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Earth Charter+5 Progress Report

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Earth Charter+5 Progress Report EARTH CHARTER+5 PROGRESS REPORT Steven C. Rockefeller and Mirian Vilela, Editors This Report is a working document intended for use by those attending the September 2005 Earth Charter Steering Committee meeting. It should not be distributed beyond the Earth Charter Steering Committee and Secretariat or cited without permission. August 2005 Printed on 100% recycled paper, 100% post-consumer waste, processed with no chlorine. EARTH CHARTER+5 PROGRESS REPORT Steven C. Rockefeller and Mirian Vilela, Editors This Report is a working document intended for use by those attending the September 2005 Earth Charter Steering Committee meeting. It should not be distributed beyond the Earth Charter Steering Committee and Secretariat or cited without permission. August 2005 Printed on 100% recycled paper, 100% post-consumer waste, processed with no chlorine. Earth Charter+5 Progress Report Table of Contents Page Introduction 1 I. The Organization of the Earth Charter Initiative 5 A) Earth Charter Commission 6 B) Earth Charter Steering Committee 7 C) Earth Charter Secretariat 7 D) Earth Charter Youth Initiative 8 E) Partner Organizations 9 F) Focal Points 9 G) Conclusions and Recommendations 11 H) Overview of Priority Areas, 2000-2005 13 Appendix I: List of Focal Points and Partner Organizations 14 II. Earth Charter Financial Report, 2000-2005 19 A) The Secretariat’s Budget and Financial Situation 19 B) Financial Reality – Secretariat versus Initiative 23 C) Fundraising Efforts 24 D) Looking Ahead on the Fundraising Strategy 26 III. Dissemination and Endorsement of the Earth Charter 28 A) Translation and Brochure Dissemination 28 B) Website 29 C) Endorsements 31 D) Publications 36 Appendix I: Selected List of International Organizations Endorsing the Earth Charter 37 Appendix II: Endorsements by Cities and Towns 38 IV. Planetary Ethics and Global Governance 41 A) Introduction 41 B) “The Transition to Sustainability” by Steven Rockefeller 42 C) “The Significance of the Earth Charter in International Law” by Klaus Bosselmann and Prue Taylor 54 D) Assessments of the Value of the Earth Charter 60 E) Concluding Recommendations 61 Earth Charter+5 Progress Report Page i June, 2005 Page V. Education Programme Report – 2000-2005 63 A) Introduction 63 B) Initiating the Education Programme (2000 – 2001) 65 C) Building the Education Programme (2002 – 2004) 69 D) Educational Activities (2000 – 2005) 74 E) Consolidating the Education Programme (2005) 86 VI. Sustainable Community Development 88 A) Sustainable Development and Local Communities 88 B) The Earth Charter and Local Communities 88 C) Local Community Initiatives with the Earth Charter (2000-2005) 90 D) Local Communities Advisory Committee 103 E) Recommendations and Conclusions 104 VII. The Earth Charter Youth Initiative 106 A) Introduction 106 B) Structure of the ECYI and Assistance from the International Secretariat of the Earth Charter Initiative in Costa Rica 107 C) Youth Friendly Earth Charter Materials Produced 109 D) Youth Involvement in the Drafting Process (1997 – 2000) 109 E) The Launch of the ECYI in 2000 109 F) Bringing the Earth Charter to Johannesburg: Events leading up to the WSSD (2001-2002) 111 G) The Program of Earth Charter Youth Groups (2003–2005) 113 H) Other Earth Charter Activities 117 I) Expanding the Network: Partnerships with Other Youth Organizations 118 J) Youth Activities at the Earth Charter+5 Summit in Amsterdam 120 K) Recommendations for the Future 120 VIII. Art and the Earth Charter 122 A) Introduction: Art and the Earth Charter 122 B) Art Initiatives using the Earth Charter 122 C) “Ark of Hope and Temenos Books, 1999-2005” by Sally Linder 127 IX. Faith Groups and the Earth Charter 131 A) Overview by Mary Evelyn Tucker 131 B) “Earth Charter: Sacred India” by Kamla Chowdhry 145 C) “The Earth Charter and Religion” by Joan Anderson 150 Appendix I: Faith Groups that have endorsed the Earth Charter 153 Page ii Earth Charter+5 Progress Report June, 2005 Page X. The Earth Charter and Business 157 A) Sustainable Development and Business 157 B) The Earth Charter and the Business Sector 157 C) Using the Earth Charter in the Business Sector 158 D) Business Initiatives with the Earth Charter (2000-2005) 160 E) Conclusions 161 Appendix I: Chart: A Way to Read and Apply the Earth Charter 162 Appendix II: Businesses that have endorsed the Earth Charter 162 XI. Selected Bibliography of Published Works that Reference the Earth Charter 165 Earth Charter+5 Progress Report Page iii June, 2005 Introduction It has been five years since the launch of the Earth Charter at the Peace Palace in The Hague, in June 2000. This report has been prepared as part of a five-year strategic assessment of the accomplishments and strengths and weaknesses of the Earth Charter Initiative. It is designed to assist the Steering Committee and a small group of senior advisors in developing a set of recommendations regarding goals and strategies for the future, a budget and fundraising plan, and a governance structure appropriate for the next five years. The Steering Committee is scheduled to meet on September 17-18, 2005. Its recommendations will be finalized at a meeting of the Earth Charter Commission and Steering Committee in the Netherlands on November 7, 2005. Following the launch of the Earth Charter, the Earth Charter Commission agreed not to meet in the future on a regular basis and charged the Steering Committee with oversight of the Secretariat and the Earth Charter Initiative. The Earth Charter Commission retained the authority to make changes in the text of the Earth Charter should revisions be deemed necessary. The Steering Committee established the following three goals as the major objectives of the Initiative beginning in July 2000. 1. To promote the dissemination, endorsement, and implementation of the Earth Charter by civil society, business, and government. 2. To encourage and support the educational use of the Earth Charter in schools, universities, faith communities, and many other settings. 3. To seek endorsement of the Earth Charter by the United Nations. This report endeavors to provide useful information on how the Initiative has operated and to what extent these goals have been achieved. The report is divided into chapters that present reports on the following important aspects of the Initiative. • organizational structure • finances and fundraising • dissemination and endorsement • contributions to the emerging global ethics and international law • Earth Charter education program • promotion of the Earth Charter at the local community level • Earth Charter youth program • art and the Earth Charter • religion and the Earth Charter • business and the Earth Charter • selected bibliography of published works that reference the Earth Charter Earth Charter+5 Progress Report Page 1 August, 2005 The different chapters have been written by the Secretariat staff and by a number of others who have played leadership roles in Earth Charter activities over the past five years. Some chapters include essays by two or three different individuals. This report should be regarded as a working document. The various chapters and essays have undergone only a minimum amount of editing. The reader will encounter different writing styles and methods of presentation. Given the scope of the Earth Charter Initiative, it has been difficult to gather all the information needed to make a complete report, and in some sections, this problem is more evident than in others. Some authors conclude their essays with recommendations, but others do not. The contents of the different chapters in their current form are not intended for distribution beyond the Secretariat and Steering Committee. The story these chapters tell is in many respects an encouraging one. The worldwide participatory process that produced the Earth Charter and its broad integrated ethical vision make it a unique and important document. In spite of very limited financial resources and a fairly loose-knit organizational structure, the Earth Charter Initiative has a record of significant accomplishment, especially in the areas of endorsement, education, local community development, global ethics and international law. Also, the Earth Charter Youth Program has been expanding and developing in a promising fashion, and in the fields of art, religion, and business, there are some noteworthy accomplishments. As the bibliography reveals, the Earth Charter is being recognized in a growing number of books and journals. The successes of the past five years are due to the work of a dedicated Secretariat and the volunteer efforts of members of the Earth Charter Commission and Steering Committee and hundreds of Earth Charter supporters. In short, there has been progress in achieving the goals of the Initiative set in 2000, but what has been accomplished is only a beginning. This report indicates that the major weakness of the Earth Charter Initiative is that it is a global project operating with a very small secretariat of three or four staff members and it has not been able to raise the funds necessary to secure additional professional support and to extend its outreach more aggressively and effectively. The Earth Charter Commission has not viewed as its responsibility fundraising for the Initiative since the drafting process concluded. Since the members of the Steering Committee reside in different regions of the world and funds for travel expenses have been very limited, the Steering Committee has not scheduled regular meetings, and its members communicate largely by e-mail. Some members occasionally meet together. The Committee has left fundraising largely up to two of its members and to the Secretariat. Lacking the professional staff that it needs and forced to rely heavily on volunteer support, the Initiative has not been able to take full advantage of the opportunities before it. For example, the preparation of educational support materials has proceeded at a relatively slow pace, and the Initiative has not had the capacity to launch a major global initiative with faith communities or with businesses.
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