World Religions, Ethics, and the Earth Charter for a Sustainable Future - Earth Stewardship: Linking Ecology and Ethics in Theory and Practice - page 390

The Charter offers a comprehensive framework for revisioning sustainability as
balancing the needs for economic development with environmental protection. It
presents an integrated set of principles to guide our emerging planetary civilization
that is multinational, multicultural, and multi-religious. It provides a platform for
universal commitment to the fl ourishing of bio-social planetary life systems along
with differentiated responsibilities. There is no other global ethics that can point us
toward a framework for a low carbon society.
The key components of the Earth Charter are: (1) cosmological context, (2)
ecological integrity, (3) social equity, (4) economic justice, (5) democracy, (6) non-
violence and peace. These six components of a sustainable future have their
counterparts in the values for human-Earth fl ourishing that are shared among the
world's religions as identifi ed in the Harvard conference series: reverence, respect,
restraint, redistribution, responsibility, and renewal. A planetary future that is
“fl ourishing,” not simply “sustainable,” will be enhanced by the six components
identifi ed by the Earth Charter along with these six values of the world religions.
Such a framework that integrates values for fl ourishing of the world's religions with
the central component of global ethics in the Earth Charter may be an important
context for expanding sustainability principles and practices.

26.9.1 Cosmological Context and Reverence

All cultures have been grounded in the stories they tell regarding the nature of the
universe, the evolution of the Earth and of life, and the destiny of humans in this
context. These cosmological stories provide accounts of the creation and evolution
of life and the purpose of humans. As humans are currently trying to navigate their
way between scientifi c accounts of evolution and the multiple religious stories of
creation, the Charter articulates a broad, simple and inclusive sensibility that Earth
is our home, our dwelling place.
This enlarged perspective of home may be a critical foundation for articulating a
future that is both sustaining and fl ourishing. The Charter recognizes that we are
part of a large family of life, including not only other humans but also other species.
The interdependent quality of the Earth community is celebrated along with the fact
that the conditions for life have been evolving for billions of years. “Humanity is
part of a vast evolving universe. Earth, our home, is alive with a unique community
of life. The forces of nature make existence a demanding and uncertain adventure,
but Earth has provided the conditions essential to life's evolution (Earth Charter).”
Thus to speak of the broadest context for the fl ourishing of bio-social systems we
need to be reminded of the cosmological, evolutionary story of life's emergence.
The religious response to this is one of reverence, a quality shared by many scien-
tists who are deeply inspired by their study of nature from cells to galaxies, enhanced
now by powerful microscopes and telescopes. The intricacy and complexity of life
is valued from both a spiritual and a scientifi c perspective. Awe and wonder become
expressed through the shared experience of reverence.