COUNCIL - Earth Charter Initiative

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formulating related mission statements and professional codes of conduct.
• a catalyst for multi-sectoral, cross-cultural and interreligious dialogue on common goals, shared
values and global ethics.
• a soft law document that provides an ethical foundation for the on-going development of
environmental and sustainable development law.
• an instrument for assessing progress toward the goal of sustainability.
Earth Charter Initiative Focus Areas – A Brief Overview
As part of a new long range plan that is based on the principle of decentralized empowerment and is
designed to rapidly expand Earth Charter activities around the world, the Earth Charter International (ECI)
Council approved in its May 2008 annual meeting, the creation of six focus areas, some of which function
with independent task forces mainly. Each of these independent task forces is committed to promoting
special projects, developing a network of activists, and catalyzing the creation of a number of independent,
volunteer action groups in one of the following focus areas:
Business
Education
Communications and Media
Religion, Spirituality and Ethics
United Nations and Global Governance
Youth
strategically to advance the transition to sustainable ways of living. In most of these six areas, there are already
a number of promising activities and projects on which the task forces can build. In all these areas there is also
the potential for interest in the Earth Charter to spread quite spontaneously or organically beyond the initial
government.
advancing the work of some task forces when it has the expertise and resources to be helpful as in the cases,
for example, of education and youth where the Secretariat plays an active leading role. It is expected that
the task force leadership teams include many individuals who are not members of the ECI Council, and
“extended secretariat”.
Earth Charter International has a keen interest in youth participation and thus intergenerational partnership
as much as possible , given that this will strengthen intergenerational equity, communication and learning
Earth Charter Initiative
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