GLOBALISATION AND GLOBAL ETHICS


by Walter Erdelen
Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences
UNESCO
1 rue Miollis, 75732 Paris Cedex 15, France


Theme Two: The Importance of Global Ethics for the New Millennium
Earth Dialogues Forum
Opening Plenary Session
Lyon, 21 February, 2002

M. le Maire of Lyon
Ministers and former Ministers
Heads of International Organizations
Distinguished guests


Firstly, let me say that it is an honour for me to be present at this important Forum, and to share the platform with such illustrious personalities. The Director-General of UNESCO, Mr Koichiro Matsuura, is unfortunately not able to be present, due to circumstances beyond his control. He sends his very best wishes for a successful event.

UNESCO’s essential mission is to contribute to peace and human development in an era of globalization through education, the sciences, culture and communication, based on three main strategic thrusts:
Ø developing universal principles and norms, based on shared values, in order to meet emerging challenges in education, science, culture and communication and to protect and strengthen the “common public good”;
Ø promoting pluralism through recognition and enhancement of diversity together with the observance of human rights;
Ø promoting empowerment and participation in an emerging knowledge society through equitable access, capacity-building and sharing of knowledge.

It is clear to me that these three thrusts have everything to do with the subject of this Earth Dialogues Forum. Moreover, as stated by the Director-General in his address to the Second Earth Charter Commission towards Johannesburg: “Since “Rio”, the global environment has further deteriorated. The gap between rich and poor has widened. Almost one billion are still illiterate and 800 million people go hungry every day. We all agree on the need for sustainable development. What is lacking is action. There is an urgent need to use more vigorously all possible existing means and instruments, as well as to develop new instruments which can help to redress the situation. Human welfare must be at the centre of concerns for sustainable development as stipulated in Principle One of the Rio Declaration. An ethical guide towards sustainable development, the proposed Earth Charter, is an essential instrument – and one that was previously missing. Ethical guidance is needed for the action required by all stake holders including governments, intergovernmental organizations, the private sector, NGOs and civil society at large. It is also very much needed with regard to the necessary changes in values, behaviour and attitudes of people.”

Distinguished Colleagues,

With this background, let me address the theme of this panel.

Diversity is an essential element of the world. As biodiversity is a key factor of the sustainability of ecosystems, so we can see the parallel of it in human societies with their respective cultures. In fact, forces similar to those threatening biological diversity are endangering cultural diversity. Thus the multitude of coexisting cultures can be seen as a strong “safeguard” of human sustainability. Irrespective of these virtues, diversity alone does not suffice. Universal values and ethical principles needed to be agreed upon to form the basis of common actions, and of maintaining this diversity for future generations. Most of these principles have been identified, but our track record “to operationalize” them in our own specific ethical codes and value systems is far from being satisfactory. Human compassion, the will to share, the ability to look forward instead of recalling old grievances, are among the most needed common qualities, both for societies and individuals.

Globalization has injected new relevance and added new dimensions to UNESCO’s long-standing mission to bolster respect for universal norms and values. Observing human rights and contributing to their enjoyment, tolerance, freedom of speech, and a commitment to the enhancement of quality of life and well-being remain ongoing tasks for our Organization.

A new challenge today is to build international consensus on newly required norms and principles to respond to emerging ethical challenges and dilemmas as a result of globalization. The trend towards a homogenisation of educational, cultural, scientific and communication activities is disquieting, and risks bringing about uniformity of content and perspective at the expense of the world’s creative diversity. The growing commercialisation of many spheres previously considered as public goods, such as education, culture and information, jeopardizes weaker, economically less powerful but nevertheless equally important segments of the world community. Technological innovations and powerful mechanisms of control demand new approaches to the protection of the rights of the individual. Overall, there is a need to agree on universally accepted mechanisms to ensure equitable participation in, and management of, globalization. There are currently very few rules of the game, and unless a universally agreed framework can be defined, the poor and the weak will continue to be denied the benefits of globalization. Globalization must be made to work for all.

UNESCO has always advocated globalization with a human face, thus we have to ensure that this trend will not only be realized in economic affairs and trade, but contributes to the spread and observance of universal human values. A globalization process that disregards the profound diversity of human existence is doomed to fail, and can even trigger unprecedented backlashes with very undesirable consequences, disruption of dialogue between societies, cultures and religions. UNESCO has made its conclusions from this analysis. The Organization’s current programme reflects the logical priorities:
Ø education for all
Ø eradication of poverty
Ø freshwater resources and supporting ecosystems
Ø ethics of science and technology
Ø the protection of cultural diversity and a dialogue between cultures and civilizations
Ø promoting equitable access to information and communication.

Our successes in the respective areas would enhance the transfer of universal principles and values into the day-to-day functioning of societies. UNESCO seeks to explore all these dimensions, the inherent opportunities and their synergies to identify ethical and scientific principles and solutions toward globalisation with a human face and sustainable development. Our conviction that any action towards sustainable development needs to be supported by a new value system of both professionals and the public led to the establishment by UNESCO of the World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology (COMEST), a body that has made considerable progress since its creation in 1999. Its publications on ethical principles in such areas as water and energy use are much sought after by professionals and educators worldwide. There is close cooperation between the Commission and the international environmental and social science programmes of UNESCO.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Maurice Strong was certainly right when he suggested that if technical and legal processes are not guided by fundamental values and ethical principles, we will be working in a system where the strong will always prevail and will not be subject to any real constraint or discipline or societal responsibility. We do need shared ethics for the whole humankind, but our primary concern should rather be to “project” these global ethics into our own specific value systems. This process, together with the mutual respect for other value systems, could be the most solid basis to secure us a sustainable future. In this respect a well-understood globalization can even be helpful. Human interactions meeting each other and being exposed to each other’s culture is not only fascinating but takes away fears, misunderstanding and, ultimately, develops respect for each other and nurtures peace. The delicate balance between individual aspirations, cultural, national, religious or even corporate identity is one of the keys to ensure the functioning of human society at all scales. We could and can observe that the imbalance of these identities leads to civil disobedience, unrest or even war. The understanding of these processes and the acknowledgement of potential chain reactions make it clear that we cannot remain indifferent whenever and wherever these imbalances occur.

Like society as a whole, science also has to overcome boundaries between scientific disciplines. We have to overcome other borders, both mental and physical ones, towards sustainable development. Ethical imperatives to share resources, their benefits, but also the responsibility to protect them must lead international actions in transboundary management of seas, water resources, and ecosystems. Our interdependencies both North and South, as well as upstream and downstream, must be actively acknowledged. We have to realise the parallels between environmental and human security and our moral responsibility for both. We have to discover that sharing and caring together are potent agents to build sustainable peace.

Let me highlight it with a special example. Historical evidence proves that mankind seldom resorted to war or violence between states in order to settle water disputes. Yet many people suggest that the 21st century will be characterized by water wars. We felt that irrespective of the critical water stress in many parts of the world, war-mongering would rather aggravate than ease the situation.

UNESCO’s paramount mandate is enshrined in its Constitution. The Organisation was created to nurture peace in the minds of men. These principles lead UNESCO to contribute with a project: “From potential conflict to co-operation potential” to the ongoing UN-wide World Water Assessment Programme, which our Organization has the pleasure of hosting. We were pleased to learn that Green Cross International subscribed to the very same principles when it conceived its “Water for Peace” project. I am happy to report that two months ago President Mikhail Gorbachev and the Director-General, Mr Koïchiro Matsuura, signed an agreement merging these two projects into one: addressing different audiences but serving the same objective: to teach people to make the Earth a safer place in which to live.

The fact that none of the existing societies have so far fully integrated and implemented agreed-upon global principles, shared values and universal ethical behaviour should not be a source of discouragement. Rather, it should stimulate the debate and subsequent action.

Thank you very much.