The Earth Charter Initiative is a global network of influential people working to promote environmental awareness and sustainability.
The Earth Charter Initiative's international Council includes these global leaders, among others:
• Buddhist environmentalist Steven C. Rockefeller, a Planned Parenthood and population control advocate.i
• Swedish Social Democrat Barbro Holmberg who works for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
• Chinese World Bank consultant Song Li, who "represented China at negotiations for global environmental conventions and at the Rio Conference on Environment and Development in 1992."
• Alexander Likhotal, President of Mikhail Gorbachev's environmental organization Green Cross International.ii
In 2000, the Earth Charter was formulated to call the world to action on environmentalism. But the Charter is promoting much more than simply taking care of our planet:
The Earth Charter is a declaration of fundamental ethical principles for building a just, sustainable and peaceful global society in the 21st century. It seeks to inspire in all people a new sense of global interdependence and shared responsibility for the well-being of the whole human family, the greater community of life, and future generations...the Earth Charter encourages us to search for common ground in the midst of our diversity and to embrace a new global ethic.iii
The spiritual, economic, and political intentions of the United Nations are mirrored by the Earth Charter. Note these themes from the Earth Charter, as exemplified by the direct quotes from the introduction and Charter itself listed below (all emphases added):
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...
The choice is ours: form a global partnership to care for Earth and one another or risk the destruction of ourselves and the diversity of life. Fundamental changes are needed in our values, institutions, and ways of living...
The partnership of government, civil society, and business is essential for effective governance...
In order to build a sustainable global community, the nations of the world must renew their commitment to the United Nations, fulfill their obligations under existing international agreements, and support the implementation of Earth Charter principles with an international legally binding instrument on environment and development...
Manage the use of renewable resources such as water, soil, forest products, and marine life in ways that do not exceed rates of regeneration and that protect the health of ecosystems...
Manage the extraction and use of non-renewable resources such as minerals and fossil fuels in ways that minimize depletion and cause no serious environmental damage...
Promote the equitable distribution of wealth within nations and among nations...
Humanity is part of a vast evolving universe. Earth, our home, is alive with a unique community of life. The forces of nature make existence a demanding and uncertain adventure, but Earth has provided the conditions essential to life's evolution. The resilience of the community of life and the well-being of humanity depend upon preserving a healthy biosphere with all its ecological systems, a rich variety of plants and animals, fertile soils, pure waters, and clean air. The global environment with its finite resources is a common concern of all peoples. The protection of Earth's vitality, diversity, and beauty is a sacred trust...
The spirit of human solidarity and kinship with all life is strengthened when we live with reverence for the mystery of being, gratitude for the gift of life, and humility regarding the human place in nature...
Recognize and preserve the traditional knowledge and spiritual wisdom in all cultures that contribute to environmental protection and human well-being...
An unprecedented rise in human population has overburdened ecological and social systems...
Adopt patterns of...reproduction that safeguard Earth's regenerative capacities, human rights, and community well-being...
Ensure universal access to health care that fosters reproductive health and responsible reproduction...
Integrate into formal education and life-long learning the knowledge, values, and skills needed for a sustainable way of life.
a. Provide all, especially children and youth, with educational opportunities that empower them to contribute actively to sustainable development.
b. Promote the contribution of the arts and humanities as well as the sciences in sustainability education.
c. Enhance the role of the mass media in raising awareness of ecological and social challenges.
d. Recognize the importance of moral and spiritual education for sustainable living...
Recognize that peace is the wholeness created by right relationships with oneself, other persons, other cultures, other life, Earth, and the larger whole of which all are a part...
In 1992 Maurice Strong was the Secretary General of the historic United Nations Earth conference in Rio (UNCED). He said, "The real goal of the Earth Charter is that it will in fact become like the Ten Commandments.”iv Strong was not the only one to think this way. Consider these words from Mikhail Gorbachev:
Do not do unto the environment of others what you do not want done to your own environment....My hope is that this charter will be a kind of Ten Commandments, a "Sermon on the Mount," that provides a guide for human behavior toward the environment in the next century.v
Do we want this Charter given the same authority as the Ten Commandments? Do the principles espoused here really offer a better way to live, or just another means for global religious and political control?
Read about Prince Charles' role in the global government plan
This article is adapted from Professor Walter Veith's Rekindling the Reformation lecture The Beamable, Sustainable Princes.
