Science, technology and the Earth Charter

Abstract

The Earth Charter aims to describe a set of fundamental principles that underpin sus-tainable development, defining new norms of behaviour of how individuals and socie-ties relate to the environment. The Earth Charter principles are therefore aimed at providing guidance to human and social be-haviour in order to promote environmental protection and sustainable living. The Earth Charter can be viewed as the third pillar of global governance, following (a) The United Nations Convention and (b) the International Declaration of Human Rights. The former governs how nations treat each other, while the latter deals with how people treat people. The aim of the Earth Charter is to provide guidance as to how people and societies in-teract with Earth. Accordingly it must pro- vide a blue print for the protection of Earth as a home for humanity, and for meeting the needs of present and future generations. Further information about the Earth Charter process can be found at the Earth Council Website [1]. This paper discusses the role that sci-ence and technology have to play in the for-mulation of the Earth Charter, and aims to identify a set of scientifically based principles that should be included in such a Charter. By science I mean scientific knowledge and un-derstanding about how Earth works, and the various constituent physical, biological and ecological components and processes. Tech-nology is considered in the context of its role in engineering or manufacturing goods and services to meet human needs. Show more