EARTHKEEPING NEWS A NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN COALITION FOR CHRISTIANITY AND ECOLOGY Volume Three, Number Five May/June 1994 CONFERENCE ADDRESSES THE ETHICAL QUESTIONS IN AGENDA 21 A January 1994 conference in New York, organized by the Earth Ethics Research Group, Northeast Chapter and co-sponsored by the UN Environment Programme, brought together 200 people in interdisciplinary teams of philosophers, scientists, attorneys, educators, representatives of the developing world, and members of the international business and religious communities. The goal of the conference was to address the many ethical issues which are implied in Agenda 21, developed at the 1992 UNCED conference in Brazil. Here are two reports. Everything is Connected to Everything Else Hazardous waste, biodiversity, nuclear waste, water resources, climate change and the ethical sensitivity of the available economic tools were the subjects of plenary sessions. Breakout sessions dealt with the role of the international business community and of the world's religions, with the presentation of invited papers. It was generally agreed that the two fundamental problems are population and consumption. Other major questions were: What constitutes Ethical Issues? What are the ethical foundations of sustainability when all that we do is dependent on natural systems? Where do we find certainty? Economics no longer has a core body of knowledge to teach. Many would-be standards are difficult or impossible to quantify. What is the ethics of financing military needs that maintain national sovereignty as opposed to environmental needs which transcend national borders? How do we change our lifestyles to reduce consumption? If any one conclusion can be drawn from the discussions of acutely complex and diverse questions, it would be, for this writer, that we need a post-modern scientific world view, at the base of which is a shared and universal spirituality which acknowledges and honors that "everything is connected to everything else." As Rudolph Heredia from the Indian Social Institute, New Delhi, noted " We need a world that is not just sustainable but transformed." by Jody Bryan, Highlands Learning Center for Earth Literacy, PO Box 366, Highlands NC 28741. To Love Is Not Just To Use The primary disciplines used in Agenda 21 are science, economics and politics. Ethics and religion play little role. Now many leaders realize that without a shared ethical understanding there will be insufficient motivation to implement Agenda 21. UN Environmental Programme Director, Noel Brown, expressed the hope that this meeting would be the first of many to help institutionalize the asking of ethical questions, and to further "an ethic of the whole", noting that funding for implementation of Agenda 21 has been a stumbling block. Brown asked, "Can we have a value base to make funding a priority?" Philosopher Mark Sagoff criticized Agenda 21 for failing to draw on religious and spiritual values which he feels are the "most foundational and effective basis" for conserving biodiversity, one of the most confounding and complex issues at the Earth Summit. The primary image of biodiversity in Agenda 21 is that of "a warehouse of materials — a natural capital." It makes much of how new advances in biotechnology have pointed to the value of biodiversity. This sustainable use approach, while important, is not enough. Sagoff warned that biotechnology could erode the genetic base through monocropping and the attendant domestication of the landscape. He emphasized that to love is not just to use. Native and indigenous species help us to come home, and to know ourselves. by Jenny Holmes, 2325 NE 44th Ave, Portland OR 97213. For information on conference papers and video tape, write Donald Brown, EERG-NE, 2915 Beverly Road, Camp Hill PA 17011.Ï Home     Table of Contents