We contend that we are not facing an inescapable situation and that the gravity of the threats or the complexity of the challenges before us should give rise to determination, not renunciation. Populations and human societies are endowed with the capacity to project their future and they possess quantities of principles to guide their choices and decisions.
The following few principles, which were formulated in such a way as to take into account the diversity of our cultures and societies, appear as essential references at the present time.
1) The conservation principle. The Earth we inherited from our ancestors is not for us alone: We also owe it to future generations. Neither our special place on the planet Earth nor our technical know-how entitle us to deplete its resources and destroy it unchecked. The expansion of science and technology has given us a new freedom. This freedom must go hand in hand with a sense of reverence with regard to nature, the limitations and cycles of which we must respect and the essential assets of which we must protect: water, air, soil, seas and oceans, living species, and the major balances necessary to life. Accordingly, human societies should orient their progress toward production models and life styles that do not deplete or squander resources, nor dump waste that may harm the essential equilibria of local or global environments.
2) The humanity principle. The humanity of humankind can only truly be measured by: the possibility for each individual to possess the essentials of life, and to live in dignity, respect, equity, and solidarity among people and among societies; and its respect for nature and all living species.
3) The responsibility principle. Individuals, enterprises, states and international organizations alike must assume their responsibilities in the development of harmony within societies, among people and between human beings and their environment; they must do so in accordance with their resources and powers. People are jointly responsible for the fate of humankind.
4) The moderation principle. We must learn to curb our cupidity. The wealthiest, who are caught in the spiral of waste, must reform their lifestyles, moderate their consumption and learn frugality.
5) The caution principle. Human societies must wait to have acquired the ability to control present and future risks before they implement new products or new techniques.
6) The diversity principle. The diversity of cultures, as well as that of living beings, is a common asset, which is all peopleis duty to preserve; the diversity of civilizations is the best guarantee for humankind’s capacity to invent responses geared to the infinite diversity of situations, challenges and environments; the planetis genetic resources must be protected, while respecting the communities that have protected and enhanced them hitherto.
7) The citizenship principle. We must learn to respect ourselves and to consider all human beings as full members of the vast human community.
In response to those who tend to see the world only in terms of the interplay between private interests, powers and market forces, it is good to reassert these few principles and to use them as guidelines to determine priorities and lay down strategies.
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