Only by recognising the rights of all things, and Mother Earth, can humanity hope to find balance amid mounting global challenges, writes Miguel D'Escoto-Brockmann* As president of the UN General Assembly I dealt with many crises and issues, but none had greater urgency or resonance for me than global warming and the need for climate justice. It is a cause that consumes me, and one that touches us all. As a crisis of global proportions, climate change is a matter that rightly should be dealt with at the global level in a world forum. At the time of its creation, the United Nations was not aware of the environmental question and grave threats that would challenge all peoples in the future. Nor were we aware then that human beings were the principal predators of nature and would become the greatest enemies of life. We are the primary cause of climate change, which today constitutes the most serious and urgent of the multiple and converging crises that currently threaten the extinction of the human species. Fortunately, since its foundation 65 years ago, there have been many scientific advances and developments in the ethical consciousness of mankind. Today, we are more aware than ever of the precarious situation of human life and of the capacity of the Earth to support it. The climate change crisis presents us with a historic opportunity. It provides us an opportunity to find ways to survive that are friendly with the whole community of life, human beings and Mother Earth. It affords us, as human beings, the opportunity to restore harmony with the Earth and to regain a full and conscious reverence for the splendour of the universe. As our understanding evolves, so must our conduct and behaviour. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is, to date, the most we have been able to jointly achieve at the United Nations. It needs to be put into practice, to be conscientiously respected throughout the world, and to be perfected as human consciousness becomes more sensitive and discovers rights hitherto unrecognised as such. With the awareness we now have, our conceptualisation of rights needs to be re-examined, reinterpreted, expanded and enriched. It is no longer enough to speak only of "human" rights. Our mission as human beings is to be guardians and caretakers of the vitality and integrity of Mother Earth. By virtue of the fact that the Earth is alive and generates all living beings, it has dignity, dignitas Terra. This dignity demands respect and veneration and endows it with rights: the right to be cared for, protected and maintained in a condition where it is able to continue producing and reproducing life. Our indigenous peoples have known this for millennia. Yet as Western civilisation expanded, and brutal capitalism became entrenched, the ancient knowledge and wisdom of our indigenous brothers and sisters was more ignored, diminished and repressed by imperial powers. By armed conquest, colonial powers were able to steal, pillage, enslave and desecrate the lands, goods and peoples of the South. But I believe the greatest tragedy was not the wielding of their economic and military superiority; the greatest tragedy consisted in the all-pervasive and prevailing "colonisation" of the intellect. The gradual assimilation of intellectual elites across the world into a capitalist system of obsessive consumption and pursuit of profit lies at the root of today's multiple converging crises. It has contaminated us all. In the great rush towards prosperity, humanity lost something sacred. I fervently believe there exists in human beings a deep longing for connectedness and greater unity with the community of life, for human beings are not separate manifestations, distinct from and set apart from the natural world. God did not create us to be spectators on safari; rather he invites us to be co-creators in His magnificent and ongoing process of creation. Humanity is an integral part of the Earth and its ecosystems; together we form a singular, transcendent and wondrous part of the complex web of life of the universe. Our indigenous peoples have, against all odds, held fast and safeguarded their ancient and contemporary knowledge of Mother Earth, and indeed have been the first to fully grasp the injury that we as humans are doing to the planet, to ourselves and to future generations. They remain at the vanguard on practical ways to adapt to and manage climate change. I deeply regret that the developed world has, for centuries, dismissed the ancient knowledge and practices of indigenous peoples, but I sincerely believe the world is now ready and beginning to listen. We in the West have much to learn. We have a choice. Some believe that the privileged segments of humanity will not forfeit the advantages of their lifestyle, power or money. I believe the Peoples' World Summit on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth held in Tiquipaya, Cochabamba this year showed the world that an ever-larger part of humanity is moving towards a new, more inclusive social paradigm of solidarity and cooperation, one that affirms the sanctity of life in all its manifestations. A different vision of the world creates a different ethic, a new way for us to relate to Mother Earth and to each other. This is exciting. All of these challenges cannot be adequately addressed unless we change our minds and hearts and create space for the emergence and development of other essential aspects of the human being. In the innermost part of our human nature we are beings of love, solidarity, compassion and sharing. This is why we must enhance our analytical reasoning with sensitive, emotional and heartfelt reasoning. I believe Cochabamba marked a turning point. For the first time, outside of the parameters of the UN, academia or intergovernmental forums, the peoples of many nations and continents, numbering in the thousands but representing millions, stood steadfast and made clear that we are determined to do whatever is needed to defend life. Seizing the opportunity offered to them by Bolivia President Evo Morales Ayma, the delegates adopted the Agreement of the Peoples, which contains a proposal for a draft Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth. It is not the final word, but the draft declaration and subsequent documents that build upon it will be instrumental in the eventual adoption of a Universal Declaration, one intended to expand our present conceptualisation of rights to include the rights of the natural world, as an intrinsic element of our human rights and of the collective rights of humanity. I believe the Cochabamba Declaration constitutes an indispensable step towards reinventing the United Nations and as such should be welcomed by the international community. I find it exciting and invite all delegations to give it the consideration it deserves. * The writer was president of the UN General Assembly from 2008-2009 and is director of the International Campaign for Reinventing the United Nations.
