World Religions, Ethics, and the Earth Charter for a Sustainable Future - Earth Stewardship: Linking Ecology and Ethics in Theory and Practice - page 383

Chapter 26
World Religions, Ethics, and the Earth
Charter for a Sustainable Future

Mary Evelyn Tucker

Abstract The environmental challenges we are facing require more than science,
policy, economics, and law. There is a need for broader ethical responses. The search
for a sustainable future requires an integration of the Earth Charter and the world
religions. This integration of the principles of the Earth Charter with the virtues for
human-Earth fl ourishing of the world's religions provides a unique synergy for
rethinking a sustainable future. Such a synergy can contribute to the broadened
understanding of sustainability as including economic, ecological, social, and
spiritual well-being. This broadened understanding may be a basis for long-term
policies, programs, and practices for a planetary future that is not only ethically
sustainable, but also sustaining for human energies.

Keywords Earth Charter • Ethics • Forum on religion and ecology • Sustainability
• World religions

26.1 Introduction: The Need for Ethical Approaches

The complex nature of our global environment crisis is increasingly evident as the
globe is warming, as weather patterns are becoming more severe, as species are
going extinct, as nonrenewable resources such as oil are being used up, as forests
and fi sheries are being depleted, and as water is becoming polluted or scarce.
The large-scale problem of climate change is now more visible to a larger public,
but the shift to a sustainable low carbon future has yet to be realized.
As the developing world attempts to raise its standard of living with rapid indus-
trialization, there is an inevitable impact on the environment and natural resources.
The result is that severe pollution of water, air, and soil is becoming more widespread
in places such as India and China. Similarly, the high level of consumption of energy
and resources by the developed world, especially the United States, raises serious
ethical issues of equity and justice. The tension between reducing emissions for