Archive for ‘George Rabb’ Category

Biosphere Ethics Initiative at the 75th meeting of the IUCN Council

Global Program, The Biosphere Ethics Initiative

December 20th, 2010

Members of the Biosphere Ethics Initiative were invited to present their work, offer ideas of specific programmatic incorporation of BEI into all facets of IUCN, and showcase their particular methodology for future BEI Relatos during the 75th IUCN Council meeting that took place at the IUCN Conservation Center in Gland, Switzerland, from November 18th-20th. The workshop was also aired live to the entire IUCN network via www.iucn.org.

BEI members with IUCN Director General Julia Marton Lefevre

BEI members with IUCN Director General Julia Marton Lefevre

The BEI team that presented the work included Patrick Blandin (BEI Co-Chair and Professor Emeritus of the Paris Muséum nationale d’Histoire naturelle); Kathryn Kintzele (BEI Co-Chair and Director of the Global Program of the Center for Humans and Nature); Karla Monteiro Matos (BEI Co-Chair and Director at the Rio Center for Applied Sustainability); Brendan Mackey (BEI Member and IUCN Councilor for Oceania) and George Rabb (CHN Board Member, BEI Member and former IUCN SSC Chair). The Chair of the IUCN Commission on Environmental Law, Sheila Abed, chaired the session.

Sheila welcomed the group and highlighted the importance of ethics to law and to all of IUCN. Brendan then gave a brief overview of the originations of the Initiative, with its roots in the Earth Charter, and the history of ethics in IUCN. Katy continued with the Relato methodology, with Karla giving particular aspects of the development of local ethics, including the Indiana Dunes Relato held in September 2010, and the coming Relatos in Rio and Jordan in 2011. Patrick spoke on particular implementation of the BEI with museums and National Biodiversity Strategies, and George closed the session on the ethic of care. The workshop was warmly received and the following day a Resolution was presented and passed by the Programme and Policy Committee of the IUCN Council. On the final day of the Council meeting, the Resolution was passed before the full IUCN Council. It reads,

“On the Recommendation of the Public and Policy Committee, the IUCN Council:

THANKS the Biosphere Ethics Initiative (hereinafter, “BEI”) for its presentation before the full Council and Staff at the 75th IUCN Council Meeting, and ACKNOWLEDGES the ongoing efforts  of the Commission on Environmental Law and member organizations the Center for Humans and Nature and the Paris Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle.

RECOMMENDS that the IUCN Offices in Jordan, Brazil and the United States collaborate with the BEI on the upcoming Relatos in those countries, and that the potential for a Relato in Oceania be explored with the regional office.

RECOMMENDS that the Director General and the Chair of the Commission on Education and Communication collaborate with the Commission on Environmental Law and BEI in organizing (i) a Relato with private sector partners to be hosted by the Center for Humans and Nature (CHN) to be held in Chicago, Illinois; and (ii) a Relato with IUCN staff to be held at IUCN Headquarters in Gland, Switzerland.

RECOMMENDS that funding be explored with the IUCN Environmental Law Center to help create the BEI Relato Model publication, which will assist in the development of future local ethics by members, helping them to organize their own Relatos.

RECOMMENDS that an on-request ‘Ethics Advisor’ be appointed to the IUCN Council.”

Simon Stuart, Chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC), also announced that a new SSC award will be given each year in honor of Dr. George Rabb, for his life-long commitment to species preservation.

Dr. Rabb with Simon Stuart and Jane Smart, Head of the IUCN Species Programme

Dr. Rabb with Simon Stuart and Jane Smart, Head of the IUCN Species Programme

Please click here for the BEI Packet, Dr. Rabb’s presentation, Dr. Kintzele’s presentation and Ms. Monteiro Matos’s presentation.

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CHN Sponsors NCSE Symposium

January 28th, 2010

At the 10th National Conference of the National Council for Science and the Environment (titled The New Green Economy), CHN sponsored the symposium Counterpoint: The Limits of Markets to Achieve Sustainability: The Dangerous Illusion of Endless Growth. The session was organized by CHN Senior Fellow Peter Brown and Paul Heltne and chaired by CHN board member George Rabb.  This symposium gave in-depth viewpoints from ecological economics, whose pioneer Herman Daly was honored by an NCSE Lifetime Achievement Award.  Session speakers included Peter Victor, author of Managing Without Growth; Peter Brown, who focused on the ethical challenges of ecological economics; and John Fullerton, founder of the Capital Institute, who brought the problems of capital markets into focus based on his long background at Goldman Sachs and elsewhere.  The three speakers were later commended by Richard Benedick, the President of the NCSE.  Brief responses to these presentations were given by Paul Heltne, Brian Czech (author of the Runaway Train and founder of the Center for Advancement of the Steady State Economy), Robert Nadeau (author of the Wealth of Nature: How Mainstream Economics has Failed the Environment), and CHN board member Gus Speth. Gus Speth also delivered this year’s Chafee Memorial Lecture at the NCSE meeting. Visit the NCSE website for a summary of the CHN symposium, and check back on the CHN website for postings of the PowerPoint presentations from this symposium.

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CHN at the Globalization for the Common Good Annual Conference

June 12th, 2009

CHN Board Member George Rabb and CHN colleague Kathryn Kintzele took part in the 8th annual international meeting of Globalization for the Common Good – an Interfaith Perspective. This year’s theme was “Globalization: the Challenge to America” and was held at Loyola University in Chicago, Illinois, USA May 31-June 04. Both Dr. Rabb and Dr. Kintzele sat on the final panel of the event, “Ecology, Climate, Sustainability and Globalization.”

Dr. Rabb, President Emeritus of the Chicago Zoological Society, former chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (1990-1996) and noted authority on biodiversity and species extinction, spoke on “The Common Good – All of the Natural World”. He discussed how we, a single species, are the cause of the sixth major extinction episode in the history of life on earth, wherein half or more of the ten million species on the planet are likely to go extinct within this century. This is not just a projection related to man-caused climate change, but it is happening now with the coral reefs in the marine realm and the amphibians in the terrestrial realm, and continues the pattern of our recent past with the megafaunas now gone because of us. These are substantial losses to the welfare of our own species and to the integrity and resilience of ecosystems worldwide. In the closing discussion period, he reiterated that equity should be the ethical principle governing our relationships with all life, not just our own kind. He also made the observation that we had to much better understand our own nature if we were to pursue a sustainable relationship with all of the natural world – the ultimate common good.

Dr. Kintzele gave the audience a local-international example of ethics in action, with her background discussion on the Biosphere Ethics Initiative, working toward a code of ethics for biodiversity conservation. She was able to cite examples of how local communities around the world have been translating their personal and public ethics into conservation action. Themes have included the importance of bio-cultural diversity; the danger of commodifying nature; the primacy of native species; and participatory democracy. Conference reports are in progress, but will be available at http://www.gcgchicago2009.org/index.html

More posts about George Rabb, climate change, ecology, ethics, globalization, law, sustainability

CHN Board Member joins Outdoor Hall of Fame

February 28th, 2009

Dr. George Rabb, a member of the CHN Board of Directors, will be inducted in to the latest class of the Illinois Outdoor Hall of Fame by the Illinois Conservation Foundation. The award honors “lifelong dedication to enhancing outdoor recreation and natural resources protection.” The ceremony will occur on the evening of February 28, 2009 at the Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles, IL. Other inductees are William Guerrini of Spring Valley, the late Don Hankla of Anna, Dwight Hoffard of Johnston City.

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CHN Board Member to Receive 2008 NCSE Lifetime Achievement Award

December 8th, 2008

George Rabb, a member of the CHN Board of Directors will be honored for his work in conservation with Lifetime Achievement Award of the National Center for Science and the Environment (NSCE). The award will be given at the 9th National Conference on Science, Policy and the Environment of NSCE to be held at the Ronald Reagan Building and the International Trade Center in Washington, DC on December 8-10, 2008. Also being honored are Peter Raven, Director of the Missouri Botanical Garden, and Edward O. Wilson, noted entomologist and conservationist and professor emeritus at Harvard University.

George Rabb, Ph.D., is the President Emeritus of the Chicago Zoological Society. He began his conservation career at the College of Charleston where he majored in Biology, and then earned his doctorate in zoology from the University of Michigan. In 1956 he joined Brookfield Zoo as a research zoologist. Dr. Rabb became the Director of Brookfield Zoo and President of the Chicago Zoological Society in 1976. He has been a leader in the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, chairing its Species Survival Commission for nearly two decades. Most recently Dr. Rabb has been very active in organizing a response to the decrease in amphibian populations worldwide. Among many other awards, Dr. Rabb has received the Marlin Perkins Award from the America Zoos and Aquariums Association and the Society for Conservation Biology Service Award. (http://ncseonline.org/Conference/Biodiversity/cms.cfm?id=2277)

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