| UNITED NATIONS
CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL -- JUNE 1992 |
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THE EARTH SUMMIT
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| UNITED NATIONS
CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL -- JUNE 1992 |
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THE EARTH SUMMIT
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| FROM STOCKHOLM TO RIO
The Brahma Kumaris' primary activities involve spiritual and moral education and they believe
that there is a direct connection between the abuse of the environment and a worldwide
decline in spiritual and moral standards. Although the university welcomes the advances
made in terms of modernization and better living conditions it laments the fact that these achievements
have often been gained at the expense of ethical principles and moral values. It was of no
surprise when, in the face of increasing international awareness of an
impending environmental crisis, the United Nations convened the Conference on the Human
Environment, held in Stockholm. Many developing countries, in particular India, asserted
that poverty was the greatest polluter. While seeing the necessity for development on
humanitarian grounds, as well as to achieve environmental conservation, it is believed that
the greatest poverty was a spiritual and moral one and that this was the cause of unhealthy
human activity. Abuse because of ignorance or simply for survival is as destructive
as over-consumption because of greed. In a written statement to that Conference it was also
pointed out that the state of the environment is a reflection of the state of
human minds, just as the quality of actions is a direct consequence of the
quality of thoughts.
In 1972 Stockholm had drawn attention to the role of development in protecting
the environment. By 1992 there was a clear recognition of the inextricable
link between environment and development but there was also a strident demand
for appropriate ethics and principles of behavior to be clearly stated. It was
rewarding to see, twenty years later, that the relevance of the spiritual
and moral dimension was at last being so widely recognized on an international
level.
It is believed that the coming years will continue to reveal that spiritual and
moral education is a fundamental factor in balancing economic growth with
environmental care. The world is indeed "in our hands" but the key to its
survival lies in our heads and hearts.  WE WERE THERE TOO On the eve of The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), the International Chamber of Commerce's (ICC) three day Forum on Environment and Development addressed many of the challenges facing the corporate world in relation to sustainable development. The ICC "Business Charter for Sustainable Development – Principles of Environmental Management", launched in April 1991, received considerable attention at the Forum. The Charter includes 16 environmental management principles and has so far been adopted by over 1,000 businesses. The principle range from issues of corporate commitment and employee education, products and customer advice to emergency planning and openness. The Charter is designed to assist enterprises in fulfilling their commitment to environmental stewardship in a comprehensive fashion and the ICC's recent book "From Ideas to Action - Business and Sustainable Development', discusses various challenges with regard to the Charter's principles. Forum organizer, Jan-Olaf Willums, inspired by Albert Einstein, stated that we cannot solve the environmental problems we now face by thinking the way we thought when we created them. The outstanding need , he said, was to move from ideas to action. Attending the Forum highlighted for me other significant challenges facing industry, for example:
WHEN WE CHANGE THE WORLD CHANGES
Our participation was on the level of looking at the ethical code of conduct that must govern
our interaction with the natural world and the theme of our exhibition at the Global Forum
and our written statement for the conference was
'When we change the world changes".
The exhibition attracted many delegates interested in human development and self-improvement.
We worked with the interfaith community in planning a vigil, and even though everyone
had their own way of thinking and each religion
its own belief-system, there was the feeling that we have to work together.
We have to work more in this way. We are living in the same house, the earth,
and if we are not able to understand each other and try to work together as our house
is falling down, then the situation is very dangerous. It is like being in a war,
where you have to forget your differences and work together instead of arguing about
differences when confronted by the enemy. The Global Forum was the coming together of members
of the human family to fix the global house at the time when the house is almost totally
destroyed. It is like reconstructing what we ourselves have destroyed. A FINGER OF COOPERATION
One of the good results from the Global Forum is that the governments are beginning to talk
and listen a lot more to Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs). There are a lot of
negotiations going on, on the level of "let's work together'. One part of the Global
Forum was really festive but behind all of the exterior show, inside the tents where all
the discussions were taking place, people were really talking from their hearts.
They were shouting out with tears and crying out from their wounds and their own hurt
feelings but out of all of this came many beautiful moments.
Even though up to the last day some points could not be agreed on,
whatever went on was done with sincere motivations. Maybe what needs to be worked on
further are concrete commitments.
Whereas UNCED was described as a process, the Global Forum is just the beginning of an
awareness for many people at the grass-roots level and from this awareness can
come the ability to respond. On a personal level, I feel that I have gained a much
deeper understanding of the fundamental causes of the environmental crisis.
We have to accept responsibility for our own actions and learn to work together.
If each individual would lend a finger of cooperation, together we can make a difference. WISDOM KEEPERS
The Co-Administrative Head of the Brahma Kuamris, Dadi Janki joined together in dialogue
with other of spiritual leaders of different traditions, indigenous people and activists
with decades of experience in grassroots organizing based on mobilizing the human spirit,
as one of the Wisdom Keepers of the Conference. Together they drew up the following
declartion:
The planet Earth is in peril as never before. With arrogance and presumption, humankind has disobeyed the laws of the Creator which are manifest in the divine natural order. The crisis is global. It transcends all national, religious, cultural, social, political and economic boundaries. The ecological crisis is a symptom of the spiritual crisis of the human being, arising form ignorance. The responsibility of each human being today is to choose between the force of darkness and the force of light. We must therefore transform our attitudes and values, and adopt a renewed respect for the superior law of Divine Nature. Nature does not depend on human beings and their technology. It is human beings who depend on Nature for survival. Individuals and governments need to evolve "Earth Ethics" with a deeply spiritual orientation or the Earth will be cleansed. We believe that the universe is sacred because all is one. We believe in the sanctity and the integrity of all life and life forms. We affirm the principles of peace and non-violence in governing human behavior towards one another and all life. We view ecological disruption as violent intervention into the web of life. Genetic engineering threatens the very fabric of life. We urge governments, scientists and industry to refrain from rushing blindly into genetic manipulation. We call upon all political leaders to keep a spiritual perspective when making decisions. All leaders must recognize the consequences of their actions for the coming generations. We call upon our educators to motivate the people towards harmony with nature and peaceful coexistence with all living beings. Our youth and children must be prepared to assume their responsibilities as citizens of tomorrow’s world. We call upon our brothers and sisters around the world to recognize and curtail the impulses of greed, consumerism and disregard of natural laws. Our survival depends on developing the virtues of simple living and sufficiency, love and compassion with wisdom. We stress the importance of respecting all spiritual and cultural traditions. We stand for preservation of the habitats and life styles of indigenous people and urge restraint from disrupting their communion with nature.
The World Community must act speedily with vision and resolution preserve the Earth,
Nature and humanity from disaster. The time to act is now. Now or never. |
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©2004 BKWSU |
