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MEETING OF THE TRIGLAV CIRCLE
14-15 JUNE 2014:
THE ROLE OF “NATURE” IN THE POLITICS OF THE ENVIRONMENT
AGENDA/PROGRAMME OF WORK
The founding objective of the Circle is to realize the core messages of the Social Summit articulated in
the Copenhagen Declaration:
Our societies must respond more effectively to the material and spiritual needs of individuals, their
families, and the communities in which they live…
Also:
We are deeply convinced that economic development, social development and environmental
protection are interdependent and mutually reinforcing components of sustainable development,
which form the framework for our effort to achieve a higher quality of life for all people.
These commitments by governments were part of a text rich in moral affirmations and reflective of a
holistic vision of development and social progress.
Today, the Triglav Circle seeks to promote an approach to international relations and
public policy grounded in moral and spiritual values. It aspires to enrich the discourse on global problems with the accumulated knowledge of
scientists, philosophers, artists, religious thinkers and academics.
The Circle pursues its objectives not only through regular dialogues, edifying conversations, and in-depth research, but also through its relationship with the United Nations, its cooperation with similarly motivated organizations, and the work of individual members in their respective spheres of action.
BACKGROUND
In the fall of 2011, the Circle shifted the focus of its work from the relations of peoples with each other to the relations of humankind with Nature. The Circle held meetings at Saint Anselm College, New-Hampshire, (October 2011) and in Vaux Switzerland (July 2012) on this topic. The Circle was also involved in the preparation of “Rio plus 20,” the United Nations World Conference on Environment and Development held twenty years after the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit. Specifically, the Circle made a number of significant contributions – including a written statement with individual addenda from several of its members – on different aspects of the concept. http://www.uncsd2012.org/content/documents/636triglav%20circle2.pdf. In fact this contribution was the leading one on the subject of harmony with nature for the Zero draft for Rio + 20. Subsequently, the members of the Circle have been by participating in the initiatives of the UN General Assembly’s Interactive Dialogues on Harmony with Nature and working closely with the UN Secretariat on matters relating to its harmony with nature projects. Friends of the Circle and a member of the Circle have been on panels of the Dialogues in 2012 and 2014. See the website www.harmonywithnatureun.org. Barbara Baudot’s paper “Nature the Lost Sheep in the Politics of Environment” was heavily cited in the 2013 Secretary General’s Report to the GA on Harmony with Nature. [A/68/325, Corrigendum 1], and her article “Approaching Harmony with Nature” was published in the Rio+20 commemorative book Future Perfect.
The UN’s work on the concept of nature as distinct from the environment began as an initiative of the IUCN. The World Charter for Nature was introduced to the GA and finally adopted in 1982. It was ignored in subsequent world summits on the environment and development only to resurface again when in 2005, the year 2008 was declared the International Year of Planet Earth. In 2009, another resolution was passed declaring that April 22ndwould henceforth be designated Mother Earth Day. Annual reports of the Secretary General to the General Assembly on Harmony with Nature have appeared since 2011 and Interactive Dialogues have been staged annually by the UNGA since 2011.
Today the situation is this: “Harmony with Nature” is on the GA annual agenda as a sub-item of the agenda item “Sustainable development,” which includes all issues pertaining to the “environment.” The topic “Harmony with Nature” is promoted primarily by developing countries, in particular those with significant “indigenous” populations, and usually with some support from the EU, Nordic countries and Japan. It is enthusiastically promoted by a number of NGO’s, some of which are actively supporting of the “Rights of Nature” movement. Yet, notwithstanding these initiatives since the adoption in 1982 of the World Charter for Nature, “Nature” remains totally marginal in the work of the United Nations. From the founding text negotiated in Stockholm in 1972 to the latest “Rio plus 20” in 2012, it is Man’s environment that is under study and debate, and not Nature, of which Man is a part.
REFLECTIONS OF THE CIRCLE ON THE UN APPROACH TO ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
Four points seem worth mentioning:
- There is an obvious link between the “betterment of the human condition” (words of the Charter) and “development” (expressed essentially in economic terms) and the abandonment of “Nature” for the “Environment.” This change in language is an impoverishment of the thoughts and therefore the substance of actions and policies. “Development” is independent of the moral and spiritual dimensions of the “human condition.” It is primarily in the political-economic realm of “hard” values, such as efficiency and competition, rather than any other realm embracing “soft” values, such as compassion and generosity. The “environment,” being external to human beings, is classifiable, measurable, and amenable to specific interventions. Lost, or rather relegated to the contemplative, the poetic or the leisurely, are the beauty, mystery and sublime as well as threatening grandeur of “Nature.” And, because, at least in the main international forums, the environment is seen as a dimension of development, the impoverishment inherent in both concepts can be considered cumulative.
- In such circumstances, which are a reflection of the dominant spirit of the time, there may be little hope for halting or reversing current negative trends, be it the persistence of poverty, the aggravation of various forms of inequality, the growing violence in social and international relations, the pollution of lands and seas, the loss of bio-diversity or the global warming of our planet. Nothing short of a drastic change, so goes the argument, will give humankind a chance for survival. Mindsets have to be re-oriented towards a less predatory, less utilitarian, less productivist views of human activities. For instance, to place or replace Nature at the heart and core of thinking and actions to arrest or limit the damages to the environment would mean to consult the full spectrum of the various sources of knowledge available to us. The indispensable scientific inquiry and scientific reasoning would then be complemented and also oriented by philosophical, artistic and spiritual insights that could impress upon humanity the “soft values” of the heart as the motivators for change. The indispensable economic calculations would then be enlightened by noble and altruistic sentiments. As often said by critics of the dominant style of modernity, a renaissance of the spirit is needed.
- There are many examples of such a renaissance here and there around the world. For instance, what is happening in the domain of food and agriculture is perhaps the most obvious and hopeful change of the past few decades. The methods and the very concept of industrial farming are increasingly, critically examined. The agro-industry is under scrutiny. The dangers of pesticides and herbicides are exposed. The debate on bio-technologies and genetically-modified organisms is intensifying. Organic and bio-dynamic farms are slowly but steadily gaining grounds. Traditional family farming is being rehabilitated. Organic farmers are considered by some as modern day priests linking humanity to Nature. The exodus from rural to urban areas is perhaps less automatically seen as both a necessity and an indicator of progress. Thus, the prevalent conception and practice of “development”, which is so harmful to the “environment” is being questioned in significant ways.
- Such questioning, however, remains localized. The national policies of most countries, and even more obviously the policies of the largest international organizations, notably the United Nations and the World Trade Organization, are basically unchanged. In the United States, there is a striking gap between the quantity and quality of initiatives at the grass roots on matters of the environment and the policies of the federal government. In the United Nations, there is also a striking gap between the scope and quality provided by experts and organizations such as the United Nations Environment Programme, and the decisions reached through intergovernmental negotiations.
One may ask: Are such gaps “normal”, traditional and, to an extent, unavoidable in political regimes and institutions built on liberal and democratic principles? Or, are they revealing problems and weaknesses of more accidental nature? For this and for the other questions that will be addressed by this meeting, an exchange of views acquired from different perspectives will be particularly useful.
PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME OF WORK
SATURDAY AFTERNOON, Session One
Introduction: Barbara Baudot and Tour de table: Harmony with Nature?
Item 1:
Focus:Nature, Harmony, Nature in philosophies
Among the questions that might be addressed
- What is the place of Nature in political philosophy today?
- Does it matter for the relevance and efficiency of environmental policies that “Nature” is seemingly absent from the public discourse?
- What would be the characteristics of a “holistic” approach to human affairs, and in particular to the relations between Man and Nature?
- What is the theoretical basis and the practical value of the “holistic” approach to sustainable development as advocated by the UN?
Presentation:
- Philippe Roch
Discussion
Break for Refreshments
SATURDAY AFTERNOON: Second Session
Focus:Current Environmental policies
Among the questions that might be addressed:
- What reasons can be offered for the persistent inadequacy of international efforts to address the continuing deterioration of major aspects of the “environment” of humankind—that is Planet Earth?
- How does one explain the gap between local/regional efforts and achievements and their failure to translate at the national and even more clearly so at the global levels?
- What are the prospects of the “green economy”? How does it fare regarding employment? And regarding economic growth, half a century after “The Limits to Growth”?
Presentations:
- Dirck Stryker
- Jean-Michel Collette
Discussion
Dinner
SATURDAY AFTER DINNER
Informal exchange of views
SUNDAY MORNING, First Session
Focus: Sources of knowledge and their use in policy making
Among the questions that might be addressed:
- How could there be a more inclusive and more “harmonious” use of different sources of knowledge to address “environmental” issues?
- What role could philosophy and religion play in moving the world towards a less Promethean approach to Nature?
- How could the knowledge embodied in traditional cultures – the “indigenous peoples”- be more than a curiosity of specialists and be at the same time protected from corporates appetites?
Presentations:
- Edouard Dommen
- Arthur Dahl
Discussion
SUNDAY MORNING, Second Session
Focus: Institutional arrangements
Among the questions that might be addressed:
- What have been the advantages and drawbacks of the political and institutional association between “development” and the “environment”?
- Since non-governmental organizations and other forms of social movement have always been at the forefront of the struggle for the protection of the environment, how could their “representation” and role in national and international policy-making instances be enhanced?
- Should a new form of international or global organization be imagined and promoted to work on a more harmonious relation between Man and Nature?What would it look like?
Presentations:
- Jacques Baudot
- Oliver Smith
Discussion
SUNDAY AFTERNOON,
- Conclusion of the meeting with discussion of future work.