The Universal Declaration of Human Rights resides in the fact that it gives equal emphasis to cultural rights, economic and social rights, and civil and political rights.  The Earth Community Organization asks how meaningful is the right to life or to participation in political life if the ecological base (the base of life) is seriously threatened:

*    wilderness is vastly disappearing
*    climate change affects everyone and everything
*    the ozone layer is dangerously damaged by man-made chemicals
*    global warming causes major local and global problems
*    our drinking (fresh) water is becoming more polluted and the increase in population requires much more fresh unpolluted water
*    clean air no longer exists; air contains chemicals affecting life all over the planet
*    farmers do not generally engage on their own in investment in soil conservation and despite all other efforts the world is losing its best soils
*    everyone wants to consume more products, and thus use more of our resources, and no one seems to know what to do with wastes
*    wars destroy not only human lives but also other lifeforms and the environment

The Earth Community Organization found evident that the ecological base is the essential prerequisite for the effectiveness and exercise of all rights recognized for human beings. The stewardship of the ecological base has to be given priority before the fulfilment of various economic and social wishes. Demands resulting from the socio-economic system of a particular country have to find their limits in the protection of the global ecosystem. Vital interests of future generations have to be considered as having priority before less vital interests of the present generation. Supply chains have to be designed in a way, that the goods can enter after usage or consumption into natural or industrial recycling processes. If serious damages to persons, animals, plants and the ecosystem cannot be excluded, an action or pattern of behaviour should be refrained from. A measure for supplying goods or services should choose a path which entails the least possible impact on the ecological and social system concerned. This way functioning proven systems will not be disturbed, and  unnecessary risks will not be taken. Supply strategies consuming less resources should have preference before those enhancing more resource consumption. The Earth Community Organization has also extended the idea of sustainability to be a moral and ethical state, as well as an economic and environmental state, wherein sustainable consumption patterns respect the universal values of peace, security, justice and equity within the human relationships that exist in Earth Community. When there is a need to find a solution to a problem or a concern,  a sound solution would be to choose a measure or conduct an action, if possible, which causes reversible damage as opposed to a measure or an action causing an irreversible loss. The existing and future uses of water are constantly challenged; balancing supply and demand is made even harder by the amounts of pollution found in the air, land and waters. A large part of our body is made of water, and we cannot live without water; therefore water is a primordial human right by our very nature. In order to avoid conflicts and wars over drinking (fresh)water, fresh water has been categorized as a primordial human right. Industrial pollution plays a major role in the deterioration of nature but this time the level of pollution is above the carrying capacity of the ecosystem. Pollution also affects significantly human health and all lifeforms on Earth. Every person needs Oxygen to live so clean air is certainly also a primordial human right by our very nature.

Morally right actions or policies are those that result in the greatest number of people. The Earth Community Organization asks how meaningful is the right of the greatest number of people if they agree to the challenge or damage the ecological base of the Earth. The greatest number of people cannot and will not be allowed to supersede the rights of the ecological base of Earth.

The Earth Community Organization asks how meaningful is the right to life or to participation in political life if poverty, gender inequality, destitution and epidemics prevent individuals from enjoying freedom of movement, freedom to vote, to marry and so on? The Earth Community Organization found evident that economic and social rights are the essential prerequisite for the effectiveness and exercise of all other rights (other than ecological rights) recognized for human beings. This was the reason for organizing the World Congress: to find the best ways to sustain us all. The developing countries are having a harder time than others to achieve the exercise of these rights on a lasting basis, with the problems of economic globalization presenting new challenges. We must therefore beware of enforcing economic rights alone to the detriment of individual civil rights and the rights of all individuals to decide their own fate and the future of their country, their political rights. The universality of human rights recognizes the right of all individuals to participate in the cultural life of their community and of other country, to receive education and training, and to be informed. During the World Congress, you were asked  to list universal values that were the most important, very important, important, not so important, and values that should be let go in order to sustain all life on Earth. The Earth Community Organization is aware that traditional customs and standards could burden the sustainability of all life on Earth. They could burden Earth society or any society forever, and holds individuals in a straitjacket. We cannot accept that. No one can! There are choices to be made and you must make them. Cultures can develop and can go on developing. Even religious beliefs may evolve (read the article 'Religious beliefs, Peace in the world and Earth management'). We are living now and we are able to create these changes. We are at least as bright, most certainly brighter, than the people who were living thousand of years ago.  As far as the Earth Community Organization is concerned, cultural and religious differences cannot be a reason or an excuse or a pretext for not respecting human rights including and most importantly the ecological rights. Quite the contrary, all kinds of cultures may promote human rights and especially cultural rights. They are different in their achievements, but they are equal in dignity where they are expressions of  freedom. At any time or in any given place, men, women and children use their culture to invent new ways of making human rights a living reality. Diversity enriches us if it respects the dignity of each individual, and if it takes account of  human rights as a whole.

The Earth Community Organization is concerned with the sustainability of current levels and patterns of consumption and with the economic, political, personal, environmental, availability of resources, societal and spiritual impact of excessive, run-away consumption. The goal of the World Congress was to find a balanced, sustainable global consumption. About 20% of Earth’s people account for 80% of the world's total consumption. Globalization of the world economic system is proceeding at a very rapid pace, and is generally promoted as being welfare-improving.

Globalization is a process interaction which involves growing economic interdependence of countries worldwide with implications and impacts on social, cultural, political, environmental and familial aspects and rights. With the globalization of the economy comes now the task for defining the obligations that go with the rights. This phenomenon is also present in the arena of international finance. In this area, however, the presumed virtues of globalization are far from being materialised. Until now, no orderly or stable financial system has been implemented. Furthermore, the current financial system does not succeed in channelling sufficient funds to finance crucial world problems such as adequate social development in poor countries. We have assigned ourselves the task of defining a set of rules to balance consumption, consumer rights and responsibilities :

Consumers' rights impinge on the rights of other humans living in  Earth Community. The right to choice is the consumer right that refers to the right to have a range and variety of goods and services at competitive, fair prices and variable, satisfactory quality. In order to assure choice in the developed country markets, governments have implemented trade laws to facilitate cross border transactions and transnational corporations (TNCs) have set up business off shore so they can lessen the cost of the production process. The goods that are available in the developed country markets are provided by slave labour, child labour, sweatshops or in countries that allow the TNCs to forego adhering to pollution or ecological concerns and human rights in pursuit of profit. Labour rights are abused in efforts to earn more profits. This leads to abhorrent working conditions, job insecurity and low living standards (all human rights). Consumers in developed countries have been socialized to want more and more things to consume but have not been socialized to appreciate the impact of their consumption choices on the human rights of other people; that is, they are not being responsible for their decisions.

The Earth Community Organization found a way of dealing with globalization: global ethics. In the past, corporations rule without checks and balances. From now on global ethics will be a basic minimum to do business, and there will be checks and balances. Our judgement will be based on global ethics. Global ethics must always be grounded in realities. But realities are changing constantly and are different in different places. We live in a world that makes progress toward democracy. Ethics and morality exist only when human beings can act freely. In our free society, rights are tied to responsibilities. Corporations are committed to improvement in business performance and want to be seen as 'good corporate citizens' on a local and a global scale. Corporations have social responsibilities as they are an integral part of society. Global ethics recalls that those realities, on which others build upon, have to be protected first. The Earth Community Organization found that universal values and human rights as described above were the foundation of global ethics.

The Earth Community Organization has now at hand the method and framework to conduct societal checks and balances of a global sustainable development. A more balance world economy will result of annual checks and balances. Corporations will take their social responsibilities and become involved in designing, monitoring, and implementing these checks and balances. Several corporations have already done so.  Results will be taken into account in the evaluation of sustainable development. Corporations are required to expand their responsibilities to include human rights, the environment, community and family aspects, safe working conditions, fair wages and sustainable consumption aspects.

Global consumption is a very important aspect of globalization. Consumers should be concerned with the impact of their decisions on the environment but also on the lives, human rights and well-being of other people. Since one of the key functions of families as a social institution is to engage in production (selling their labour in return for wages) and consumption (using those wages to buy goods and services), then the role of families has an impact on sustainable consumption and development.

Just as corporations have  social responsibilities and so do consumers in societies. Consumers are socialized to improve the quality of their lives. Quality of life is a multi-dimensional, complex and very subjective concept. For instance, someone who has changed their consumption habits to better ensure that their choices will make a better quality of life for themselves, the environment and future generations, may be seen by others as having a lower or inferior quality of life since they have removed themselves from the materialistic mainstream characteristic of our consumer society. Someone may feel that an absence of violence and abuse in their life leads to a higher quality of living even though they have fewer tangible resources, money, or shelter; peace of mind and freedom from abuse has increased the quality of their daily life relative to what it was like before. There are universal quality of life values which lead to "human betterment" or the improvement of the human condition. In addition to the value of species survival (human and other living organisms), they include: adequate resources, justice and equality, freedom, and peace or balance of power. A better quality of life for all people of  Earth Community is a goal for all of us and one of our universal values.

The Earth Community Organization found that an adequate level of health care is a universal value as well as a human right. We expect adequate health services to be accessible, affordable, compassionate and socially acceptable. We believe that every individual of a society is co-responsible for helping in implementing and managing health programmes along with the government and the public institutions.
 

The  Earth Community Organization (ECO) is aware of what the 34 National Governments are trying to achieve and decided to help them designing an agreement between themselves in line with the Earth Charter of our organization. Several articles in our Newsletters were written especially to help you find sound solutions.

Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) signed by Canada, Mexico and the U.S. in 1994 describes the right of foreign investors on national governments. These rights will be intensified in the FTAA. It lets corporations sue governments directly for breaching trade deals they never signed. Companies can claim damages when they believe their rights under the trade pact have been violated by government regulations or decisions. They are allowed to sue for anything that gets in the way of profits. This elevates corporate rights far beyond those of the average citizen and their human rights. In the past, it has led government to cancel anti-pollution or environmental measures. The agreement disempower people and communities. It is the most powerful corporate tool to challenge democratic governance. In effect, no government should enter into an agreement such as the FTAA when citizens know it violates their own constitution. A constitutional referendum and an election with the issue of the FTAA as a priority would have to be conducted by each member nation before considering such an agreement. Government must negotiate the FTAA openly, transparently and honestly.


The FTAA will include a new constitution leading to rights and freedoms for corporations that override national rights. Investments will be protected in the agreement and investors will not lose their business as a result of government expropriation. The agreement is entirely business oriented. Profit is the goal to achieve. Business leaders are successful as long as they produce profits for their shareholders. Furthermore, they have to account for their performance every quarter, and they are not free to act in ways that would jeopardize their company’s financial health. The agreement would be a strong incentive to businesses to obtain and accumulate profits.

The World Trade Organization, foreign corporations and world business leaders claim that the FTAA agreement will bring sweeping democracy to all of the Americas. They claim trade globalization is a forerunner of democracy in nations where it is non-existent. The Earth Community Organization does not believe democracy will automatically succeed in a global free market. In fact, the FTAA is itself a flagrant abuse of democracy.

The FTAA will entrench corporate power at the expense of democratically elected officials from local communities, municipal governments, provincial governments, national governments and states. Such a free trade agreement is a form of "world anti-government" (such as the European Union block) as citizens lose the ability to act in their best interests and find sound solutions to their own problems. Citizens become disconnected with the decision-making process. In such scenario, democratic principles lose meaning and no longer prevail. All that we have worked for over the past decades to build sustainable communities will be all gone in the signing of an agreement, the FTAA. People were never asked to discuss and were never invited in its development. The principles of a sustainable development are let go and replaced by the desire of the world business leaders to make larger profits.

Earth Community believes all citizens have the right to share the wealth in the world. Foreign investment and the trade agreement must protect and improve social and environmental rights, not just the economy. A sustainable development in the hemisphere would mean finding a sound balance among the interactions designed to create a healthy economic growth, preserve environmental quality, make a wise use of our resources, and enhance social benefits. Free trade cannot proceed at the expense of the environment, labour rights, human rights and the sovereignty of a nation. The FTAA will lead to an increase in poverty by giving investor rights priority over government decision-making. Employers will be looking for more concessions from workers. Small businesses will find it more difficult to grow and compete against large corporations.

People are concerned about the lack of public consultation in free trade negotiations. The agreement is being negotiated without public scrutiny. The actual process of developing the FTAA is itself undemocratic as it excludes anyone but government officials and business interests. Civil society groups were left outside the gates during the conference. The decisions by trade bodies must not be allowed to take away the rights and responsibilities of local communities. A local community will find it impossible to make decisions about planning, public health, local control over water, waste, zoning, or environmental issues because the rights of corporations to profits would be deemed to take precedence.

The process of the Summit of the Americas had several other wrongdoings: decisions were made in secrecy; misappropriation of taxpayers’ money; violent suppression of free speech; and the sacrifice of Canadian interests for the profit of big corporations. None of the national governments had a referendum on the free trade issue. There were no discussions at home and in communities. People were not asked for their opinions and recommendations. Freedom of speech is a major aspect of democracy. So where is democracy? Citizens were not told what is at stake in the trade deal. The process of developing an agreement must include all citizens in order for democracy to expand freely across the Americas and Caribbean.

Other implications of the FTAA:

a)         Services offered to the public can be managed by private, foreign providers; these providers are allowed to bid for contracts in all sectors such as energy, transportation, agriculture, forestry, fishery, health, education, sewer and water services. Truly, all sectors of life are affected.
b)         Resources are opened for trade and may no longer be controlled by a national government; energy, rain forests and water are affected. In effect, business leaders of large corporations become the real owners of our resources.
c)        Environmental decisions, education initiatives, health policies and cultural programs will be affected if they represent a threat to a corporation’s potential profit.
d)         Canadians will have to accept continental economic and social policies and the U.S. dollars as our currency. The U.S. dollars will eventually become the currency of all 34 member nations. What it means to be a Canadian will be gradually diluted to fulfill the desires of business leaders. What it means to be a citizen in any country will be diluted to nothing.
e)        Government will no longer have an independent financial policy.
f)         Labour rights will be subjected to the primary goal of making profit.
g)        Viability of social programs in a community will be subjected to scrutiny and control by the FTAA.
h)         Operation of government will be restrained and dependent on economic goals.
i)        The sovereignty of a nation will be chipped away. Government will give away sovereign and constitutional powers to secret FTAA tribunals whose only goals and objectives are to protect investments and investors.
j)         The quality of life of every nation in the hemisphere will be diminished and subjected to economic goals.
k)         Environmental degradation: lowering of plant and biomass diversity, increase of air pollution, natural resource depletion and pollution, deforestation, soil erosion, endangerment and extinction of life species. The legacy to our children and to the future generations thereafter will be a wasteland.
l)        U.S. military is "to protect U.S. interests and investments" and that includes making other nations safe for U.S multinational corporations. When will the military issue be discussed? How will the military be part of the FTAA? Are we seeing here in the Americas a scenario that has occurred in Europe before the Second World War? The FTAA should entrench a strong statement that says that military should not be an option as a solution to any situation arising in the hemisphere. The Earth Court of Justice was created to deal with any situation and, therefore, the military is not needed. The military should also be subjected to the Earth Court of Justice for any violation of human rights including environmental rights as defined by the Scale of Human Rights).
m)         What impacts will the FTAA have on women and children, indigenous Peoples, on poverty?
n)         Degradation and disrespect of national standards (engineering, health, environmental, etc.).
o)         If U.S. interest rates go up what will be the impacts of the cost of debt servicing of the 32 (out of 34) poor countries? Investments in those nations have to be serviced through any export surplus.
p)         Future generations will be affected by entering into an agreement that obligates the present generation to irrevocable conditions. The FTAA would violate the basic principle of a sustainable development in the hemisphere and endanger the survival of Life on Earth.
q)         If Canada and the U.S. were serious about the FTAA and a sustainable development in the poorest nations would they not accept removing now all tariffs for the very poorest members?

NAFTA has led to the loss of thousands of manufacturing jobs in Canadian plants as companies relocated to Mexico to take advantage of the cheaper and weaker environmental and safety standards. The same thing will happen with the new agreement. The FTAA will have the effect of lowering down wages and working conditions in Canada and in the U.S. thereby adding more profits to business leaders.

The human rights abuse and environmental degradation are two of the many unresolved social issues in countries that want the trade agreement. Human rights violations would constitute unfair trade subsidies.

The process of designing the FTAA is obviously undemocratic and will lead to an "unsustainable development". Earth Community has worked hard to find sound solutions and better ways to improve the quality of our lives and that of the future generations. We are not going to let go the "Belief, Values, Principles and Aspirations of the New Age". We will form our own ways to manage the Americas and the Caribbean. We will form the Earth Government. The people of the Americas and Caribbean will be first in forming Earth Government to manage the hemisphere.

Free trade encourages countries to change their economic infrastructures to be in line with the free trade policies of the World Trade Organization(WTO). Many member countries have already prioritised economic growth over social, environmental  and human rights aspects. The WTO, foreign corporations and world business leaders claim that free trade brings sweeping democracy to all. They claim trade globalization is a forerunner of democracy in nations where it is non-existent. The Earth Community Organization does not believe that democracy will automatically succeed in a global free market. In fact, free trade is itself a flagrant abuse of democracy.

Free trade entrenches corporate power at the expense of democratically elected officials from local communities, municipal governments, provincial governments, national governments and states. It is a form of "world anti-government" (such as the European Union block) as citizens lose the ability to act in their best interests and find sound solutions to their own problems. Citizens become disconnected with the decision-making process. Their lives are then driven by the desire of making profits. Fear is used to force people to behave with the dollar sign as their god. In such scenario, democratic principles lose meaning and no longer prevail. All that we have worked for over the past decades to build sustainable communities is gone with free trade. People were never asked to discuss and were never invited in its development. The principles of a sustainable development are let go and replaced by the desire of the world business leaders to make larger profits.

A well known proof that free trade and our way of doing business have been degraded to the most despicable act of dealing with one another as human beings has been observed in thousands of instances in the world and was especially obvious in the Middle East.

Free trade and the Way of Life of the West that is, the way of doing business, have been given a bad reputation in the world, especially in the Middle East where oil and arms sales have always been strategic interests of several Western nations. The West has relentlessly exploited the oil producing nations of the Middle East. By their behavior and ways of doing things, America and the European Union nations have shown that free trade and globalization meant the absence of ethical and moral values, the absence of responsibility and accountability to products and people, abuses of human rights, cause for terrorism, social and economic injustice, poverty, and pollution. They have given to trade a bad name.

The Earth Community is requesting all members of the World Trade Organization(WTO) to change their ways by:

1.        building social and environmental concerns into the WTO trade rules;
2.        including ethical and moral safeguards, responsibility and accountability in all situations and places;
3.        developing a global regulatory framework for capitals and corporations;
4.        making a transition from global competition to global co-operation which allows communities the freedom to pursue social and environmental objectives;
5.        assuring that globalization and planetary trading blocks serve the Earth Community, the Human Family and not the other way around for the benefit of a few rich people in the world; and
6.         developing a method of raising global taxes, of redistributing incomes to the poorest communities, of providing debt-free technical assistance to non-industrial and developing countries to help them out of poverty and to meet environmental and social standards.