Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands to Receive the Earth Charter

Thursday June 29, 12:01 am Eastern Time - Company Press Release
SOURCE: Earth Charter Initiative

President Mikhail Gorbachev, Co-Chair, the Earth Charter Commission, To Participate in the Ceremony Marking the Launch of a Worldwide Earth Charter Initiative

THE HAGUE, Netherlands, June 29 /PRNewswire/ -- At a ceremony this morning at Aula Academia, Peace Palace, Her Majesty Queen Beatrix, is to receive the Earth Charter -- a new comprehensive document that establishes global ethical guidelines for all institutions of society. This presentation marks the beginning of a worldwide Earth Charter Initiative to circulate and promote use of the Earth Charter. Other world leaders participating in the presentation of the Earth Charter include: Ruud Lubbers, Co-Chair Earth Charter Steering Committee and former Prime Minister of The Netherlands; Maurice Strong, Under-Secretary General and Special Advisor to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and Chairman of the Earth Council; Kamla Chowdhry, Former Advisor to the Prime Minister of India and Co-Chair Earth Charter Commission; Mikhail Gorbachev,
Co-Chair, the Earth Charter Commission and President, Green Cross International; Steven Rockefeller, Religion professor, philanthropist, and Chair of the Earth Charter Drafting Committee.

The Earth Charter contains 16 main principles and 61 supporting principles that outline an integrated vision for building a just, sustainable and peaceful global society. The first four guiding principles provide a brief overview of the Earth Charter vision. They are:

"Today's presentation of the Earth Charter to Queen Beatrix and the people of The Netherlands marks a significant step towards one of the Earth Charter's goals -- endorsement by the United Nations. It is also a poignant moment as The Netherlands is where the Earth Charter movement began,'' said Maurice Strong, Chairman of the Earth Council and Co-Chair of the Earth Charter Commission. "Our aim is that the Earth Charter be received as a symbol of the aspirations and commitments of people everywhere, not unlike the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.''

The aims and goals of the Earth Charter Initiative are to circulate the Earth Charter with its integrated vision to civil society, the business community, and governments throughout the world, and, with the help of many partner organizations to promote its use in many ways including:

The Earth Charter will be circulated throughout the world as a people's treaty in an effort to inspire discussion of fundamental ethical issues and commitment to a sustainable way of life. The Earth Charter is the result of a ten year deliberation process with more than 100,000 people in 51 countries, 25 global leaders in environment, business, politics, religion and education. It is an effective education tool and can provide a values framework for designing professional codes of conduct and sustainable development plans. The Earth Charter Commission will seek endorsement of the Earth Charter by the United Nations General Assembly in 2002.

Since 1994, the Earth Charter process has been led by Strong, Gorbachev, Lubbers, Chowdhry, Mohamed Sahnoun, former ambassador to the UN from Algeria, Mercedes Sosa, Argentinean pop singer and General Amadou Toumani Toure, former President of Mali. Princess Basma Bint Talal of Jordan and other distinguished world leaders have also guided the process.

The Earth Charter embraces the view that the problems of environmental degradation, poverty, ethnic and religious conflict, and social injustice are all interdependent, thus policies that address one problem can impact and improve other issues. The Earth Charter is a unique international document in its scope and ability to lead the global society in addressing the problems that impede sustainable development, human rights and peace.

Mikhail Gorbachev stated, "In its essence the Earth Charter shifts the focus to people on the Earth, their responsibilities, their morals and spirituality, their way of consumption. To save humankind and all future generations, we must save the Earth.''

"The Earth Charter is much more than a document about the environment,'' said Steven Rockefeller, chair of the Earth Charter drafting committee. "It has been constructed with the understanding that humanity's environmental, social and economic problems are interrelated and can only be effectively addressed with integrated global solutions.''

The final version of the Earth Charter was approved and released by the Earth Charter Commission at a meeting in Paris in March 2000.

The Earth Charter Initiative is a global partnership among diverse organizations and societies to secure the world's future. Its key sponsoring organizations include the Earth Council, an international non-governmental organization (NGO) established in 1992 to promote and advance the implementation of the Rio Earth Summit agreements; and Green Cross International, founded by Gorbachev in 1993 to address issues of environmental degradation.

http://www.earthcharter.org/

Contact: Millicent White
Ruder Finn Public Relations
The Hague: +31-70-4169-111(June 25-30)
New York: 212-593-6353
whitem@ruderfinn.com

SOURCE: Earth Charter Initiative