What is the Earth Charter Initiative?

In 1987 the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development issued a call for creation of a new charter that would set forth fundamental principles for sustainable development. The Earth Charter was officially launched at the Peace Palace in The Hague on June 29, 2000.

The principles of the Earth Charter reflect extensive international consultations conducted over a period of many years. These principles are also based upon contemporary science, international law, and the insights of philosophy and religion. Successive drafts of the Earth Charter were circulated around the world for comment and debate by nongovernmental organizations, community groups, professional societies, and international experts in many fields.

The International Earth Charter Initiative is a declaration of fundamental principles for building a just, sustainable, and peaceful global society in the 21st century.

It seeks to inspire in all peoples a new sense of global interdependence and shared responsibility for the well-being of the human family and the larger living world. It is an expression of hope and a call to help create a global partnership at a critical juncture in history.

The Earth Charter is based on the following core principles:

• Respect and care for the community of Life
  
  
• Ecological Integrity
  
  
• Social & Economic Justice
  
  
• Democracy, non-violence, and Peace

Why is the Earth Charter Important?

At a time when major changes in how we think and live are urgently needed, the Earth Charter challenges us to examine our values and to choose a better way. It calls us to search for common ground in the midst of our diversity and to embrace a new ethical vision that is shared by growing numbers of people in many nations and cultures throughout the world.