Earth Charter Kickboxing: new moves
Author: Mohit Mukherjee
Originally Published at Peace and Conflict Monitor on: 01/19/2005
I cleared immigration at Bangkok
airport around 2 a.m. on Monday Nov. 15th morning, but as my taxi
drove through the city, I wondered if I had gotten the local time right as the
traffic, street food stalls, and people made it feel like mid-evening in San
Jose. My taxi driver asked me what brought me to Bankgkok. I ‘m here for the
IUCN was the best I could manage.
Bangkok was the site for the
3rd World Conservation Union Congress an event that occurs with
Olympic frequency, the last one taking place in Jordan in the
year 2000. The World Conservation Union (IUCN) is a unique organization as it
brings together both governments and NGOs into one body. Founded in 1948, it now
counts over 1,000 member organizations from approximately 140 countries
including 77 States and 800-plus NGOs. The Union s
mission is to help societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and
diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable
and ecologically sustainable.
The Congress,
a board meeting of sorts for members, makes policy decisions to guide
conservation action over the next four years, as well as to launch new
conservation initiatives. It was titled People and Nature only one world
reflecting the shift in the conservation agenda over the last few decades to now
include the human condition as a important concern.
So what was I
doing in Bangkok? I was part of a team of people who had
been working to ensure that a Motion on the Earth Charter would be adopted by
the IUCN. Without getting too technical, the Motion, which was to be voted on by
members, was broadly seeking an endorsement of the Earth Charter by the IUCN and
a commitment to use it as a guide for its policies and programs. Given that the
Earth Charter is a declaration of principles for building a just, sustainable
and peaceful global society in the 21st century, resulting from a
decade long, cross-cultural and participatory consultation process, you might
assume that this would be an easy enough Motion to get passed. I cannot, due to
limited space, convey what a politically complex process just getting the Motion
to be presented had already been. Our preparation had started over a year
ago with many roadblocks along the way.
We were
all tense the evening the Earth Charter Motion was to be put up to vote in
plenary, November 24th. In the preceeding days, we had agreed to a
number of changes in the wording of the Motion in order to put at ease certain
governmental concerns. Also, based on our observations on which governments had
been vocal in the plenary process (such as Japan, India, Germany, ) we had spoken to the
delegation heads and ensured that they would not oppose the Motion. Evidently, a
vocal opposition from a Government when the Motion is up for vote can be the
kiss of death.
The time for
the Motion finally arrived it was past 9 p.m. We hoped that the long day, with several
other Motions yet to be voted on, would help us get through quickly. Wishful
thinking. The delegate of what many consider to be the most powerful country in
the world took the floor. She explained that while her country felt that the
Earth Charter had many laudable goals, it also had many contentious principles.
Not only would they oppose the motion, they recommended other members to do the
same.
Our team
was shell-shocked. In nearly 3 days of voting, that government had been keeping
a very low profile. In the seconds that followed, a Dutch NGO representative
took the floor and expressed that they support the Motion. However, the words of
opposition still lingered in the air. The Chair called for a vote. We held our
breaths. On the giant screen in front of the room, a red bar indicated that
voting was in progress. It took 30 seconds, but time stood still. And then,
sudden applause, hugging, and cheers the Motion passed!
As my taxi
drove to the airport, I could not help having mixed feelings about the week
behind me. I was exhausted by all the politics behind getting our Motion passed.
I wondered about the actual impact the endorsement would have, given the time
and energy that had gone into the lobbying process. I realized that historic
conservation policy had been set, but there seemed to be such a disconnect
between the actions of the delegates and the policies they were working towards
enacting. I had caught a cold from the air conditioning at the Convention Center
which chilled the room as if it was a meeting for penguins certainly not an
energy efficient policy.
As my taxi
driver waited in the Bangkok traffic, he asked me
what had brought me to Bangkok. I was eager to speak to him about the
many issues that had been raised, from the role of private sector in
conservation to the debate on Genetically Modified Organisms. And I remembered
Achim Steiner s (Director General of IUCN) sentiment, that unless the
conservation community can communicate their message with the everyday person,
it s a losing battle. Pity I don t
speak Thai.
Bio: Mohit Mukherjee is Education Programme Manager for the Earth Charter Initiative Int’l Secretariat based Costa Rica. www.earthcharter.org
