Presentation

The Earth Dialogues is a public forum initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev and Maurice Strong which aims to provoke a global mobilisation to further the achievements of three objectives essential to the future of humanity: averting the ecological disasters which threaten our planet; fighting the plague of poverty; and acting to ensure truly sustainable development.

Representatives of civil society, government, international organisations, finance, business, religion, media and academia, along with members of the public, will convene in Lyon for three days to exchange their views on how to reinvigorate the ethics debate within the sustainable development and globalisation agendas. Participants will be challenged to identify new ways for humanity to overcome the economic, social and environmental impasse in which it currently finds itself trapped.

The Earth Dialogues are strategically timed to precede the International Conference on Financing for Development, to be held in Monterrey in March 2002, and the World Summit on Sustainable Development, which will be held in Johannesburg in September 2002. The Earth Dialogues will examine key issues related to the ethical challenges of global responsibility, rights and social justice as related to sustainable development, and propose concrete measures to ensure that the benefits of globalisation are more equitably shared throughout the world.

During the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, far-reaching political commitments were announced and concrete strategies were adopted to assist governments and other stakeholders in the global transition to sustainable development. Sadly, ten years later, we are further than ever from the goals declared in Rio, and the optimism sparked by the end of the Cold War is waning. Pressure on natural resources has increased, poverty is deepening in developing and transition countries, human security is diminishing, violent conflicts continue, and the environment deteriorates.

The recent terrorist attacks in the United States demonstrated in the most horrifying way just how vulnerable and interdependent the world has become, and reaffirmed the urgent need for effective solutions to promote the achievement of equitable and sustainable development.

Since 1995, Mikhail Gorbachev and Maurice Strong have cochaired a global process to create an integrated ethical framework for sustainable development. Based on input from thousands of individuals and organisations throughout the world, the Earth Charter Commission approved the final text of the Earth Charter in 2000. This document will be offered for the consideration of the participants at the Earth Dialogues.