Archive for ‘globalization’ Category

J. Ronald Engel, CHN Senior Fellow, Co-Edits New Book on International Law

April 15th, 2010

J. Ron Engel, CHN Senior Fellow, in collaboration with Laura Westra and Klaus Bosselmann,  has co-edited a new book published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Democracy, Ecological Integrity and International Law. For further information and to order online click here.

More posts about IUCN, J. Ron Engel, biodiversity, citizenship, democracy, ecological change, ecology, globalization, governance, sustainability

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

“Another World is Possible”: CHN returns from the World Social Forum

Global Program, The Biosphere Ethics Initiative

February 1st, 2009

kintzele_World Social ForumCHN colleague Katy Kintzele recently returned from the World Social Forum in Belém, Brazil, the Amazonian capital city of Pará. The Forum was created to offer an alternative to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, held during the same dates. In the current state of the western economic model, it was considered a timely and necessary event. Over 120,000 individuals from 150 countries attended the Forum, including President Lula da Silva of Brazil, President Evo Morales of Bolivia, Rafael Correa of Ecuador, Fernando Lugo of Paraguay and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. On the opening day, the Forum’s founder Francisco Whitaker said participants would discuss ideas to create “a new civilization, based on other values.”

To advance the work of the Biosphere Ethics Project, Katy was joined by Karla Monteiro Matos, Director of Citizenship and Social Environmental Responsibility of the Brazilian Ministry of Environment and Patrick Blandin, Professor at the Paris Museum national d’Histoire naturelle. Katy presented the work of the project at the Local Agenda 21 Day events, which attracted large numbers due to the participation of Carlos Minc, Environment Minister of Brazil. Katy then chaired the CHN workshop, “Keeping Nature Alive: the Biosphere Ethics Project and Brazil’s Local Agendas 21,” which featured Karla and two Local Agenda 21 experiences. Gilberto Puig Maldonado, Gerente de Relacionamento Comunicação Institucional of Petrobras, presented the relationships between Petrobras and the 15 Local Agenda 21s that were created as a result of a refinery proposal near Rio de Janeiro. He spoke of the need to move away from “clientelism” and that corporations should extend their corporate social responsibility beyond legal requirements and risk assessment. Sirlene de Almeida, Secretaria Municipal de Meio Ambiente for the city of Contagem, spoke of the Local Agenda 21 in Contagem, their process and their motivations, including the power “to dream of a better life.”

Katy’s personal observations of the Forum and the main themes resulting from the workshops will be in the upcoming edition of CHN’s Minding Nature. The formal report, to be published by the IUCN Environmental Law Center in Bonn, is currently being drafted. The work will then be taken to the CHN North American Global Responsibilities Annual Symposium, September 17-19, 2009 at Windblown Hill, Libertyville, Illinois. This meeting will consist of a critical ethical review of the project’s work-to-date, and in the nature of this “living project,” a dialogue on the ethics of protected and non-protected areas.

More posts about bioethics, carbon emissions, citizenship, climate change, conservation biology, democracy, ecology, economics, environmental ethics, globalization, presentation, property rights, sustainability

CHN heads to the World Social Forum in Brazil

Global Program, The Biosphere Ethics Initiative

January 27th, 2009

CHN colleague Kathryn Kintzele will be representing CHN at the World Social Forum (WSF) in Belém, Brasil January 27-February 1st, 2009. “The World Social Forum is an opened space – plural, diverse, non-governmental and non-partisan – that stimulates the decentralized debate, reflection, proposals building, experiences exchange and alliances among movements and organizations engaged in concrete actions towards a more solidary, democratic and fair world; [it is] a permanent space and process to build alternatives to neoliberalism.” http://www.fsm2009amazonia.org.br/.

While in Belém, she will be chairing the CHN-sponsored workshop, “Keeping Nature Alive: the Biosphere Ethics Project (BEP) and Brazil’s Local Agendas 21.” This workshop aims to advance the work of CHN and the Ethics Specialist Group of the IUCN Commission on Environmental Law on the creation of a code of ethics for biodiversity conservation. Karla Monteiro Matos, Director of Citizenship, Social and Environmental Responsibility of the Department of the Brazilian Ministry of Environment, will be providing her expertise on the implementation of the international Agenda 21 Programme in Brazil. BEP Co-Chair Patrick Blandin, Professor at the Paris Museum national d’Histoire naturelle, will also be joining the project’s involvement at the WSF.

Kathryn has also been asked to present the work of the Biosphere Ethics Project at the Local Agenda 21 Day events of the WSF. They have also been asked to represent the project at Earth Charter events. In addition, Kathryn and Patrick will join Karla for a site visit to a Local Agenda 21 Amazonian community, just south of the state of Para. Here, they will be able to gain invaluable insight into the implementation of this international document at the most local of levels. This will be the third formal case study for the ethics project, following Chicago Wilderness and South African National Parks.

More posts about climate change, conservation biology, economics, environmental ethics, environmental justice, globalization, public policy, social movements