June 2006 | Environment
A Day for the World
A time for the soul
By Gar Smith
Last year, San Francisco played host to the United Nations’ celebration of World Environment Day on June 5. This year, the honor falls to Algiers, Algeria. It is an appropriate choice given this year’s theme —“Deserts and Desertification: Don’t Desert Drylands!” The call is timely. Deserts and drylands (the Earth’s least celebrated and most overlooked ecosystems) cover more than 40% of the globe’s land surface and are home to one-third of the planet’s inhabitants.
World Environment Day was established in 1972 “to give a human face to environmental issues.” In contrast to America’s Earth Day, WED tends to be more universal, ecumenical, and politically engaged. Still, come June 5, there will be plenty of people planting trees, bicycling, parading, and attending rallies and concerts — from Roanoke to Rangoon.
The approach of World Environment Day also signals the return of another unique UN-conceived event — the Earth Sabbath — a day of worship that transcends denominations and welcomes all faiths to participate in a day of global reverence for the Earth.
Established by the UN Environment Program (UNEP) in 1987, the Environmental Sabbath (also known as “Earth Rest Day”) is celebrated on the weekend nearest World Environment Day. This year, Earth Sabbath falls on Friday, June 2 - Sunday, June 4.
During the days of the Earth Sabbath, temples, synagogues, cathedrals, ashrams and mosques all open their doors to unique expressions of common purpose. On this long weekend, around the world, millions of people in thousands of dialects in hundreds of countries will raise their voices in chants, songs and prayers for the survival of the living planet. This is a day to abstain from any work that exploits the Earth. Ideally, this would be a day when all the world’s refineries and industrial smokestacks would be stilled, when all automobile and aircraft traffic would cease and people would gather outside to worship the wonders of creation in a cleaner, quieter world.
UNEP Director Dr. Noel J. Brown announced the first Earth Sabbath with a stirring declaration: “We are talking about a ten-year window — some 4,000 days — to turn the tide against our environmental abuse.” He extended an appeal to the world’s religious communities to “create an ecumenical movement — I call it an ‘eco-menical’ movement — in the service of the Earth.”
Sadly, Dr. Brown’s ten-year window slammed shut in 1997 with Nature decidedly the worse for wear. “Humanity is now confronted with accelerating and explosive changes that will affect the way we live and work, how and what we eat, our modes of production and consumption and transportation, where we live and even how we rear our children,” Brown warned. “Our use of energy and natural resources is pushing the biosphere closer to its limits. They may have already pushed us well beyond the carrying capacity of certain ecological systems.”
“Perhaps the end is indeed near,” Brown reflected. But, he suggested, this could be a good thing. “It may simply be the end… of the era in which governments were the centerpiece of social organization… The UN was premised on war/peace issues and these issues were dominated by governments. But now we are confronted with Earth issues — issues that concern all of us.
“We are losing species at the rate of one a day and a virtual biological holocaust is in the making,” Brown observed. “We… cannot hope to solve the problems of the future with only the institutions and the mentality of the past… We need… a new legitimacy, a new ethic, and new metaphors.”
One of those “new metaphors” was the Earth Covenant, a pledge to “broaden our sense of right and wrong‚ beyond the social sense—to find some sense of ‘right living’ in dealing with the Earth.”
The Earth Covenant proposes the following principles and actions:
Relationship with the Earth: All Life is sacred. Each human being is a unique and integral part of the Earth’s community of life and has a special responsibility to care for life in all its diverse forms. Therefore : We will act and live in a way that preserves the natural life processes of the Earth and respects all species and their habitats.
Relationship with Each Other: Each human being has the right to a healthful environment and to access to the fruits of the Earth. Each also has a continual duty to work for the realization of these rights for present and future generations. Therefore : Concerned that every person have food, shelter, pure air, potable water, education, employment, and all that is necessary to enjoy the full measure of human rights, we will work for more equitable access to the Earth’s resources.
Relationship between Economic and Ecological Security: Since human life is rooted in the natural processes of the Earth, economic development, to be sustainable, must preserve the life-support systems of the Earth. Therefore : We will use environmentally protective technologies and promote their availability to people in all parts of the Earth. When doubtful about the consequences of economic goals and technologies on the environment, we will allow an extra margin of protection for nature.
For more information on World Environment Day and the Environmental Sabbath, contact UNEP, Room DC2-803, UN, New York, NY 10017; unep.org
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