A Search for the Spiritual Roots of Sustainable Development …
327
both governments and NGOs, for the protection of biodiversity. Its headquarters is
in Gland, just outside Geneva. Since its establishment IUCN has become the global
authority on the status of the natural world and the measures needed to safeguard it.
In 1980 IUCN, published its World Conservation Strategy in which the concept of
sustainable development was given currency. It was well understood that their work
was based on a value of respect for nature, bio-ethics. In 1984 Ronald Engel, then
Professor at Meadville/Lombard Theological School at the University of Chicago,
was asked to address the IUCN General Assembly in Madrid, Spain on the subject of
environmental ethics, and to form “an inter-commissional working group to advise
the Director General of IUCN on how IUCN can play a more effective role in promoting the ethical dimensions of the World Conservation Strategy”. The result was
the IUCN Ethics Working Group, EWG.
12
EWG eventually enrolled some 500 participants from 50 countries, many of them
theologians. Ethics was, on this base, included as an important element in IUCN:s
second conservation strategy published in 1991 as Caring for the Earth—A Strategy
for Sustainable Living, that deals with how to implement sustainable development.
Its Chap. 2 on “Respecting and caring for the community of life” covers the topic
of ethics. A global workshop on the theme, held in 1993 between 17 organisations,
was reported in Advancing Ethics for Living Sustainably (Engel and Denny-Hughes
1994). Much of the thoughts in this group have been summarised by its chairman
Ronald Engel (Engel and Engel 1990).
It is noted that the request was to establish an environmental ethics, not biocentric
ethics. The ethics introduced in Caring for the Earth Chap. 2 is mainly anthropocentric, human centred. Its statements of “Elements of a world ethics for living
sustainably” begins with “Every human being is part of the community of life, made
up of all living creatures. This community links all human societies, present and
future generations, and humanity and the rest of nature.” and continues further down
“Every human being has the same fundamental and equal rights, including: the right
to life, liberty and security of person …”. It is only later that we can read “Every
life form warrants respect independently of its worth to people. Human development
should not threaten the integrity of nature or the survival of other species“. In spite
of the fact that the organisation is made to protect Nature it seems that its ethics is
very much a question of protecting people!
The religious dimension of the ethics of protection of biodiversity was included
later when IUCN, UNESCO and UNEP partners were invited to prepare recommendations for the Global Biodiversity Programme. The EWG then created a special
working group involving 80 persons from 23 countries which wrote the proposal
“The Role of Ethics, Culture and Religion in Conserving Biodiversity: A Blueprint
for Research and Action”. It became the basis for Action 82 of the Global Biodiversity
Strategy (1992) (Hamilton 1993).
The protection of biodiversity is a key component of sustainable development;
since long it is one of the most threatened components of sustainability. The rate of
12 History of the Ethics Group. https://ethicsspecialistgroup.wordpress.com/history-of-the-ethicsgroup/.
327
both governments and NGOs, for the protection of biodiversity. Its headquarters is
in Gland, just outside Geneva. Since its establishment IUCN has become the global
authority on the status of the natural world and the measures needed to safeguard it.
In 1980 IUCN, published its World Conservation Strategy in which the concept of
sustainable development was given currency. It was well understood that their work
was based on a value of respect for nature, bio-ethics. In 1984 Ronald Engel, then
Professor at Meadville/Lombard Theological School at the University of Chicago,
was asked to address the IUCN General Assembly in Madrid, Spain on the subject of
environmental ethics, and to form “an inter-commissional working group to advise
the Director General of IUCN on how IUCN can play a more effective role in promoting the ethical dimensions of the World Conservation Strategy”. The result was
the IUCN Ethics Working Group, EWG.
12
EWG eventually enrolled some 500 participants from 50 countries, many of them
theologians. Ethics was, on this base, included as an important element in IUCN:s
second conservation strategy published in 1991 as Caring for the Earth—A Strategy
for Sustainable Living, that deals with how to implement sustainable development.
Its Chap. 2 on “Respecting and caring for the community of life” covers the topic
of ethics. A global workshop on the theme, held in 1993 between 17 organisations,
was reported in Advancing Ethics for Living Sustainably (Engel and Denny-Hughes
1994). Much of the thoughts in this group have been summarised by its chairman
Ronald Engel (Engel and Engel 1990).
It is noted that the request was to establish an environmental ethics, not biocentric
ethics. The ethics introduced in Caring for the Earth Chap. 2 is mainly anthropocentric, human centred. Its statements of “Elements of a world ethics for living
sustainably” begins with “Every human being is part of the community of life, made
up of all living creatures. This community links all human societies, present and
future generations, and humanity and the rest of nature.” and continues further down
“Every human being has the same fundamental and equal rights, including: the right
to life, liberty and security of person …”. It is only later that we can read “Every
life form warrants respect independently of its worth to people. Human development
should not threaten the integrity of nature or the survival of other species“. In spite
of the fact that the organisation is made to protect Nature it seems that its ethics is
very much a question of protecting people!
The religious dimension of the ethics of protection of biodiversity was included
later when IUCN, UNESCO and UNEP partners were invited to prepare recommendations for the Global Biodiversity Programme. The EWG then created a special
working group involving 80 persons from 23 countries which wrote the proposal
“The Role of Ethics, Culture and Religion in Conserving Biodiversity: A Blueprint
for Research and Action”. It became the basis for Action 82 of the Global Biodiversity
Strategy (1992) (Hamilton 1993).
The protection of biodiversity is a key component of sustainable development;
since long it is one of the most threatened components of sustainability. The rate of
12 History of the Ethics Group. https://ethicsspecialistgroup.wordpress.com/history-of-the-ethicsgroup/.