Vicky
Rossi interviews
Federico
Mayor Zaragoza
Earth Charter Commissioner
The
idea and the future of the
Earth Charter
By
Vicky
Rossi - TFF Peace Antenna
Vicky Rossi's
conversations with peace visionairies around the
world
are listed at her CV page here
and collected here.
January 8, 2006
Peace Antenna Interview with Mr
Federico Mayor Zaragoza, Earth Charter Commissioner,
Chairman, Fundación Cultura de Paz, former
Director-General of UNESCO. Rossi interviewed Federico
Mayor at
the Earth Charter +5 Conference, Amsterdam, 7-9 November
2005.
Background
to the creation of the Earth Charter
The idea of creating a new charter
to promote the fundamental principles for sustainable
development was declared by the United Nations World
Commission on Environment and Development in 1987.
However, despite the impetus of the 1992 Rio Earth
Summit, the drafting of the Earth Charter remained
incomplete. In response to this delay, in 1994 Maurice
Strong, the secretary general of the Earth Summit and
chairman of the Earth Council, joined together with
Mikhail Gorbachev, founding president of Green Cross
International, to launch a new Earth Charter initiative.
In 1997 an Earth Charter Commission was created to
oversee the initiative and an Earth Charter Secretariat
began work within the Earth Council in Costa
Rica.
Contributions from individuals and
organisations, from experts and grassroots communities,
were compiled by the Earth Charter Commission's drafting
committee and finally approved at a meeting in the UNESCO
HQ, in Paris, in March 2000. On 29 June 2000, the Earth
Charter was officially launched at the Peace Palace in
The Hague. Its mission is to establish "an ethical
foundation for the emerging world community" and "to
bring forth a sustainable global society founded on
respect for nature, universal human rights, economic
justice, and a culture of peace."
The Earth Charter
has 4 main principles/pillars, each of which has 4
sub-principles:
1) Respect and Care
for the Community of Life
i) Respect Earth and life in all
its diversity.
ii) Care for the community of life
with understanding, compassion and love.
iii) Build democratic societies
that are just, participatory, sustainable, and
peaceful.
iv) Secure Earth's bounty and
beauty for present and future generations.
2) Ecological
Integrity
i) Protect and restore the
integrity of Earth's ecological systems, with special
concern for biological diversity and the natural
processes that sustain life.
ii) Prevent harm as the best method
of environmental protection and, when knowledge is
limited, apply a precautionary approach.
iii) Adopt patterns of production,
consumption, and reproduction that safeguard Earth's
regenerative capacities, human rights and community
well-being.
iv) Advance the study of ecological
sustainability and promote the open exchange and wide
application of the knowledge acquired.
3) Social and
Economic Justice
i) Eradicate poverty as an ethical,
social and environmental imperative.
ii) Ensure that economic activities
and institutions at all levels promote human development
in an equitable and sustainable manner.
iii) Affirm gender equality and
equity as prerequisites to sustainable development and
ensure universal access to education, health care and
economic opportunity.
iv) 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.
4) Democracy,
Non-violence and Peace
i) Strengthen democratic
institutions at all levels and provide transparency and
accountability in governance, inclusive participation in
decision-making and access to justice.
ii) Integrate into formal education
and life-long learning the knowledge, values and skills
needed for a sustainable way of life.
iii) Treat all living beings with
respect and consideration.
iv) Promote a culture of tolerance,
non-violence and peace.
Earth Charter +5
Conference, Amsterdam, 7-9 November 2005
On the occasion of the Earth
Charter +5 conference held at the Royal Tropical
Institute in Amsterdam, 7-9 November, I spoke to the
former Director-General of UNESCO (1987-1999) Mr Federico
Mayor, one of the Earth Charter Commissioners and
Chairman of the Fundación Cultura de
Paz.
Vicky
Rossi: How would you summarize the ethos and intention
behind the Earth Charter?
Federico Mayor:
The Earth Charter is the final
result of a big disappointment because we were working
very, very hard in the year 1992 for the World Summit in
Rio de Janeiro on sustainable development and
particularly on the environment. We must take into
account now that we have an environment and that we must
transfer this environment and this Earth that we are
utilising to the next generations. We realised that that
was not the case, so we prepared - I can assure you - one
of the best UN summits that has ever been prepared. We
were working very hard and very late, and we were
drafting documents related to the soil, the oceans, the
air - everything was taken into account.
As you know, Agenda 21 contains all
sorts of excellent recommendations, but we realised, when
leaving Rio de Janeiro, that the United Nations was not
really taken into account. After the end of the Cold War
there was a dynamic aimed at not reinforcing the United
Nations, but rather keeping the UN as it was, and instead
creating things like the G7 and G8. At the time, we had
the feeling - I say "we" as I was Director-General of
UNESCO then - that we must take the excellent guidelines
of Agenda 21 and reflect on these main points in one
topic through what could be a World Council on Earth.
Particularly in order that the education of the children,
but also education at different levels, could transmit
the essence - let us put it this way - of Rio de Janeiro.
And this was done.
Maurice Strong, who was at that
time also the secretary general of the Summit in Rio de
Janeiro, created the Earth Council in Costa Rica. Then
different people were asked to participate in the
drafting of what is now the Earth Charter: Mikhail
Gorbachev, who at that time was President of the Green
Cross, was requested to participate; so too was Ruud
Lubbers, who was then the Prime Minister of this country
- the Netherlands - and also very supportive of the Green
Cross; then of course UNESCO was asked to participate
because we were one of the leaders - we have the
Oceanographic Commission, for example, we have hydrologic
programmes, we have so many projects related to what is
now the Earth Charter. So those are the origins of the
Earth Charter. We wanted to provide the world with the
essence of the Rio World Summit.
Vicky
Rossi: You made reference to a World Council, where would
you place the Earth Charter Initiative in terms of its
similarities and differences vis-à-vis the World
Wisdom Council of the Club of Budapest or the World
Future Council?
Federico Mayor:
We consider that we must be
seen to be those who have produced this particular tool,
but we do not want to have any kind of "structure",
although that is valid for the Club of Budapest. I have
even suggested that the Culture of Peace concept should
also be brought in. The same goes for declarations like
the Declaration of Human Rights. Otherwise, we give the
impression that we are the "sellers" of this one
document. No, no, no. If we are the sellers of anything,
it is of the ideas that lie behind the Charter and these
ideas are things like human dignity, respect for all
other persons, respect for nature, equality and
solidarity. These are the important things.
Today, at the session of the Earth
Charter Commission, at the proposal of Steven
Rockefeller, it was decided not to change the preamble to
the Earth Charter because we consider that it really
gives three or four elements for general awareness
raising and, in particular, for those who are in power,
that are essential for good governance: that is, you must
be responsible, you must realise that in this world we
are all in the same boat.
Vicky
Rossi: Would you say, then, that the Earth Charter is in
essence a Charter of Human Duties and Responsibilities
similar to the "The Universal Declaration of Human
Responsibilities" by the InterAction Council, the
"Trieste Declaration of Human Duties" (also known as the
"Carta of Human Duties") by the International Council of
Human Duties and the very comprehensive "Declaration of
Duties and Human Responsibilities" by the Valencia Third
Millennium Foundation?
Federico Mayor:
Of all the documents that I am
currently familiar with, I think that there are two which
are particularly related to human responsibilities such
as those outlined in the Valencia Third Millennium
Foundation Declaration. One of them is the Earth Charter
because it emphasises that we must respect each other and
we must always have in mind the human race. The Charter
says that we are "committed" to doing certain things and
this, in my view, is the strongest expression of
responsibility. I am "committed", not I am aware or I am
involved. I am "committed".
Let's look at the Earth Charter
preamble itself, which I think is very important. Here
you have the mission. It says, "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." But then it says that
in order to fulfil these four broad commitments, it is
necessary to….. These are the commitments (pointing
to the 4 main principles/pillars of the Earth Charter) -
and this is the action (pointing to the sub-principles
below each of the 4 main pillars). So, each of us must
behave in such a way that we "respect Earth and life in
all its diversity", "care for the community", "build
democratic societies" and "secure Earth's bounty and
beauty".
Vicky
Rossi: Would you say that the 1st Earth Charter
principle, "Respect and Care for the Community of Life",
is an over-arching principle comprising the other
three?
Federico Mayor:
Yes, that is exactly the way,
but each of the four main Earth Charter principles is
also itself an over-arching point of reference; so, to
put these four main commitments into practise (pointing
to the 4 main principles/pillars of the Earth Charter),
you need to carry out the action plan (pointing to the
sub-principles below each of the 4 main pillars).
In the same way, if you take the
Declaration of a Culture of Peace, you will see there are
declarations and then a plan of actions. It states that
to achieve A, you must do the following things. For
example, in education, you must do 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 -
as examples of concrete actions. To promote democratic
principles, you must carry out the following 1, 2, 3, 4,
5, 6, 7 actions. To ensure equality between women and
men, you must do the following 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
actions.
Vicky
Rossi: Could you provide some examples of the kinds of
initiatives that are going on at the governmental, civil
society and grass roots levels to promote the Earth
Charter?
Federico Mayor:
There are very many different
initiatives being implemented, for example, there are
some Central Asian countries [e.g. Tatarstan]
that have already officially recognised the Earth
Charter, at the governmental level. Then in my country
[Spain], I have been discussing world citizenship
education with government ministers and I have suggested
that they should refer in particular to the Declaration
of Human Rights, the Declaration on Tolerance, which is
currently very important for the co-existence of
different immigrant groups, and the Earth Charter. The
Spanish government has now advised the autonomous regions
that they should follow this lead. Then, the Catalan
government has integrated the Culture of Peace into their
statutes, so now the Culture of Peace is officially
incorporated into all of the schools there.
It is our intention with the Earth
Charter to "advise" - because it is not necessary to put
this as a "compulsory" thing - at all levels of
government. I have focused especially at the city level.
When we think about "power", we tend to think about power
in the government, but we have other local powers too.
One very sure place to go is the city because "citizens"
live in the "city" and as such one of the most important
ways of mobilizing support for the Earth Charter is in
the cities.
On another point, although it is
wonderful if we can from time to time appear in the most
well-known journals and newspapers - through an editorial
or an article - there are publications which exist apart
from the normal mass media, that is, there are hundreds
of thousands of people who receive free of charge their
bulletin, their proceedings. For example, in Spain, all
teachers receive 2 kinds of journals related to their
teaching profession. These professional publications are
very good for wide-spreading things like the Earth
Charter because they are free of charge. So, it would be
good to be in the journals for lawyers or the journals
for health professionals, etc. This is a wonderful way of
wide-spreading the concept of the Earth Charter because
if you are reading the newspaper, perhaps you would not
take as much notice of an article on the Earth Charter as
you would if you were reading one in a professional,
monthly publication. So this is another way of concrete
action.
Vicky
Rossi: As well as finding new ways of raising awareness
amongst people and governments on the Earth Charter, what
do you hope the Earth Charter +5 conference here in
Amsterdam will achieve?
Federico Mayor:
Normally, I must tell you
sincerely, that most of the +5 meetings are meetings of
complete disappointment. Most of them. With regards the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), these were a
necessity because we realised that instead of getting
better we were going backwards. For example, in the very
important issue of people that are living on less that $1
a day, we were seeing that instead of reducing the
numbers, we were getting worst. So the MDGs were a real
necessity, but the Millennium +5 was a disaster. It is
true that in the middle was 11 September 2001, but the
net result has been "nothing" - very, very little has
been done - and this happens in nearly all the +5.
The Earth Charter, however, I must
tell you is another kind of event as you can see. The
people who have been working with the Charter have been
doing quite a good job. Many NGOs and institutions around
the world have realised that the Earth Charter is a good
thing. In particular, the reaction of young people has
been very interesting. I can accept that young people can
find many answers in the Earth Charter. So, in short, I
think the +5 of the Earth Charter is much better than the
normal +5. In any case, it is having a catalyst effect,
which is good, because even if somebody thinks they
haven't really done a lot yet with the Charter, now they
will have a new impulse for action.
Vicky
Rossi: Is there a link between the 3rd Earth Charter
principle, "Social and Economic Justice", and the
drafting of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)?
Federico
Mayor: I see the Earth Charter
as a tool for the MDGs because it is more of an
over-arching declaration. In turn, the MDGs are an
expression of how to put into practise many of the
principles contained in the Earth Charter. [Vicky
Rossi: In a speech on Tuesday 8 November, Maurice Strong
indicated that the MDGs came after the Earth Charter -the
drafting of the Charter began in 1997 - and that the MDGs
were in many ways stimulated by the Earth
Charter.]
As I said before, at the Millennium
+5 nothing happened despite the "solemn" declarations
made by governments. However, on 22 July 2005, Secretary
General Kofi Annan gave proposals for the Millennium +5
saying, "Well, whatever we have done or not done, let us
now concentrate on…." But then "Hurricane Bolton"
came and well… Nevertheless, the outcome has not
been bad as now they say that they recognise that the
United Nations is indispensable. This is not bad. It was
better in the Declaration and it was better, in my view,
in the document of the Secretary General, but the
official outcome, "We recognise that now more than ever
the United Nation…", means that we must try an
in-depth reform, but not just of the Security Council.
For example, we should make the General Assembly 50%
States, 30% elected people from the different countries -
then we will be "We, the peoples" - and 20% NGOs and
institutions. If they say, "No, this is impossible",
well, the League of Nations was like this. The only
institution that remains from the former League of
Nations is the ILO (International Labour Organisation).
The ILO has one third States, one third patronat and one
third workers. Then, this is a good example. You see,
before the War they already recognised that if you say,
"We, the peoples", then you cannot only put the States.
On another theme, now they are
saying that we must work to establish what unites the
different cultures and not what separates them. Here
again is an immense space for work because this is the
Alliance of Civilizations. What we need to say is that we
can accept everything except imposition, except violence.
But we can accept everything. We must also accept that we
are not the good and the others are not the evil. We must
accept that all of us need to make many improvements in
our beliefs. For example, in the context of the Alliance
of Civilizations, one European leader said, "We, the
civilized…" And I thought, "Oh, no, that's exactly
against what we're talking about here." An Alliance of
Civilizations means that we cannot say that we are the
civilized ones. We are one civilization that is willing
to have contact with other civilizations.
* This transcript represents an
accurate but non-verbatim representation of the original
interview.
Quotes
from speech made by Frederico Mayor
Vicky Rossi took down the following
quotes from the speech made by Federico Mayor at the
Culture of Peace thematic group meeting, 7 November 2005,
at the Earth Charter +5 conference.
"It is indispensable that the young
people realise that it is up to them to help us in this
very important venture of trying to change the present
trends in the world."
"We have one main responsibility
that is to design a different future. This is our duty.
We must avoid to succeeding generations the horror of
war."
"All the people, we must contribute
everyday with our behaviour, in a peaceful manner, to
give alternatives to violence, alternatives to
imposition. We must change this imposition into dialogue,
into understanding, into listening to others."
"Very often I say that my dream is
that the 21st century will be finally the century of
people."
"I do not like globalization
because the only thing I have seen globalized is
poverty."
"We can be members of a global
democracy. [That does] not mean there is only one
country. No, no, no. There are many countries; there are
many people; there are many cultures; but with a single
vision of democracy being participation. Participation,
that means that from now on, I hope, progressively, we
will not only be counted (…) every 4 years, every 5
years, every 7 years. (…) Democracy is not to be
counted. Democracy is to count. Democracy is to be taken
into account. This is democracy and for this we must
participate. And now it's very difficult sometimes to
participate except for opinion polls or elections because
we have not the possibility, we are not requested for
this participation, but now with the internet, with the
SMS, progressively, we will be able to express ourselves:
to dissent or to applaud. We will be able to count and,
therefore, to be taken into account."
"Silence has been unfortunately,
until now, the reason for so many - in history -
victories of those that have power because they decide
and the people say, 'Well, there's nothing to do, you
know.' So the citizens accept these decisions in a silent
way. (…) It's the silence of those who are able to
express themselves but they are not used to it. It's not
a part of our behaviour - of citizens to express
ourselves in a non-violent way."
"Now, progressively, we have this
possibility of this transition from a culture of
imposition, of violence, of force, to a culture of
dialogue, of understanding, of reconciliation, of
peace."
"1995 was a very important moment,
the Declaration of Tolerance. This Declaration is, in my
knowledge, the first time that one important declaration
mentions a Culture of Peace, and mentions a Culture of
Peace in the first article. They say tolerance is the art
of living peacefully altogether and realising that we are
all equal. They say this is fundamental for the
transition from a culture of violence to a Culture of
Peace."
"In the Earth Charter there are
many references - not only one but many - to a Culture of
Peace. It is one, precisely, of the missions of the Earth
Charter."
"I think that even after this
position of the United States, it doesn't matter. The
outcome of the 14 September this year is extremely
important. (…) It's worse than it could be, of
course. Now we can improve it, of course. But believe me
if you read the outcome of the 14 September, it's very,
very important. First of all because we have all these
heads of State and governments saying that they put again
the democratic principles where they have, during many
years, said the only rule, the only law, was the market.
Very important. (…) Now they say, 'justice,
solidarity and tolerance and equality'. (…) We have
so many things concerning social improvement, concerning
equality, of all the civilizations and the people;
concerning - and this is for me very important - the
dialogue and alliances of cultures, regions and
civilizations."
"You cannot have enthusiasm for any
endeavour in your life if you really do not think that
you are building something relevant for the generations
to come."
For
further information, please contact:
The Earth Charter Secretariat
University for Peace Campus, P.O. Box 138-6100,
San José, Costa Rica
Tel: +506-205-9000
Fax: +506-249-1929
info@earthcharter.org
www.earthcharter.org
Mr Federico Mayor
Fundación Cultura de Paz
c/Velázquez, 14-3
28001 Madrid
Spain
Tel: +34-91-426-1555
Fax: +34-91-431-6387
fmayor@fund-culturadepaz.org
www.fund-culturadepaz.org
Links
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