EARTH CHARTER FORUM FOR PACIFIC RIM

APRIL 7, 1998, KYOTO

MINUTES

On April 7, 1998 in Kyoto within the frameworks of the General Assembly of Green Cross International under the initiative of Green Cross Japan the first Earth Charter Forum for Pacific Rim countries took place. Prominent scientists, public figures of Japan, leadership of cities and provinces of Japan took part in the meeting. Also representatives of Indonesia, Australia, USA, Russia and of major international organizations took part in the Forum as well as representatives of different National Organizations of GCI.

The main objective of the Forum was to introduce the Earth Charter project to the Japanese public and to elaborate a working plan for GC Japan and the Earth Charter Committee of the GC Japan for the nearest future.

The Forum consisted of four parts:

- the official opening

- the information reports on the Earth Charter process and document

- the discussion

- the official closing.

The Moderator of the Forum at all the sessions was Mr Saburo Kato, President of Research Institute for Environment and Society and Chairman of the Earth Charter Committee at GCJ.

1. Greetings

In the official opening of the Forum the participants heard the greetings from:

- Mikhail Gorbachev, GCI President, Co-Chairman of the Earth Charter Commission

- Wakako Hironaka, Member of the House of Councilors, Member of the Earth Charter Commission

- Mr Shoo Iwasaki, GC Japan President, GCI Presidential Advisor

- Mr Saburo Kato, President of Research Institute for Environment and Society and Chairman of the Earth Charter Committee at GCJ.

Also greetings from the Chairman of the State Committee of the Russian Federation on Environmental Protection V.I.Danilov-Danilyan, President of IUCN Yolanda Kakabadse, President of the Earth Council Maurice Strong were sent to the Forum

Mr Saburo Kato opened the session by the presentation of the Earth Charter process, its goals and objectives, as well as the attempts made in Japan concerning the Charter, and presented the participants of the Forum.

Mr Mikhail Gorbachev welcomed everybody at the Forum and started by saying that the goal of GCI as planetary organization is to raise global environmental awareness, to produce the revolution in the minds of people. Although the industrial civilization had great accomplishments and the Earth feeds billions of people, there are limits of industrial development. He stated that humanity must consider the laws of the biosphere, realizing that people are not kings of Nature. And as Nature is sending alarming signals to us we see that a lot must be changed. Mr Gorbachev emphasized the idea that the Earth Charter should be rather an ethical and philosophical document while there is a legal binding to the document as well - a Covenant of IUCN which should be the basis for the Earth Charter and will provide the mechanisms of its implementation. He finished his greeting by underlining once again that the Earth Charter document should be like a prayer, a really people's document, a set of fundamental principles, and a code of ecological commandments. Mr Gorbachev wished much success to the Forum and Japan in this important initiative.

Mrs Wakako Hironaka greeted everybody at the Forum and spoke about the Earth Charter process relying on her own experience of working in this sphere. She pointed out that such facts as global warming, ozone layer destruction which arrived as major problems make us realize the limitations imposed by Nature and the necessity to review mass consumption. Answering the question: "How can we change people's lifestyles?" Mrs Hironaka said that we need environmental education which must penetrate into people's hearts which can be viewed at present as various attempts to draft the Earth Charter with the participation of many groups. The conclusion was made that the document has to stimulate the people's emotions, and another opinion was also spoken out: the Charter should be short and concise, and it should be something shared by all people. The document is supposed to be included into the text books at schools. Mrs Hironaka finished her greeting by mentioning the role of the wide range of all layers of the society in the Earth Charter process.

Mr Shoo Iwasaki spoke about the results of the GCI General Assembly and the role of the Earth Charter project among other programs of GCI. He also emphasized the necessity for this document to be very simple and easy to understand as very few people understand legal matters. And that is why we must hear the voice of the general public in the Charter process - meaning that common people should get interested in it, which is the major appeal of GC Japan in the Earth Charter process.

2. Information reports and presentations on the Earth Charter document and process.

Mr Rustem Khairov, International GCI Earth Charter Coordinator started his presentation covering the issues of the organization of the process, in particular the consultation process which is under way now and will be finished in January 1998. He informed the participants about the National Earth Charter Committees in different countries which have been organized, the role of IUCN and the IUCN Covenant which was written by Environmental Law Commission headed by Nick Robinson.

He then observed the planning vision of the document which will have 2 pages of principles, 30 pages of explanation and interpretation, and scientific explanation. Thus it can be seen not only as a prayer but a legal document - a soft law document.

He also focused on the situation in ecological matters now in Russia and the development of the theory of biotic regulation.

Mr Khairov also indicated the necessity and the naturalness of the Earth Charter document for Japan which has always been a country where beauty and nature were treated as indispensable parts of its life.

Dr Brendan Mackey, Chairman of the Australian National Earth Charter Committee, Vice-President of the Drafting Team presented the last up-dated ideas about the Earth Charter. The main idea is to complement the Earth Charter Commission by a group of specially invited people from all parts of the world as a network. In parallel to the formal drafting process - there is consultation process aimed at the Charter to be a really people's document. He mentioned that many people find the idea of the Charter very inspiring, because other documents were top-down documents, but the idea is to hear the voice of the people. Thus mechanisms which would combine the two processes should be developed.

Dr Mackey also presented the latest issues discussed by the Drafting Team:
- The role of science: the scientific knowledge should be translated and included into the Earth Charter. The Drafting Team are working with Nick Robinson IUCN and Hastings Center to hold a workshop on the scientific aspect of the Charter. They are also preparing the scientific paper for dissemination and discussion.
- The contents of the Charter: brief primary principles, secondary principles, third level - strategic issues. Now about 3 or 4 Principles are primary principles, 6 are secondary, 9 are strategic. At present we must identify the level of each principle.

Zbigniew Karpovicz, Director of the European Office of IUCN formally presented the views of Mrs Kakabadse, President of the IUCN, and then observed the work done by their organization in Europe and Euro-Asia. He pointed out that economic development is more effective when combined with good environmental policy. Thus we should focus on short-term solutions and long-term solutions for the resources which are in greatest risk. What can be done - is to set priorities. When the governments make decisions, the public should be ready to accept the change, that is why it is very important to work with media: Internet, TV and radio. Finishing his presentation he indicated that IUCN is ready to work with GCI in this initiative.

Mrs Erna Witolar, Head of the Working Group for the Earth Charter Indonesia, drew distinction line between the product and the process within the Earth Charter project. The process was very participatory and inclusive, much more than the Human Rights Declaration. The main issue -is to show that the Earth Charter is a tool to build dialogue between cultures and between religions, as well as for a cross-sectoral dialogue: scientists and ordinary people, artists and religious leaders. She mentioned the experience of the adoption of the Earth Charter in the Philippines where it was used when the Government changed its policies. For the future she sees that GCI and Earth Council have formed a really powerful Commission but if the text does not seem perfect everybody is welcome to make his/her comments to the text.

Mr Yayoshi Shiba, Mayor of Kamiyaku-cho, Kagoshima Prefecture spoke about Yakoshima island which is a world heritage, a small island with very rich diversity of nature where the rich nature was preserved. In 1991 the Kagoshima Prefecture started the environmental project and in 1993 the Yakoshima Charter was initiated. In 1995 the two towns set the basic environmental rules and there appeared a philosophy of co-existence and recycling.

Mr Akio Mishima, journalist, Green Heart, Editor-in-Chief showed the slides of a giant ancient tree with the sounds of music composed by him. The tree was in danger several years ago but it escaped the crisis due to the efforts of several enthusiasts.

3. Discussion

The general discussion brought about different ideas and proposals which can be briefly viewed along the following:

Mrs Gerry van Ravenswaay, GC Netherlands mentioned the idea that it is important to offer something which is in someone's interests which will make people active in the process, including different motives: for example, I want to be useful, I want to see my results.

Mr Kazuo Takahashi, International Development Research Institute, member of the Earth Council, objected saying that instead of 30 motives, all of us would have 3 major motives: head, heart, and pocket: feelings are very different, but head and pocket are very common. Thus we might have to develop strategies related to both head and pocket.

Mr Gregory Payne, Chairman of the Department of Communication, Emerson College, spoke about the efforts taken in the Boston University, USA.

Mr Kazuo Takahashi disagreed saying that when we try to convey messages, these messages may not be shared by tribal communities. These global messages will have to be translated. Conveying messages from heart to heart is sometimes impossible, therefore we would better turn to head and pocket which is common for everybody.

Mr Saburo Kato made a presentation of his paper (in the Earth Charter folder for participants) which is a result of his large research work in the legal environmental documents where he wrote about global environment and environmental ethics which is very close to the spirit of the Earth Charter.

The Tokyo Declaration was also presented for foreign participants to note the actions which are being undertaken in Japan.

Mrs Gerry van Ravenswaay, GC Netherlands, cited Mr Ruud Lubbers' paper where he formulates principles on the tactic level along the following:

- one individual and another individual

- a group and a group

- an individual and humanity

- individual and nature

Mr Guido Pollice, President GC Italy, indicated that now it is not the time for strong ideas but effective actions. And actions like the Earth Charter are fundamental which would take all ideas - for example, from Buddhism. The question has to be global, not discriminatory.

Mr Shigeru Usami, Professor of Utsunomiya University, agreed that the Charter should be a uniting document, a global goal of humankind.

Mrs Mireya Rodriguez, GC Venezuela, spoke about the results they achieved in Latin America: they tried to study relationship between ecology and power. This study has a lot in common with the Earth Charter. Meanwhile she pointed out that though consultation surely helps right now but we have to be able to concretize all the ideas.

Answering Mr Kawachida's question about how can we provide the venue for the discussion for the many environmental NGOs in Japan? Mr Saburo Kato informed the participants that there are many groups coming with lots of Charters: business enterprises, individual groups, etc. in Japan. GC Japan needs participation as much as possible and through Mr Khairov and Mrs Hironaka all comments will go to the Drafting Team and thus many opinions can be reflected.

Mr Brendan Mackey reminded that the 1999 will be the year when the Earth Charter Commission meeting will take place and the final version will be elaborated by the end of 1999. At the same time this document can serve as the basis for national Earth Charters, which will adapted to specific national conditions. As far as the people's document it is up to National Committees to work in this direction. The global consultations are designed to show that all the ideas are reflected. The Earth Charter concept is a means of engaging communities in the talk about these issues. In a fact each group produces its variant of the Charter.

Mrs Erna Witolar added that the people process is a never-ending process, it will not stop in the year of 1999.

Mr Rustem Khairov gave an example of this approach, in particular, an agreement reached with Kamchatka region government on the adoption of the regional Charter for Kamchatka and then for Siberia, without waiting for the United Nations' Agreement. He also pointed out the example of the Philippines which was the first country to adopt the national Earth Charter which was signed by the President of the country.

4. Closing of the Forum

Mr Rustem Khairov read aloud the welcome greeting from the Minister of Environment of Russia and passed his best wishes to the Japanese National Committee on the Earth Charter. He also informed the participants that next year GCI is planning to hold European and Asian countries Forum on the Earth Charter.

Mr Saburo Kato made the summary of the ideas expressed and drew the conclusions. He once again indicated the role of Japan in the Earth Charter process and made the final conclusions on the ideas expressed during the discussion.

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