Baha'i International Community issues statement on the spiritual
dimension of sustainable development
UNITED NATIONS, 19 April 2001 (BWNS) -- The Baha'i International
Community today issued a statement, entitled "Sustainable Development: the
Spiritual Dimension," for the first session of the United Nations Preparatory
Committee of the World Summit on Sustainable Development.
Scheduled to be held 30 April-2 May at the United Nations in New York,
the Preparatory Committee meeting will provide direction for the World
Summit on Sustainable Development, which is scheduled to be held next
year in Johannesburg, South Africa. The Summit will focus on reviewing
environmental progress made worldwide since the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio
de Janeiro.
Here follows the complete text of the statement, which was issued by the
United Nations Office of the Baha'i International Community:
Some nine years ago, over the course of the Earth Summit process, the
governments of the world, with significant contributions from global
civil society, crafted Agenda 21, a remarkably forward-looking strategy
for the achievement of sustainable development worldwide.
Some nine years later, the work of determining the next steps in the
evolution of Agenda 21 has been placed upon the shoulders of the World
Summit on Sustainable Development. The Summit has been called to
“identify major constraints hindering the implementation of Agenda
21” and to “address new challenges and opportunities that have
emerged since the United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development.” It is in identifying these major constraints,
challenges and opportunities that the Summit’s Preparatory Committee
(PrepCom) must necessarily come face to face with spiritual issues.
“No matter how far the material world advances,” the Baha'i
Writings state, “it cannot establish the happiness of mankind. Only
when material and spiritual civilization are linked and coordinated will
happiness be assured. …for in material civilization good and evil
advance together and maintain the same pace.”
The Baha'i International Community is convinced that unless and until
spiritual issues become central to the development process, the
establishment of a sustainable global civilization will prove
impossible. For the vast majority of the world's people the idea that
human nature is fundamentally spiritual is an incontrovertible truth.
Indeed, this perception of reality is the defining cultural experience
for most of the world’s people and is inseparable from how they
perceive themselves and the world around them. It is, therefore, only
by bringing a focus on the spiritual dimension of human reality that
development policies and programs can truly reflect the experiences,
conditions and aspirations of the planet’s inhabitants and elicit
their heartfelt support and active participation.
On the one hand, the governments of the world have, collectively, begun
to acknowledge a spiritual dimension to development. This can be seen
in the global action plans that emerged from the great world conferences
held in the 1990’s by the United Nations. Agenda 21, for example,
calls for “social, economic and spiritual development,”
recognizing that “individuals should be allowed to develop their full
potential, including healthy physical, mental and spiritual
development.” Subsequent declarations and action plans have
reinforced this call and gone further. For example, in the Copenhagen
Declaration the governments of the world unambiguously affirm that
“our societies must respond more effectively to the material and
spiritual needs of individuals, their families and the communities in
which they live…. not only as a matter of urgency but also as a
matter of sustained and unshakeable commitment through the years
ahead.” In the Beijing Platform for Action they agree that
"[r]eligion, spirituality and belief play a central role in the lives of
millions of women and men, in the way they live and in the aspirations
they have for the future.” And in the Habitat Agenda, the world’s
governments commit to “achieving a world of greater stability and
peace, built on ethical and spiritual vision."
On the other hand, beyond such general statements and commitments,
these global agreements offer little understanding of what the terms
“spirituality,” “spiritual vision,” and “spiritual
development” mean in principle or in practice. If, indeed,
spirituality is as crucial to sustainable development as these global
action plans have avowed, then it is time to move beyond generalities,
to explore, in depth, the spiritual principles at the heart of
development and to consider fully their ramifications for all stages of
the development process.
This exploration of spiritual principles is completely in line with the
PrepCom’s mandate to “identify major constraints hindering the
implementation of Agenda 21” and to “address new challenges and
opportunities that have emerged” since the Earth Summit. Any
strategies for overcoming such constraints and challenges as war,
poverty, social disintegration, extreme nationalism, greed, corruption
and apathy, which do not take into account spiritual principles will
prove ephemeral, at best. In considering new opportunities for
overcoming these constraints and challenges, the PrepCom should look to
the remarkable development of interfaith relations and the expansion of
interfaith initiatives. Religious and spiritual traditions are
increasingly coming together to foster friendliness, fellowship and
understanding among their diverse communities. They are also
increasingly working together on policies, programs and initiatives with
secular bodies ranging from private enterprises and organizations of
civil society, to governments and international institutions. In such
work, religious and spiritual value systems are viewed not as separate
from “real world concerns,” but as vital sources of knowledge and
motivation, as wellsprings of values, insights, and energy without which
social cohesion and collective action are difficult, if not impossible,
to achieve.
This blossoming of interfaith work can be seen in such initiatives as
the World Faiths Development Dialogue; the World Conference on Religion
and Peace; the Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC); the
Parliament of the World’s Religions; and the Millennium World Peace
Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders. It can be read in the
numerous joint declarations and agreements in which the religions have
articulated a common vision of humanity’s future based on such
universal principles as love, justice, compassion, moderation, humility,
sharing, service, peace and the oneness of the human family.
In seeking to incorporate spiritual principles into its deliberations,
the PrepCom should take advantage of this new stage in the relations
among the world’s religions. It might do so by making the topic
“Sustainable Development: the Spiritual Dimension” one of the
“main themes for the Summit.” It could then initiate a major
review of international agreements, proclamations and statements which
focus on religious and spiritual values, particularly as they relate to
and impact the development process. This review should begin with the
global action plans of the world conferences of the 1990’s, since it
was here that the governments of the world publicly acknowledged the
importance of spiritual values in development. It should then be
expanded to include major interfaith declarations and agreements and
other relevant initiatives.
While this review is being conducted, the PrepCom could facilitate a
series of consultations involving both representatives and leaders of
various religious and spiritual traditions. These consultations, which
might be held before the next PrepCom, should focus on spiritual
principles as they relate to Agenda 21 and sustainable development. A
series of regional consultations followed by an international
consultation might be held, or, if that is not feasible, then, at the
very least, an international consultation should be organized. The
results of these consultations and of the “documents review”
should be issued as a UN document for use by the PrepCom in its
deliberations.
Although these proposed efforts are modest, the world’s governments
would, by supporting them, be sending a clear message that they are
serious about their previous commitments to incorporate spiritual
considerations into the development process. More important, however,
the “documents review” and the global consultations would
undoubtedly produce innovative ideas and approaches and might possibly
generate a powerful vision based on spiritual principles - principles
which, because they resonate with the human soul, have the power to
motivate the sacrifices and changes that will be needed if humanity is
to overcome the seemingly intractable problems it faces.
Ultimately, the creation of a peaceful and just global civilization, in
which the diverse peoples of the world live in harmony with one another
and with the natural world, will require a significant reorientation of
individual and collective goals and a profound transformation in
attitudes and behaviors. Such far-reaching changes will come about only
by addressing the non-material dimension of reality and drawing on
humanity’s vast spiritual resources.
BIC-BP-010419-1-SUST DEV-93-S
©Copyright 2001, Baha'i World News Service
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