10. Global Ethics

Lead Papers

Jim Christiansen, Ian G. Gilchrist, Dr. Hans W. Gottinger, Dr. Tee L. Guidotti, Ms. Manjula V. Guru and Dr. James E. Horne, Dr. Galina Gutina, Craig Hubley and Associates,Tatiana Mamatova, Dr. Holger Nauheimer, E. Mohan Reddy,Yuri Skochilov, Dr. Douglas Torgerson, Mirian Vilela  

believes that corporation’s rule without checks and balances established by governments - trading and farming, digging into whomever or whatever it takes to ensure preposterous profits.  

Vilela presented Objectives of the International Earth Charter Campaign 

• to promote a worldwide dialogue on shared values and global ethics; 

• to draft an Earth Charter that sets forth a succinct and inspiring vision of fundamental ethical principles for sustainable development; 

• to circulate the Earth Charter throughout the world as a people's treaty, promoting awareness, commitment, and implementation of Earth Charter values;

 • to seek endorsement of the Earth Charter by the United Nations General Assembly by the year 2002.

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. With this World Congress, The Global Community organization has now at hand the method and framework to conduct societal checks and balances of 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. 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.

One tends to be alarmed at the popular concept of globalization because  it is based on greed. Globalization is here to stay and is a fact of life. The world has become global. Societies throughout the world are struggling to be in step with the most powerful nations. National economies and financial markets are connected through computer link-up and are interlocked. Commercial banking and business ownership has no economic or political borders. Because of the dynamic of trade in goods and services and because of the movement in capital and technology, production in different countries has become increasingly dependent on one another.

In consequence of globalization, the new economic and political distribution of power around the world has become very different then we were used to. It has become very fluid, in perpetual motion and affected by global markets. Giant new markets are forming all over the world. Competition is hardening. National economies can no longer insure or guarantee rights of possession on any property. National borders no longer mean protection, security, cultural boundaries, resources ownership, political and economic control. International market regulations try to control or ease the effects of globalization. The effects are often devastating. With globalization comes global problems such as:

•     Unemployment in industrial nations
•     Poverty increases world-wide ~ entire countries in a state of starvation
•     Environmental degradation
•     National interests of a country changing and becoming more trade oriented and trying to go with the wave of global trade
•     International interests of a country take prime importance
•     In developing countries, national debts constrict the institutions of the national state and contribute to the destruction of the economic activity which, in turn, as the effect of creating unemployment
•     National currencies of many countries are affected by national debts and contribute in destroying social life, creating ethnic conflicts and civil wars
•     The large corporation is becoming larger and getting more power and control falls into the hands of a few people
•     Globalization is another way of keeping control on our lives in the hands of a few people
•     With globalization, we have no control and no say in our future and the world becomes a game played by a few people just as it has always been through history, leading to revolutions and war
•     With globalization there is no sense of direction and meaning, no security for the individual, just a few people getting richer and controlling us all

Funding Criterion:

This criterion recalls that those realities, on which others build upon, have to be protected first. A classical example is, that to the stewardship of the ecological base (the base of life) has to be given priority before the fulfilment of various economic and social wishes.

Criterion of Integration:

In the case of conflict wider strategies to keep the system concerned functioning, have to have priority before those addressing narrower fields.
E.g. demands resulting from the social system of a particular country have to find their limits in the protection of the global ecosystem or the aim of maximization of labour productivity in agriculture and forestry should not be realised at the expense of biodiversity landscapes.

Criterion of Urgency:

Vital interests of future generations have to be considered as having priority before less vital interests of the present generation. Typical examples are climate change and soil erosion.

Criterion of Reversibility:

If a measure is inevitable, a variant, which causes reversible damage, has to be preferred before a measure causing irreversible loss.

Criterion of Regenerability:

Regenerable organic raw materials and primary energy carriers have to be preferred versus not regenerable fossil sources.

Criterion of Circular Orientation:

Supply chains have to be designed in a way, that the goods can enter after usage or consumption into natural or industrial recycling processes.

Criterion of Precaution (Precautionary Principle):

If serious damages to persons, animals, plants and the ecosystem cannot be excluded, an action or pattern of behaviour should be refrained from.

Criterion of Least Impact:

A measure for supplying goods or services for humans should choose a path, which entails the least possible impact on the ecological and social system concerned. This criterion is related to the precautionary principle. Its reason is, that functioning proven systems should not be disturbed and that unnecessary risks should not be taken. One example of its application in the eco-sphere is to rely on natural varieties before changing genomes by genetic manipulation.

Criterion of Causation (Causation - or Polluter pays Principle):

The causing agent should be made responsible for all damages he took into account. Negative examples are limited liabilities granted to air- and ship transport, to atomic energy plants and to data high ways.

Criterion of economy:

Human supply strategies consuming less resources should have preference before those enhancing more resource consumption.
A positive example is the Factor 10 Strategy (increasing resource productivity by a factor 10).

Criterion of Cooperation:

If measures or their consequences trespass national boarders, cooperative measures should be preferred.

Criterion of respect of human dignity:

Strategies, which violate human dignity, should not be permitted. Examples are the expulsion of an indigenous population by the flooding of a valley for a hydroelectric power plant or the imposition of overtaxing efficiency aims without a right to a say.

Criterion of wellbeing and aesthetics:

Strategies fostering human wellbeing and beauty of the environment should be preferred. This criterion is especially applicable to the management of cultural landscapes and the design of industrial sites and working places.