By Mario Osava
RIO DE JANEIRO, Mar 18 1997 (IPS)

The Rio plus Five forum came up with an 18-point proposal in a session Tuesday where Mercedes Sosa moved the crowd with her rendition of “Gracias a la vida,” the famous Chilean song, and her call for justice in the world.

In her brief speech, the Argentine singer said “wherever poverty rules, there is death and the law is unfair,” adding that to truly give thanks to life – as the song says – “all this has to change.”

Maurice Strong, president of the NGO Earth Council which promoted the meeting, stressed the Earth Charter was so far only a draft document that must now be taken to the United Nations.

He said it was an advance on the 1992 Earth Summit documents, and would be used to influence governments and gain their support.

In the words of former Soviet president Mijail Gorbachov, who was also on the commission of representatives who drew up the document, the new Charter “is not a fighting document,” but a code of norms on which everyone can work together to adapt themselves to nature.

The Charter introduction says time is of the essence “the biosphere is governed by laws we ignore at our own risk” adding that “fundamental change is necessary.”

“The alternative facing us is: care for the Earth or participate in the destruction, both of ourselves and the diversity of life.”

“We must reinvent an industrial and technological civilisation, seeking new ways to balance the individual and the community, having and being, diversity and unity, in the short and long term, going from using to caring.”

Gorbachov said that five years ago renowned scientists had warned that humankind could disappear from the face of the earth if the current models of “excessive consumption” were continued, and the hoped for change has not yet happened.

“The hopes of the 1992 summit were not fulfilled,” and the documents approved were “insufficient and inadequate.”

The draft of the new document will now pass through a discussion process to be completed by the year 2000.

The 18 points are:

1. To respect the Earth and life. The Earth, every life form and human being possesses an intrinsic value and enjoys respect regardless of its useful value to humanity.

2. To care for the Earth, protecting and restoring the diversity, integrity and beauty of the ecosystems of the planet. Where the risk of serious or irreversible environmental damage exists, preventative measures must be taken to avoid this.

3. To live sustainably, promoting and adopting modes of consumption, production and reproduction which respect and safeguard human rights and the regenerative capacities of the Earth.

4. To establish justice and indiscriminately defend the right of all people to life, freedom and security, in an environment suitable for human health and spiritual well-being. Human beings enjoy the right to drinking water, clean air, soil free of contamination and food security.

5. To share the benefits of the use of natural resources and environmental protection equitably between the nations, and between rich and poor, men and women, and present and future generations, and to internalise all the environmental, social and economic costs.

6. To promote social development and financial systems suited to creating and maintaining sustainable means of subsistence, to eradicate poverty and strengthen local communities.

7. To practice non-violence, recognising that peace is the security created by harmonious and balanced relations with oneself, ones neighbours, other forms of life and the Earth.

8. To reinforce the processes which grant power to people so they can participate effectively in decision making and assure the transparency and responsible attitude of the government and administration of all sectors of society.

9. To reaffirm the indigenous and tribal peoples have a vital role in the care and protection of the Mother Earth. They enjoy the right to safeguard their spirituality, knowledge, lands, territories and resources.

10. To affirm that equality between the sexes is a prerequisite for sustainable development.

11. To assure the right to sexual and reproductive health, with special reference to women and girls.

12. To promote the participation of young people as agents responsible for change towards local, bioregional and global sustainability.

13. To make advances in and practical use of knowledge both scientific and from other sources, along with the technologies which promote sustainable existence and protect the environment.

14. To assure that all people enjoy opportunities during their whole life to acquire the knowledge, values and practical skills needed to build sustainable communities.

15. To treat all creatures with compassion and protect them from cruelty and arbitrary annihilation.

16. To not inflict on the environment of others what we would not like to see inflicted on ours.

17. To protect and restore areas of special ecological, cultural, aesthetic, spiritual and scientific significance.

18. To cultivate and behave with shared responsibility in relation to the well-being of the Earth Community. Each person, institution and government is responsible for bringing about the objective of indivisible justice for all, sustainibility, world peace and the respect and care for all the community of life.

However, the approval of the document is not expected to be an especially easy process.

Stephen Rockerfeller, permanent member of the Earth Charter commission and representative of the US Rockerfeller Foundation, said some of the points are bound to raise objections.

Clause nine, for instance, will raise resistence from many Muslims, for the mention of the Mother Earth goes against some of their beliefs, and the sections mentioning population control and reproductive rights are also objected to by the Catholic Church.

Excerpt: