Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Box 24.1.
(continued)
Paragraph 5: The unoccupied lands or lands seized by the states through
discriminatory actions which are necessary to protect the natural ecosystems
are inalienable.
Paragraph 6: Power plants operated by nuclear reactor shall have their
location defi ned in federal law and may not otherwise be installed.
Offi cial translation provided by the Brazilian Supreme Court website:
http://www.stf.jus.br/repositorio/cms/portalStfInternacional/portalStfSobre-
Corte_en_us/anexo/constituicao_ingles_3ed2010.pdf
(accessed June 19, 2014).
24.5
Implications for Earth Stewardship
Sustainability has been on the international agenda since the 1970s, and several
principles have guided the discussions that targeted its implementation. Sustainable
development has been the widest accepted of them all. Since the 1980s, interna-
tional commitments reaffi rm the importance of reaching a development path that
respects the rights of future generations to live in a safe environment and to have
opportunities for a prosperous existence. The decades that followed proved not only
that humanity has not achieved sustainable development, but also that its prescrip-
tions are not suffi cient to harmonize human existence and Earth's equilibrium. Earth
Stewardship offers a new paradigm for reaching this balance. It removes human
beings from the center and emphasizes their ties with other beings that also have
rights to the planet. Humanity is no longer owner of Earth's resources, but rather a
part of them, and its existence should neither threaten future generations nor
co- existing species.
Adopting this new paradigm in social sciences in general, and in international
affairs in particular, would mean a complete reshaping of policy-making (Power
and Chapin
2010
; Rozzi
2013
). First, complexity should be acknowledged; bio-
logical systems are complex, so policy responses need to respect it (Ostrom and
Cox
2010
). One-size-fi ts-all policies do not work; tailoring is key for effectiveness.
Second, tailoring should be guided by considering the complexity of an issue and
its connections to the planet. By checking multiple scales and verifying ecological
and socioeconomic consequences, policy can align incentives with stewardship
behavior and strengthen people's connections to pivotal features of the new para-
digm (Chapin et al.
2011
).
In international relations, implementing the Earth Stewardship paradigm means
reinterpreting power politics. Power has been defi ned as the capacity to steer inter-
national politics according to a country's sole national interests; this understanding
produced two devastating world wars and gave rise to totalitarian regimes in the
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