Earth Charter

Today, people around the globe face amazing economic, social, political, and environmental challenges. The environment is constantly exploited for economic gain, countries face terrible debts, human rights have declined in many undeveloped countries, and war is a constant threat. If these issues are not resolved and ignored, the Earth as we know it can perish quickly. Thankfully, organizations and committees like the Earth Charter Commission work together to start a new path towards social and economic justice, environmental sustainability, and peace. The Earth Charter Commission came up with their own document titled "The Earth Charter" that perfectly displays their principles and goals towards a safer planet for human civilizations. The document contains a preamble and four principles: I. Respect and Care For The Community Of Life, II. Ecological Integrity, III. Social & Economic Justice, and IV. Democracy, Nonviolence, And Peace. Out of the four principles I feel principle number three, social and economic justice, must be put into action to influence positive changes to our planet. Poverty is a major cause of degradation, disappearance of wildlife, and loss of habitat. If we can revise our global economic system that benefits the majority and not just the wealthy individuals, the environment as well as the health of many countries will heal quickly. When people struggle financially, any individual will do whatever needs to be done to feed their families, even if it means cutting down acres of rain forests or poaching endangered wildlife. Promoting an economic system that benefits the many and not the few, will guarantee a better world and will influence the other principles mentioned earlier. A healthy social environment will also prevent further damage to our natural world by stopping further warfare and other destruction. To restate, I feel our current social and economic decline is the number one cause of environmental destruction and must be resolved to move toward a healthier, more sustainable society.