QUOTES
So,
what we do as individuals matters. It adds up.
The
Earth Charter is important as an expression of the commitment of people throughout
the Earth to evoke their own deepest moral, spiritual and ethical principles in
the task of ensuring a sustainable future for those who inhabit the Earth now
and those who will follow us on the Earth.
Nothing
less than the fate of the planet is at stake... No place on the planet can remain
an island of affluence in a sea of misery.
We're
either going to save the world or no one will be saved.
A
shift is necessary toward lifestyles less geared to environmental damaging consumption
patterns.
After
all, sustainability means running the global environment - Earth Inc. - like a
corporation: with depreciation, amortization and maintenance accounts. In other
words, keeping the asset whole, rather than undermining your natural capital.
We in the industrialized
world make a greater difference because our ecological footprint, our impact on
the condition of the environment, is 40 to 50 times larger than that of people
in the developing world.
Don't
accept that you can't make a difference. Because if you can't make a difference,
you won't make a difference, and if you put a multiplier on that we will continue
on an unsustainable pathway.
I
am President of the UN created University for Peace, which has a strong commitment
to the relationship between peace, security and the environment. I meet with young
people around the world and I always come away enthused and encouraged.
I've
developed a huge regard for Toyota for its environmental awareness, for its immense
commitment to research and development in this field, and for its leadership in
developing hybrids which others are now following.
If
you want to maintain a sustainable supply of fish you have to farm the fish, rather
than mine them.
It
is perfectly proper for NGOs to seek corporate support. But it is also important
that, in doing so, they not sell their soul for that support.
Nevertheless,
the concept of sustainable development is now known - even amongst those who haven't
accepted it - and it's recognized, debated and followed by an increasing number
of businesses.
We
need what I have often called an ecological approach to the management of these
resources and we do not have that now. We have the inertia of past habits, unsustainable
habits.
