Earth Charter International

Description
This channel is maintained by the Earth Charter International Secretariat and it aims to promote the Earth Charter as a source of values and principles for a transition to sustainable ways of living and a global society founded on a shared ethical framework that includes respect and care for the community of life, ecological integrity, universal human rights, respect for diversity, economic justice, democracy and a culture of peace. For more information go to: http://www.earthcharter.org/

What Is Ecological Civilization?: Crisis, Hope, and the Future of the Planet: Clayton, Philip, Schwartz, Wm. Andrew

The present trajectory of life on this planet is unsustainable, and the underlying causes of our environmental crisis are inseparable from our social and economic systems. The massive inequality between the rich and the poor is not separate from our systems of unlimited growth, the depletion of natural resources, the extinction of species, or global warming. As climate predictions continue to exceed projections, it is clear that hopelessness is rapidly becoming our worst enemy. What is needed—urgently—is a new vision for the flourishing of life on this planet, a vision the authors are calling an ecological civilization.

Along the way they have learned that this term brings hope unlike any other. It reminds us that humans have gone through many civilizations in the past, and the end of a particular civilization does not necessarily mean the end of humanity, much less the end of all life on the planet. It is not hard for us to conceive of a society after the fall of modernity, in which humans live in an equitable and sustainable way with one another and the planet.

This book explores the idea of ecological civilization by asking eight key questions about it and drawing answers from relational philosophies, the ecological sciences, systems thinking and network theory, and the world’s religious and spiritual traditions. It concludes that a genuinely ecological civilization is not a utopian ideal, but a practical way to live. To recognize this, and to begin to take steps to establish it, is the foundation for realistic hope.

About the Authors

Philip Clayton, Ingraham Professor at Claremont School of Theology, has taught and written for several decades on relations between science, religion, and ethics. The author or editor of some two dozen books, he now researches on societal changes that are necessary for establishing sustainable forms of civilization on this planet.

Wm. Andrew Schwartz is Co-Founder and Executive Vice President of EcoCiv. He is a scholar, organizer, and non-profit administrator. Andrew is also the Executive Director of the Center for Process Studies. He earned a PhD in Philosophy of Religion and Theology at Claremont Graduate University, and was a principal organizer of the Seizing an Alternative Conference (June 2015).

• Item Weight : 8.6 ounces
• Paperback : 176 pages
• ISBN-10 : 1940447410
• ISBN-13 : 978-1940447414
• Publisher : Process Century Press (August 17, 2019)

See related:

• Webinar – Values & Worldviews: Ecological Civilization as Mutual Flourishing

Dr. Jane Goodall’s message for the Earth Charter 20th anniversary (with English sub-titles)

Earth Charter International

Aug 2, 2020
In this brief message, Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger of Peace highlights the key challenges humanity is facing in the current moment and ends with a call “So, let’s get together. Let’s take heed of the Earth Charter, with all its wisdom, and let’s bring everyone together to work on this much better, greener, brighter future.”

In 1977, Goodall established the Jane Goodall Institute, which develops innovative, community-centered conservation and development programmes in Africa, and the Roots & Shoots education programme. Roots & Shoots implements positive change through “knowledge, compassion, and action”. According to what they wrote in 2005, “In keeping with the Earth Charter’s mission, Roots & Shoots groups are working to improve things for the environment, animals, and their own communities through acts of compassion and understanding.” See at: https://earthcharter.org/wp-content/a… Jane received, the NationalGeographic Society’s Hubbard Medal, Japan’s Kyoto Prize, and theGandhi/ King Award for Nonviolence among others. For more see: https://www.janegoodall.org/

See at: https://earthcharter.org/wp-content/a… Jane received, the NationalGeographic Society’s Hubbard Medal, Japan’s Kyoto Prize, and theGandhi/ King Award for Nonviolence among others. For more see: https://www.janegoodall.org/

Webinar – Values & Worldviews: Ecological Civilization as Mutual Flourishing

Earth Charter International

Streamed live 112 minutes ago

Values & Worldviews: Ecological Civilization as Mutual Flourishing
Speakers: Mary Evelyn Tucker, Meijun Fan, and Karenna Gore
Moderator: Andrew Schwartz

This Webinar was organized as a collaborative effort between the Earth Charter International, University for Peace, Pace Center for Green Sci-Teck and Development, the Institute of Ecological Civilization, China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF), and the Center for Process Studies.

Learn more about this webinar series: https://earthcharter.org/webinar-seri…

See related:

• What Is Ecological Civilization?: Crisis, Hope, and the Future of the Planet: Clayton, Philip, Schwartz, Wm. Andrew
  

WWF (2020) Living Planet Report 2020 – Bending the curve of biodiversity loss

WWF (2020) Living Planet Report 2020 – Bending the curve of biodiversity loss, by Almond, R.E.A., Grooten M. and Petersen, T. (Eds). WWF, Gland, Switzerland.

At a time when the world is reeling from the deepest global disruption and health crisis of a lifetime, this year’s Living Planet Report provides unequivocal and alarming evidence that nature is unravelling and that our planet is flashing red warning signs of vital natural systems failure. The Living Planet Report 2020 clearly outlines how humanity’s increasing destruction of nature is having catastrophic impacts not only on wildlife populations but also on human health and all aspects of our lives.

This highlights that a deep cultural and systemic shift is urgently needed, one that so far our civilisation has failed to embrace: a transition to a society and economic system that values nature, stops taking it for granted and recognises that we depend on nature more than nature depends on us.

This is about rebalancing our relationship with the planet to preserve the Earth’s amazing diversity of life and enable a just, healthy and prosperous society – and ultimately to ensure our
own survival.

Nature is declining globally at rates unprecedented in millions of years. The way we produce and consume food and energy, and the blatant disregard for the environment entrenched in our current economic model, has pushed the natural world to its limits. COVID-19 is a clear manifestation of our broken relationship with nature. It has highlighted the deep interconnection between nature, human health and well-being, and how unprecedented biodiversity loss threatens the health of both people and the planet.

It is time we answer nature’s SOS. Not just to secure the future of tigers, rhinos, whales, bees, trees and all the amazing diversity of life we love and have the moral duty to coexist with, but because ignoring it also puts the health, well-being and prosperity, indeed the future, of nearly 8 billion people at stake.

The Living Planet Report 2020 shows that there is an opportunity to heal our relationship with nature and mitigate risks of future pandemics but this better future starts with the decisions that governments, companies and people around the world take today. World leaders must take urgent action to protect and restore nature as the foundation for a healthy society and a thriving economy.

We still have a chance to put things right. It’s time for the world to agree a New Deal for Nature and People, committing to stop and reverse the loss of nature by the end of this decade and build a carbon-neutral and nature-positive economy and society.

This is our best safeguard for human health and livelihoods in the long term, and to ensure a safe future for our children and children’s children.

Marco Lambertini,
Director General
WWF International

Executive Summary:

The global Living Planet Index continues to decline. It shows an average 68% decrease in population sizes of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish between 1970 and 2016. A 94% decline in the LPI for the tropical subregions of the Americas is the largest fall observed in any part of the world.

Why does this matter?
It matters because biodiversity is fundamental to human life on Earth, and the evidence is unequivocal – it is being destroyed by us at a rate unprecedented in history. Since the industrial revolution, human activities have increasingly destroyed and degraded forests, grasslands, wetlands and other important ecosystems, threatening human well-being. Seventy-five per cent of the Earth’s ice-free land surface has already been significantly altered, most of the oceans are polluted, and more than 85% of the area of wetlands has been lost.

Species population trends are important because they are a measure of overall ecosystem health. Measuring biodiversity, the variety of all living things, is complex, and there is no single measure that can capture all of the changes in this web of life. Nevertheless, the vast majority of indicators show net declines over recent decades.

That’s because in the last 50 years our world has been transformed by an explosion in global trade, consumption and human population growth, as well as an enormous move towards urbanisation. Until 1970, humanity’s Ecological Footprint was smaller than the Earth’s rate of regeneration. To feed and fuel our 21st century lifestyles, we are overusing the Earth’s biocapacity by at least 56%.

These underlying trends are driving the unrelenting destruction of nature, with only a handful of countries retaining most of the last remaining wilderness areas. Our natural world is transforming more rapidly than ever before, and climate change is further accelerating the change.

See related:

• Humans exploiting and destroying nature on unprecedented scale – report | Environment | The Guardian
• ‘Nature Is Unraveling’: New WWF Report Reveals ‘Alarming’ 68% Plummet in Wildlife Populations Worldwide Since 1970 | Common Dreams News
• Wildlife in ‘catastrophic decline’ due to human destruction, scientists warn – BBC News

Humans exploiting and destroying nature on unprecedented scale – report | Environment | The Guardian

The age of extinction
Environment

Patrick Greenfield @pgreenfielduk Wed 9 Sep 2020 19.01 EDT

Mass soybean harvesting in Campo Verde, Brazil. Intensive agricultures has contributed to the collapse of some animal populations. Photograph: Alffoto/WWF

Wildlife populations are in freefall around the world, driven by human overconsumption, population growth and intensive agriculture, according to a major new assessment of the abundance of life on Earth.

On average, global populations of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles plunged by 68% between 1970 and 2016, according to the WWF and Zoological Society of London (ZSL)’s biennial Living Planet Report 2020. Two years ago, the figure stood at 60%.

The research is one of the most comprehensive assessments of global biodiversity available and was complied by 134 experts from around the world. It found that from the rainforests of central America to the Pacific Ocean, nature is being exploited and destroyed by humans on a scale never previously recorded.

The analysis tracked global data on 20,811 populations of 4,392 vertebrate species. Those monitored include high-profile threatened animals such as pandas and polar bears as well as lesser known amphibians and fish. The figures, the latest available, showed that in all regions of the world, vertebrate wildlife populations are collapsing, falling on average by more than two-thirds since 1970.

…(read more).

See related:

• Wildlife in ‘catastrophic decline’ due to human destruction, scientists warn – BBC News

‘Nature Is Unraveling’: New WWF Report Reveals ‘Alarming’ 68% Plummet in Wildlife Populations Worldwide Since 1970 | Common Dreams News

The World Wide Fund for Nature on Thursday released its Living Planet Report 2020, the thirteenth edition of its biennial flagship publication. (Photo: Jonathan Caramanus/Green Resistance/WWF-UK)

“In the midst of a global pandemic, it is now more important than ever to take unprecedented and coordinated global action to halt and start to reverse the loss of biodiversity.”

by
Jessica Corbett, staff writer

“The Living Planet Report 2020 is being published at a time of global upheaval, yet its key message is something that has not changed in decades: nature—our life-support system—is declining at a staggering rate.”

That’s according to the 13th edition of a biennial report (pdf) from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), released Thursday in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, which has heightened warnings about the dire consequences of humanity’s “absolute disrespect for animals and the environment,” in the words of world renowned conservationist Jane Goodall earlier this year.

The Living Planet Index (LPI), managed by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) in partnership with WWF, tracks the abundance of 20,811 populations of 4,392 species across the globe. The latest version of WWF’s flagship publication reveals that the LPI “shows an average 68% decrease in population sizes of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and fish between 1970 and 2016.”

“The Living Planet Report 2020 underlines how humanity’s increasing destruction of nature is having catastrophic impacts not only on wildlife populations but also on human health and all aspects of our lives.”
—Marco Lambertini, WWF

The Living Planet Index (LPI), managed by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) in partnership with WWF, tracks the abundance of 20,811 populations of 4,392 species across the globe. The latest version of WWF’s flagship publication reveals that the LPI “shows an average 68% decrease in population sizes of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and fish between 1970 and 2016.”

The LPI “is one of the most comprehensive measures of global biodiversity,” or the variety of life on Earth, Andrew Terry, ZSL’s director of conservation, explained in a statement Thursday. “An average decline of 68% in the past 50 years is catastrophic, and clear evidence of the damage human activity is doing to the natural world.”

Biodiversity loss and its drivers vary around the world, with the greatest losses recently recorded in tropical areas. WWF reports that average population declines by region were 94% in Latin America and the Caribbean, 65% in Africa, 45% in Asia-Pacific, 33% in North America, and 24% in Europe and Central Asia.

In each of those regions, changes in land and sea use, including habitat loss and degradation, had the most significant impact on wildlife populations, followed by species overexploitation, invasive species and disease, pollution, and climate change. The report explains that “globally, climate change has not been the most important driver of the loss of biodiversity to date, yet in coming decades it is projected to become as, or more, important than the other drivers.”

In Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean, human-caused climate change already affects wildlife populations more than pollution—and the impact isn’t one-way. “Loss of biodiversity can adversely affect climate—for example, deforestation increases the atmospheric abundance of carbon dioxide, a key greenhouse gas,” the report notes.

“The Living Planet Report 2020 underlines how humanity’s increasing destruction of nature is having catastrophic impacts not only on wildlife populations but also on human health and all aspects of our lives,” said WWF International director general Marco Lambertini, who argues for a “a deep cultural and systemic shift” in the report’s foreword.

“We can’t ignore the evidence—these serious declines in wildlife species populations are an indicator that nature is unraveling and that our planet is flashing red warning signs of systems failure,” he continued. “From the fish in our oceans and rivers to bees which play a crucial role in our agricultural production, the decline of wildlife affects directly nutrition, food security, and the livelihoods of billions of people.”

…(read more).

US official claims pressure to downplay intelligence reports – BBC News

An intelligence analyst at the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has said he was put under pressure to downplay the threat of Russian interference in the 3 November election as it “made the president look bad”.

In a whistleblower complaint, Brian Murphy said he had been demoted for refusing to alter reports on this and other issues such as white supremacy.

The directives were illegal, he said.

The White House and DHS have both denied the allegations.

US intelligence agencies concluded that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election but President Donald Trump has rejected allegations that his election victory was influenced by Russia, at times questioning findings from his own agencies.

An inquiry led by former FBI director of the FBI Robert Mueller found no evidence of a criminal conspiracy between Mr Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign team and Moscow.

Mr Murphy’s complaint was released by the Democrat-led House Intelligence Committee, which has asked Mr Murphy to testify to Congress later in the month.

What are the allegations involving Russia?

The whistleblower reprisal complaint, filed on Tuesday, sets out a number of allegations against former Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, current Acting Secretary Chad Wolf and his deputy, Ken Cuccinelli.

Mr Murphy says that, between March 2018 and August 2020, there was a “repeated pattern of abuse of authority, attempted censorship of intelligence analysis and improper administration of an intelligence program related to Russian efforts to influence and undermine US interests”.

He says he was instructed by Mr Wolf in mid-May to “cease providing intelligence assessments on the threat of Russian interference… and instead start reporting on interference activities by China and Iran”. These instructions came directly from White House National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien, the complaint says.

• All you need to know about Trump Russia story

Mr Murphy refused to comply “as doing so would put the country in substantial and specific danger” but, in July, he was told the intelligence report should be “held” because it “made the president look bad”.

The complaint says Mr Murphy was then removed from future meetings and effectively demoted.

He is seeking to be reinstated as principal deputy undersecretary in the Office of Intelligence and Analysis.

…(read more).

Wildlife in ‘catastrophic decline’ due to human destruction, scientists warn – BBC News

By Helen Briggs BBC Environment correspondent
10 September 2020

Wildlife populations have fallen by more than two-thirds in less than 50 years, according to a major report by the conservation group WWF.

The report says this “catastrophic decline” shows no sign of slowing.

And it warns that nature is being destroyed by humans at a rate never seen before.

Wildlife is “in freefall” as we burn forests, over-fish our seas and destroy wild areas, says Tanya Steele, chief executive at WWF.

“We are wrecking our world – the one place we call home – risking our health, security and survival here on Earth. Now nature is sending us a desperate SOS and time is running out.”
What do the numbers mean?

The report looked at thousands of different wildlife species monitored by conservation scientists in habitats across the world.

They recorded an average 68% fall in more than 20,000 populations of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish since 1970.

The decline was clear evidence of the damage human activity is doing to the natural world, said Dr Andrew Terry, director of conservation at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), which provides the data.

…(read more).

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