Creating Hope
January 2006
Banner photo: Katsuhiro Fujino
Earth Charter Plus Five
The Royal Tropical Institute
SGI representatives and individual members from several countries joined 400 people from all over the world who attended the Earth Charter Plus Five event held at the Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam, from November 7 to 9. Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, who officially launched the Earth Charter as a set of common values and principles for a sustainable future in 2000, attended the celebrations.
The event started with an Earth Charter Youth Initiative meeting at which 30 youth representatives from all corners of the world met face-to-face for the first time. The Soka Gakkai made a contribution toward the cost of bringing this group together, and two SGI-Canada members who created the SGI Vancouver Youth Earth Charter Committee participated. They were also nominated for a Maximo T. Kalaw Earth Charter Award, as one of 10 groups commended for creativity in implementing action-based projects based on the Earth Charter.
Addressing the main conference, Earth Charter Commission Cochair Maurice Strong spoke of the need to move "from ego systems to ecosystems" and for an ethical and motivational revolution which reaches into the souls of individuals.
The event marked the launch of the third phase of the Earth Charter Initiative. The first involved the consultation, translation and drafting process that produced the Charter. The second included dissemination and seeking endorsements as well as implementation by educational institutions and local communities, and the third phase, from 2006, will focus on expanding awareness of the Earth Charter, education for sustainable living, engaged endorsement and use of the Charter as a tool for ethics-based assessment.
The "Seeds of Change: The Earth Charter and Human Potential" exhibition was shown in the upstairs of the main lobby area and drew positive responses from viewers.
In the main conference, thematic sessions explored the application of the Earth Charter in the building of a culture of peace, in business, education, local governments and international law. The SGI co-moderated a session on "Faith Groups and the Earth Charter" which brought together Christian, Buddhist, Islamic, Jewish and other religious representatives. It was agreed that the Earth Charter provides a common vision of a better world which can be a bridge between different faiths.
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