Earth Charter: The Transition to A new World

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Earth Charter: The Transition to a New World
By EcoSolidaridad Andes, bolivarno@hotmail.com

Words 3200 (Text) , 3400 total

"People share the conviction that another world is possible—a world where the basic needs of all are met, persons and the environment are respected, and all have access to joy and community."—Global Exchange, 2001.

Principles of Agriculture and Sustainable Rural Development Are "The Answer."

"The ‘free trade', which from the standpoint of the corporate economy brings ‘unprecedented economic growth', from the standpoint of the land and its local populations is destruction and slavery. Without prosperous local economies, the people and the land have no voice."
—Wendell Berry, a poet, ecologist, farmer… (see: In the Presence of Fear, ww.orionlonline.org)

We are taught to perceive the avalanche of global crises as isolated from one another, as separate problems that can be dealt with individually—one crisis at a time. This mindset keeps people from seeing the root causes of this troubled world—the dire and complete lack of participatory democracy which leads to an unequal distribution of land, wealth and income across the world. The sheer numbers of problems and groups addressing each problem leaves most people overwhelmed by the complexity of it all.

At the heart of all problems is the economic system that has gripped the world since 1980: "Global Free Market Capitalism for Corporate Profits." This economic system separates consumers from producers, alienates people from nature, and favors mega-corporations and institutions over the will of the people and their local governing bodies.

Local Rejuvenation or Global Police State?
There are probably only two paths that lead to survival of the human species. Total corporate globalization: one market, one culture and one way of order. A path that worships technology because only technology can save us (the rich actually) from the terrible mess that we (the rich) have intentionally allowed to happen. In this scenario, ritualistic democracy will fade away as "the market" and the WEB synthesize and fill our needs. The natural world will be reduced to insects and billions of people will die from climate change induced famine and disease.

The Earth Charter opposes a future whose primary goal is economic growth and money. It challenges the assumptions of the WTO-Global Corporate Free Market position, And it is about to be endorsed by 90 percent of world leaders.

A more radical version of the Earth Charter—known as The International Action Plan for Earth (IAPE) (Contact: earthcharter@care2.com) will soon become the rallying cry of billions of people opposed to any continuation of US-led Global Corporate Hegemony (see below and also see "Steps to a World of Possibilities," (available through Bolivarno@hotmail.com). These people demand autonomy, land reform, political overhauls, agrarian policy shifts and an end to US military, economic and corporate interventions worldwide.

[ This could be part of a lead editorial on the Alternative Economics dialog ]

Johannesburg 2002 Earth Summit—The World Summit on Sustainable Development : The Year of the Earth Charter
August 26 to September 4, the largest-ever gathering of world leaders will attend the 2002 EARTH SUMMIT in South Africa.

The three main issues at the 2002 Earth Summit/ World Summit on
Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, South Africa are:
1. A review of progress made on commitments to sustainable development since the first Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, 1992.
2. The Earth Charter
3. An action programme for implementing sustainable development and the principles enshrined in the Earth Charter.

A History of Earth Summits and Earth Charters
Ten years ago, Al Gore made a name for himself as a Green Democrat in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The occasion was the first Earth Summit. Environmentalists and Greens were gaining power in Europe and the US. At the same time a new global force was coalescing: the Anti-Corporate Globalization movement or more positively - the "Another World is Possible International Coalition of Civil Society."
At the previous UN Conference on the Environment in 1982, the US cast the only vote out of 130 nations against the World Charter for Nature. This was a precursor to the 2002 Earth Charter that many hope will be ratified this summer in Johannesburg, South Africa at the Earth Summit/WSSD (Also called Rio +10).

Back in 1982, when Earth First! was founded, Ronald Reagan, James Watt and ole' George Bush senior were busy threatening to drill and mine public lands across the west (just like now) and US environmentalists were too busy fighting nationally to fully challenge the Reagan Regime around the world. Soon the US had pulled out of the UN Law of the Sea Treaty and refused to sign on to restrictions on trade of hazardous materials (sounds like now).

With more of a global-glitzy, liberal-Green, media display, the first Earth Summit in 92' was a grand affair. Proclamations and speeches, Third World viewpoints and Al Gore saying, " [ silence] ."

But the real powers in the US and their allies totally reject the Earth Charter and any greening or slowing of corporate globalization. They are, however, willing to play any game and ride out any fad, in order to win in the end.

The only significant output from the Rio Earth Summit was Agenda 21. It came out of the Rio Declarations as a list of specific assignments that every participating nation agreed to complete. Agenda 21 lead to the engagement of civil society in environmental policy debates in most countries. The US drew away from the UN at this time and few of its citizens have ever heard of Agenda 21 - let alone participated in its issues and forums. Michael Gorbachev and Maurice Strong (Secretary General of both the Rio Earth Summit and the Stockholm Conference), kept working on the Earth Charter along with millions of people plugged in from Agenda 21.

Principle 3 of the 1992 Rio Declaration states, "The right to development must be fulfilled so as to equitably meet development and environmental needs of present and future generations." This statement captures the heart of the Earth Charter vision. It was approved over the objections of the US.

"If [civil society in the US] merge their collective strength with that of global civil society, we can change the culture we have lived by—the culture that separates us from the rest of the world, that supported the US government's objection to Principle 3 and its withdrawals from the Kyoto Treaty, and just three days before September 11, from the Durban World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance—and rejoin the worldwide effort that started here fifty years ago."— Peter Sauer, Orion, Winter 2002, p. 27.

Since this was written 5 months ago, the US (Bush and his Shadow Government) has launched a crusade of terror against terror without UN support and Bush has removed the US signatures and support from the International Criminal Court, The World Court and the 1968 Geneva Convention on Human Rights.

An Eco-Radical-Agrarian Reformer Views the Earth Charter
(Note: This is paraphrased with the biases that we share at EcoSolidaridad Andes. We believe it is a clearer and truer vision of what most people in the world want to be their guide to a new way of living. Our additions are marked with an underline.)

The current draft of the Earth Charter was presented in Rio de Janeiro in 1997.

The Preamble to the Earth Charter identifies the parameters by which the world must address critical issues:
1. Urgency: "We stand at a critical moment, a time when humanity must choose its future…it is imperative, that we declare our responsibility to…future generations…production and consumption are causing environmental devastation…the foundations of global security are threatened…these trends are perilous."

"We urgently need basic values of an ethical foundation for the emerging world community…a global partnership to care for the earth or risk destruction of ourselves and… When basic needs are met, development is about being more, not having/consuming more."

2. Respect for the Earth and the health of all ecological systems requires major changes in our ways of living that reduce damage to the environment and support all people and future generations.

3. Caution: (From section II.6.) Prevent harm as the best method of environmental protection and when knowledge is limited, apply a precautionary approach.

Below is a summary —from an eco-radical-perspective—of the key issues for policy action and funding priorities under the Earth Charter:
We affirm the Earth Charter as the Principles for a sustainable way of life and a standard by which the conduct of ALL individuals, organizations, businesses/corporations, governments and transnational institutions are to be guided and assessed/judged.— Earth Charter Preamble

KEY PRINCIPLES TO GUIDE ALL ACTIVITIES ON EARTH
I. Care for the community of life
4. RESPECT ALL LIFE
2. A. The right to own, manage and use natural resources comes with a duty to prevent environmental harm and to protect the rights of people who might be affected by this activity.
B. Promote the Common Good.
3.Democratic societies are just, participatory, sustainable and peaceful. Communities at all levels must ensure human rights, social and economic justice and respect for ecological systems.
5. The needs of future generations determine our actions and ways of living today.

TO FULFILL THESE COMMITTMENTS WE EMBRACE:
II. Ecologic Integrity
6. Restore the integrity of Earth's ecological systems, its biological diversity and the recovery of endangered species.
a. At all levels adopt sustainable development plans and regulations.
b. Protect Earth's life support systems.
c. Eradicate non-native or genetically modified organisms harmful to
humans or the environment.
e. Manage water, soil, forest products and marine life for the longterm
health of ecosystems.
f. Extraction of non-renewable recourses such as minerals and fossil
fuels must minimize environmental damage.

6..Place the burden of proof on those who argue that a proposed
activity will not cause significant harm. Decision-making must address
the cumulative longterm and indirect consequences of human activities. Prevent all pollution and allow no build-up of radioactive, toxic or other hazardous substances. Avoid military activity damaging to the environment.

7.Adopt patterns of production, consumption and reproduction that
safeguard Earth's regenerative capacities, human rights and community well-
being. Rely on renewable energy. Internalize the full environmental and
social costs of goods and services in prices. Provide universal health care.

8.Advance the study of ecological sustainability with special attention to
developing countries. Preserve traditional knowledge. Vital information,
including genetic information, shall remain in the public domain.

III. Social and Economic Justice
9. Eradicate poverty. Guarantee the right to potable water, clean air, food security, uncontaminated soil, shelter, education, safe sanitation and allocate sufficient national and international resources to fully assure and protect these rights.

10. Economic activities and institutions shall promote human development in an equitable and sustainable manner, through an equitable distribution of income within and among nations. Relieve developing nations of international debt and ensure that all trade supports sustainable resource use, environmental protection and progressive labor standards, Hold corporations accountable for the consequences of their activities.

11. Affirm gender equality and equity and ensure universal access to education, health care and economic opportunity. Promote the active participation of women in all aspects of economic, political, civil, social, and cultural life as full and equal partners, decision makers, leaders and beneficiaries.
12. Uphold the right of all, without discrimination, to a natural and social environment supportive of human dignity, bodily health and spiritual well-being, with special attention to the rights of indigenous peoples and minorities.

IV Democracy, Nonviolence and Peace
13.Strengthen democratic institutions at all levels, and provide transparency and accountability in governance, inclusive participation in decision making, and access to justice. Eliminate corruption in all public and private institutions. Strengthen local communities and enable them (through development and crop subsidies) to care for their environments. Assign environmental responsibilities to the levels of government where they can be carried out most effectively.

14–16. Educate people on sustainability. Prevent cruelty to animals. Promote a culture of tolerance, nonviolence and peace. Demilitarize national security systems to the level of a nonprovocative defense posture, and convert military resources to ecological restoration and development aid to the most needy regions,

V. The Way Forward
Support the implementation of Earth Charter principles with an international legally binding instrument on environment and development.
Implement international taxes on trade and fossil fuels to fund participatory budgets for sustainable development and agrarian reform worldwide.

This is the end of the Earth Charter summary. The following should be added to the earth Charter as a draft of the policies needed to implement a new way of living: "Steps to a World of Possibilities."

Policy Priorities for Democratic Localism and Agrarian Reform:
Alternatives to Global Free Market Capitalism.
"Localization is about shortening the distance between producers and consumers. It is not against all trade, but rather it is about reducing to an absolute minimum the waste now caused by having everything from butter to raw logs crisscrossing the globe.

Contrary to the propaganda, the global economy can not enable villagers in rural China, Bangladesh or Ecuador to live the lives of middle-class Westerners. For the majority it cannot even provide the most basic needs of housing, education, health care, nutrition and employment. Globalization increases the gap between rich and poor, pulling a vast number of people away from the land and into squalid urban slums. Preventing further urbanization in the South requires programs that actively support the rural economy.

Such changes require major shifts of emphasis in the economies of the North, and an end to corporations using the South as both larder and dumping ground—stripping whole countries of their natural resources…the North must produce most of its own goods and services."—Helena Norberg-Hodge, Director of the International Society of Ecology and Culture – ISEC

At the beginning of this article we discussed the high-tech corporate one-world path that society could follow. The earth Charter opposes this path and suggests another one – a green way of local economics and low consumption. This other path is about Democratic Localism or Localization and a small farm society. This is a world with no global corporations and limited long-distance trade. This path requires the prioritization of our efforts and resources to meeting the basic needs of all people in sustainable ways. This world will be fueled by a cooperative peaceable economy of sharing and renewable resources.

Wendel Berry states the case for Localization as, " The idea of a local economy rests on two principles: neighborhood and subsistence. People ask what they can do or provide for one another, and they find answers that they and their place can afford. This is part charity and part economic…there is a significant charity in just prices.

Everything needed locally cannot be produced locally. But a viable neighborhood or community, like a viable farm, protects its own production capacities. It does not import products that it can produce for itself. And it does not export local products until local needs have been met. This is the principle of subsistence…and it applies to regions and nations as well."

TWO COMPETING VISIONS: EXAMPLES
Modern Global Economics--- or --- The New Economics of Localism
and Rural Rejuvenation
a. Urban bias -- or -- a. Rural support
b. Technology dependence -- or -- b. Wisdom, -----------------------------------------------interconnection and
? sustainability
c. Risk taking (?) -- or c. Cautious and ----------------------------------------------- conserving
d. Synthetic and artificial -- or -- d. Natural and ----------------------------------------------- recycled
e. Fast-paced and hectic -- or -- e. Leisurely and -------------------------------------------------rural-paced
(seasonal and crop -------------------------------------------------cycle orientation
f. Concentration of wealth, -- or -- f. Egalitarian -------------------------------------------------seeking, a broad
power land ownership. distribution of -------------------------------------------------income and power
g. Short-term profits -- or -- g. Longterm yields

Localization prioritizes small farm, low-input agriculture and regional self-reliance. Once international pressure and financing are brought to bear on the corrupt elite and political parties in most countries, these goals can be quickly met in poor countries and will serve as models of sustainability for all people.

Neo-liberal economists and even many well-meaning development organizations will dismiss the ideas of Localization as "protectionist." And that is exactly what they are—a protectionism that is socially just and ecologically sound because it protects local producers and the natural resources (soils, streams, forests) and it is the best assurance of adequate supplies to local consumers.

Localization is not isolationism. The principle of subsistence (low consumption/reduced waste) is the best guarantee of a marketable surplus from a region. Peace and neighborliness will lead to expanding ripples of charity and aid to the less fortunate.

Democratic Localism with the priorities of a small farm society can avert the escalating instability of poor countries, by reducing waste, reducing corruption, redistributing income, raising farm productivity with fewer inputs, reduce pollution, improve rural standards of living and halt urbanization.

The neo-liberal free trade and structural adjustment programs of the IMF, World Bank and US multinational corporations (WTO World Government) have failed to reduce poverty and are now threatening to create chaos around the world by destroying rural economies and increasing urbanization.

Instead of the World Trade Organization, the IMF and World Bank, the UN should establish a tax on developed countries that would be used to subsidize poor country rural areas. Education, health care and crop subsidies will be the priorities. Sustainability guidelines, research and education can help keep this new economic structure on target. Existing models of successful programs in Kerala, India; Cuba; Bangladesh; Brazil and elsewhere can be adapted to fit the cultural and unique situations around the world.

Key to this program will be a new type of participatory local democracy, like the examples from Puerto Allegre and other Brazilian communities. Also relevant will be the evolving knowledge people are gaining from the collapse of Argentina (and now Uruguay, Colombia and …) and the organizations of civil society—the Unemployed Pisteros and the Popular Assemblies of neighborhoods, communities and regions.

In Johannesburg we will hear a lot of complaining about how poorly the rich countries have done in meeting their commitments to sustainability in 1992. The Earth Charter and other resolutions will be passed and a few action programmes will be drawn up as partnership – initiatives for sustainable development – between government, the private sector and citizen groups.

But little of substance, little that will break the stranglehold of the WTO and its corporate clients will come of the Earth Summit.
The value of the Earth Summit and the Earth Charter is that they lend validity and legitimacy to the rising tide of Anti-Corporate and Anti-US hegemony that is sweeping the world. The people are already beyond the Earth Charter. They demand a "New World" of ecological possibilities and sustainable options. A world that they control.

All the power that rests in Wall Street and the International Banks is as nothing compared to the force of millions of people taking the streets of their capitals to demand sensible change now.

For more information contact the following groups whose resources support this article and our forthcoming: "Steps to a World of Possibilities," and the International Action Plan for Earth (IAPE).

http://WWW.FoodFirst.org, "Toward an Agroecological Alternative for the Peasantry," and many groundbreaking research studies that support the benefits of localization and agrarian reforms.

http://www.ifg.org, The International Forum on Globalization, "A Better World is Possible: Alternatives to Economic Globalization," Their "Ten Principles for Democratic and Sustainable Societies," reads much like this article – a clearer and more direct version of the Earth Charter and includes subjects on A New Democracy, Subsidiarity (Localization), Ecological Sustainability, Common Heritage, Human Rights, Jobs/Livelihood/Employment, Food Security and Food Safety, Equity, Diversity, and the Precautionary Principle.

http://www.zmag.org/content/visionstrategy, "Solidarity Economics: An Alternative for Development, Equity, Social Justice and Peace in Colombia," by the Confederation Latinoamericana de Cooperativas y Mutuales de Trabajadores (COLACOT) Translated by Justin Podur, ZNET.

http://www.theecologist.org, see September 2000, pp.38-42, Collin Hines. Hines also has a book, "Localization: A global Manifesto, Summer 2000, by Earthscan.)

http://www.worldwatch.org/rio10

http://www.iisd.org, The International Institute for Sustainable Development.

http://www.earthisland.org/wosh, The World Sustainability Hearings will take place August 18 to September 5 and offer global civil society a forum to debate and challenge the events and decisions of the Earth Summit.
http://www.oriononline.org, Winter 2002, Special Edition on the Earth Charter and the Global Greens.
earthcharter@care2.com has the policy proposals for implementing the vision of the EarthCharter, the International Action Plan for Earth.

This article, "Earth Charter: The Transition to a New World" - especially the last half beginning with the section: "Policy Priorities for Democratic Localism and Agrarian Reform: Alternatives to Global Free Market Capitalism," serves as an introduction to our forthcoming Communiqué from The Mountains and Valleys of the Andean Peasant Farmers:
"Steps to a World of Possibilities."

Contact EcoSolidaridad Andes at, bolivarno@hotmail.com

Please comment on this it is a living, growing public dialog around the world…

Earth Charter: The Transition to a New World
By EcoSolidaridad Andes, bolivarno@hotmail.com

Words 3200 (Text) , 3400 total

arch/ive/ief (2000 - 2005)