GLOBALIZATION AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: IS ETHICS THE MISSING LINK?
 
 
Main ideas of the Plenary Address given by Yolanda Kakabadse Navarro
The Earth Dialogues Forum
Opening Plenary Session
February 21, 2002
Lyon, France
 
 
Globalization and Sustainability: two threatening terms.  Some reflections can arise with a basic question:
 
Is Earth a Planet or a Market Place? Is the World an object or a subject?
 
Francisco Sagasti of Peru describes today’s world as follows: “we are all part of a disintegrated, fractured global order – we are all connected and at the same time the divide amongst peoples, amongst ethnic groups, amongst religions is deeper – and equally divided is our understanding of what we mean by quality of life or development.”
 
In the present world few are benefited and many are segregated.
 
 
What have we prioritized?
 
Having vs. Being
 
Consumption and unsustainable production patterns
 
War and the production of armament as a business operation
 
Remediation instead of prevention
 
Science and technology, two of the most powerful weapons of destruction instead of instruments of creation
 
What have we forgotten?
 
We have forgotten to globalize values such as inter-generational solidarity, especially towards the most vulnerable groups: women and children.
 
We forgot to promote the concept of diversity, as important as freedom – cultural values that must be respected as essential to sustainability – agents of creation, of evolution.
 
We forgot to globalize the concept of participation, ensuring that peoples speak up and elected officials listen.
 
We must ask ourselves if the crisis of today results from lack of values or the creation of new values that originate destructive processes?
 
We seem to be debating the basic contradictions of humankind since its creation:
Selfishness – solidarity
Antagonism – cooperation
Injustice – equity
Dominance – respect
Misuse of nature – respect for the laws of nature which includes respect for all kinds of diversity
 
Sustainability is a concept developed to face with hope the negative externalities of a planet in crisis (moral and ecological): poverty, global warming, pollution, and homogenization of cultural values
 
Sustainability is a provocative term.  It provokes reactions, aggression, and passion – describing change towards sustainability cannot be based on diplomatic and political language –language needs to be blunt!
 
The term “Sustainability” is linked to a vision, a constructive vision, where natural systems linked to the systems created by the human being allow the continuity of life – evolution – both in terms of species as well as of the cultural and material systems in which we live.
 
The values of sustainability are the values of life. Responsibility, a universal responsibility must be globalized.
 
Sustainable Development is not a scientific concept – based on science, yes – but it’s a political concept that requires knowledge of systems and their relations and requires courage to make difficult choices.
 
Globalization cannot only address the market needs, it has to address policy and politics, social needs, cultural and environmental conditions. The interest in the Planet must be globalized as well as a code of ethics and principles such as the ones contained in the Earth Charter.
 
Challenges for this Conference:
 
Agree on the meaning of “quality of life” – debate whether the Earth is a market place or a platform to put sustainability into practice
 
There are many young persons participating in this Conference. They have come to listen but also to see if we take those challenges seriously. They will suffer or welcome the planet we are shaping for them; they will condemn or thank our generation for what we haven’t done.
 
Let’s make good use of the opportunity that the City of Lyon has given us.
 
Thank you.