INTER-FAITH  POLICY  DOCUMENT

on

 SUSTAINABLE  DEVELOPMENT

 

INTRODUCTION

 

We, members of different faith communities, have come together in order to make a distinctive contribution to the debate on sustainable development which will be conducted both during the Johannesburg Summit, and in the years that follow it.

 

We believe that all people of faith will agree - as we have done - that policies and actions to sustain our planet for future generations are more likely to be successful if we accept that all human beings have a spiritual element in their very nature.

This element links us together - with the Creator or Guiding Spirit, with all humanity, past, present and future, with all "creatures great and small" as well as the plants and streams, the seas and mountains and plains of our planet.  

 

We pledge ourselves to work together to promote Sustainable Development, respect for human and all other life, to work actively for reducing conflict in order to promote that Peace on earth which the great prophets have foretold, and to take active steps to lift the heavy and unsustainable load of poverty from the shoulders of millions of our fellow humans on our planet.

 

COMMON PRINCIPLES

 

* All who believe that there is a spiritual dimension to human beings should strive to counter the rampant materialism that pervades much of current society, especially but not only in "developed" countries.

 

* Greed is a negative character quality found in most of us. It should be curbed and kept in check, not stimulated by attractive advertising that urges us to want more and to need more. All moral teachers have instead stressed the virtues of moderation.

What we are is more important than what we have.

 

* All faiths advocate humane qualities like care, compassion, honesty and striving for justice. We respect faiths different from our own and pledge ourselves to strive JOINTLY to encourage all human beings - on farms and in villages, in towns and cities everywhere - to value and practise these humane qualities.

 

* We have taken over planet earth from previous generations. In the view of most faiths the Almighty has entrusted the earth to humanity and at the present time to our generation - to look after and to benefit from it, but not to destroy it or to damage it beyond repair. It is our responsibility to hand it on to our children and to future generations for their stewardship and use.

SOME MAJOR PROBLEMS

 

One is the vast gap between those who are well off, and those who are poor. "Those who possess are few and those who possess almost nothing are many." This glaring inequality "represents the moral failure to distribute justly the goods and services originally intended for all." (Pope John Paul II)

 

The second is the protection which some countries - like many individuals - extend to sections of their own people and interests often without any consideration for the effect of such policies on other people. "R 1 billion in subsidies given by rich countries to subsidise their agricultural products results in losses of R100 billion by poor countries in lost exports. This is double the world spending on development aid." These subsidies prevent developing countries from being able to trade on a basis of equity with the rest of the world. Such policies are wrong.

 

Thirdly, by example and widespread education, we must increase the awareness of our individual and joint responsibility for the well-being of our global and local environment - both human and ecological. All human beings need this education, but those who consume too much of the earth's resources need it most. According to the UN World Environment Outlook 2002, "20% of the world's population consumes 90% of the world's production." This is clearly unfair, but while this is the reality of over-consumption on planet earth, it is wrong to lay much of the blame for lapses in protecting and conserving the environment on the people of developing countries.

 

We should also affirm that if various countries would make significant cuts in their military expenditure, vast funds could become available both for sustainable development and for poverty alleviation. In addition, over a longer period, such cuts might bring humanity nearer to a time when "nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."  Since religions are unanimous in praising world peace, we should strive to promote it by working for cuts in military spending.

 

SPEAKING WITH ONE VOICE

 

* If all people who value the spiritual aspects of human nature would promote such values by speaking out with ONE collective voice for the promotion of morally sustainable human and environmental development, this might have enough impact to change the attitudes and behaviours of individuals, private institutions and organisations, and governments.

 

*  Clearly a better approach to sustainable development can only  succeed with much relevant education. This must happen in schools and in other educational institutions, but also in society at large - in all its structures, and in the media. It may be feasible to set up a small inter-faith body to plan such educational programmes at various levels, possibly in association with like-minded bodies, so that effective programmes can be developed, sustained and monitored.

 

* We also pledge ourselves to promote tolerance and respect for other people and other opinions. These attitudes clearly need to be encouraged at all levels on an ongoing basis, since the belief in negative stereotypes of "the other" remains widespread. To improve this position, we must build bridges of positive contact to deepen understanding among the various groups and to attempt to identify with the problems of other communities.

 

* Corruption and other forms of dishonesty in public and private life are among the major obstacles to sound development.  Wherever we see the need, we shall work for their reduction.

 

* We know that achieving the goals of sustainable development is an ongoing but difficult process. We shall do our best to work together with both governments and civil society in order to achieve these goals. Partnerships between religious communities, NGO's, the business sector and governments will promote economic progress, reduce poverty and help protect the environment.

 

APPROACH TO SPECIFIC ISSUES

 

A. Women: their protection and empowerment

 

* Most religious teaching stresses that men and women are equal in dignity and worth, even though at various times particular generations of men have tried to use their scriptures to relegate women to a status of inferiority in society. We affirm that our and future generations accept the equal worth of men and women.

 

* We support the protection of women against violence, sexual abuse, and social and economic roles which lower their human dignity and fail to recognise their key role in the nurturing and upbringing of children, and in sustaining family life. We shall seek to advocate such protection on spiritual grounds.

 

* One of the main brakes on personal, social and economic development in the modern world is illiteracy. A significant majority of adult illiterates worldwide are women, mainly because in the past girls and women have had fewer educational opportunities than boys and men. We pledge ourselves to be active at community level to promote the empowerment of women through literacy programmes and other activities that will equip them to function competently in a literate and technological society.

 

*  We call on public and private institutions, including faith groups, to ensure that women gain positions of influence and seniority in order to exercise their talents for the common good.

 

B. Children.

 

* All children deserve food, love and protection in order to grow into happy and contributing adult members of society. We pledge ourselves to promote the well-being of all children through the religious, social, private and public institutions in which we are active. Clearly the most vulnerable children - among them orphans - are entitled to our special love and protection.

 

C. Reducing poverty.

 

* Much material prepared for the Johannesburg Summit has highlighted the fact that the gap between the wealthy and the very poor has, if anything, widened since the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio. If a quarter of humanity lives in dire poverty, and

30 000 die daily as a result of starvation, then clearly the alleviation of poverty is one of our top priorities worldwide.

 

* We should not blame poverty on the poor. Poor people all over the world lack access to credit and to markets. Many of them are handicapped by lack of education and low levels of skills. Often they also lack access to affordable education and to affordable health care. These are matters on which we as faith-based communities must summon the will to act. In all of them we must make our voices heard and use the considerable resources and skills of the members of our various faith communities to make a difference by sharing what we have with the poor. If we show that we care and get involved, this will instil new hope in poor people in many parts of the earth.

 

D. Conserving resources and opposing excessive consumption.

 

* Most religions teach us that human beings are expected to conserve the resources of our planet - to use but not to misuse them by greed and excessive consumption. We must actively combat the trend in consumer societies to use - and use up - resources without regard to any consequences beyond our own gratification. "In a finite world infinite appetites and aspirations are sorely misplaced."  We pledge ourselves to remind people that when they strive to own, consume and utilise more and more material goods and services, they should consider how this affects other people and the conservation of the earths' resources.

 

*  All of us should encourage people not to use water and energy wastefully, and here as in other matters we should lead by example. Similarly, we should promote awareness of other environmental concerns.

 

*  As people of faith we must make a special point of speaking out against the exploitation of other human beings - all created in the Divine image - for the personal, social or economic gain of others. The sexual, social and economic exploitation of children, women, strangers and other vulnerable groups of people must not be hidden but must instead be combatted energetically.

 

E. Taking action to promote sustainable development

 

* Some people believe that only those who wield economic power can make a difference in the field of sustainable development. However, the internationalisation of the struggle against apartheid has shown that moral persuasion can influence economic and political policies.

 

* We believe that if we, as people of faith, speak out loudly and clearly enough about the abuses of our time and show by our own example and the commitment of those who support us what should be done, we can make a difference. We shall then show that most of humanity can be persuaded to follow the moral teachings of the world's religions in their approach to their fellow humans, to the land and sea of the earth and all its animal and plant life.

 

* As one way of influencing meaningful action we shall strive to develop a set of moral indicators and seek to promote their use in assessing existing policies and new proposals.