of peace."
It seeks to achieve
this purpose through:
Dissemination,
endorsement, and implementation of the Earth Charter by civil society,
business, and government.
Educational use of the Earth Charter.
Endorsement of the
Earth Charter by the UN.
Principles:
In the Earth Charter, there is a special emphasis on the world’s
socio-economic and environmental sustainability challenges. The
document’s inclusive ethical vision recognizes that environmental
protection, human rights, equitable human development and peace are
interdependent and indivisible. It provides a new framework for thinking
and conceptualizing what constitutes a sustainable community and
sustainable development.
The document aims to
create a world where all living beings are at peace with each other, act
responsibly, are sensitive to other people’s problems and aspire to live
in total harmony.
With the mission of
inspiring a new sense of global interdependence and shared
responsibility amongst people for the well being of human family and the
larger living world, the Earth Charter defined four core Principles:
Respect
and Care for the Community of Life
Ecological integrity
Social
and Economic justice
Democracy, Non-violence and Peace
Earth Charter in
India
I ndia
with a population of one billion has almost 300 million people living in
some 500 towns and cities. Indian society has various problems to cope
with. Contributory factors to social and environmental degradation
include: grave population explosion, poverty, illiteracy, unemployment,
caste system, corruption, ethnic tensions, inaccessibility to preventive
medicines, deforestation, extensive use of fossil fuels, industrial
discharges, extensive use of synthetic/non-biodegradable items,
extensive use of pesticides/chemicals and so on.
Earth Charter will use CLEAN-India’s extensive network of NGOs, spread
across the country, to primarily bring about a change in people’s
attitudes and lifestyles by using children and youth as the prime agents
of change. It enables children to grow into knowledgeable, rational
decision makers for sustainable development.
It will thus, nurture an army of students and citizens who in turn would
help in generating awareness within their communities about various
social and environmental challenges faced by modern society so that
timely corrective actions could be taken within individual capacities.
Synergies between
CLEAN-India and Earth Charter
CLEAN-India was set
up with a similar purpose and follows similar values. CLEAN-India and
Earth Charter can together help each other create a sustainable future
for India through:
Propagation of the
Earth Charter as the guiding principles for CLEAN-India Initiatives
Joint programmes by CLEAN-India and Earth Charter to simultaneously
guide understanding and practice of sustainable lifestyles
The Earth Charter
provides the medium to understand the requirements for sustainable
development. It also gives the guiding principles for sustainable
development initiatives. CLEAN-India on the other hand, brings in the
country wide outreach and network for propagation of the Earth Charter
and related initiatives in India.
CLEAN-India,
Development Alternatives as the Focal Point for Earth Charter in India
The CLEAN-India programme would act as
---Nodal
centre for Earth Charter propagation in India
---India Information centre for Earth Charter
The
Earth Charter
project will use the CLEAN-India platform in their work as active agents
of change by:
·
Focussing on the rights of people to
basic amenities like drinking water, clean air, food and sanitation.
Through extensive use of air, water and food testing kits for
monitoring, the intention is to bring about awareness amongst masses
regarding their ambient environmental conditions so that public hearings
could be held with the concerned civic authorities addressing grievances
and for remedial actions to be taken
·
Preventing cruelty towards
animals. It is widely recognized that how we treat animals is a
reflection of our interpersonal relationships. By sensitizing children
towards animal rights the aim is to make them better and more tolerant
human beings.
·
Protecting the underprivileged
and vulnerable. Enable them to develop their capacities and pursue their
aspirations. This is to be done by encouraging schools to conduct
evening classes for the students.
·
Curtailing gender bias. Promote the
active participation of women in all spheres of life as they have equal
right to education and employment. To set an example for others to
follow, the Earth Charter initiative will be an equal opportunity
employer. It will proactively seek to foster workplace diversity in
other organisations too.
Earth Charter for children brochures,
booklets and awareness materials developed by CLEAN India were exhibited
at the Environment fair and hundreds of children and teachers visited
the stall and evinced keen interest to get involved in Earth Charter
activities.
CLEAN-India children and youth will not only adhere to the core
principles of Earth Charter as a way of life but also be the Earth
Charter ambassadors in the country q
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