Transforming Environments from the Inside Out

1
Transforming Environmentsfrom the Inside Out

• Arthur Lyon Dahl Ph.D.
• International Environment Forum (IEF)
• http//www.bcca.org/ief
• 13 August 2009

2
Exploring the relationship between our outer and
inner environments

• the planet and
• our soul
• science and spirituality

3
The Stateof the World

• the apex of human progress?
• wealth undreamed of by our forebears?
• the successful result of economic development?
• technological solutions to every problem?
• the greatest civilization the world has ever
  known?
• economic success proved that the system was right

4
OR the State of the World - 2

• Half the world population lives on less than
  2/day
• Extremes of wealth and poverty widening
• Asian economic expansion has reduced poverty at
  great environmental cost
• Energy challenge / climate change threats
• Growing water shortages
• Loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services
• Food production capacity at risk
• Financial system has imploded
• We are living beyond our means

5
Ecological footprint

• Surface needed to supply the needs and absorb the
  wastes of an individual, community, or country
• Global average 2.7 ha/person
• USA 9.4 ha/p Canada 7.1 ha/p. Mexico 3.4 ha/p.
• EU 4.7 ha/p Russia 3.7 ha/p. China 2.1 ha/p.
• Resources available 1.9 ha/person
• We overshot the earth's capacity in 1975
• http//www.globalfootprint.org/
• http//www.ecologicalfootprint.org/
• http//www.myfootprint.org

6
Human Population Growth
7
Human Population

• The world population has tripled in one lifetime,
  and is expected by the UN to rise to 9.2 billion
  by 2050 before stabilizing
• By some estimates, world resources can only
  sustainably support 500 million people
• We seem to be following a classic ecological
  pattern of overshoot and collapse
• The planetary carrying capacity depends on
  numbers versus standard of living increasing one
  reduces the other
• Science may find ways to increase carrying
  capacity, but only at longer time scales

8
Human Impact on the Carbon Cycle

• Extracting and burning fossil fuels is returning
  to the atmosphere in two centuries the carbon
  dioxide sequestered by hundreds of millions of
  years of primitive biological activity

9
Climate Change will bestronger and sooner

• Global carbon dioxide levels due to emissions
  from fossil fuels have accelerated since 2000
• Rise in 1990s 0.7/yr 2.9 since 2000
• Three causes growth in world economy, rise of
  coal use in China, weakening of natural carbon
  sinks (forests, seas, soils)
• Growth in atmospheric CO2 about 35 higher than
  expected a few years ago

10
Polar areas are changing fastest

• Half of the permafrost in the Arctic is expected
  to melt by 2050 and 90 before 2100, releasing
  methane
• 14 of the permanent ice in the Arctic Ocean
  melted in 2005 23 more in 2007 (worst melting
  ever) nearly as much in 2008, opening the
  North-West Passage permanent ice in the Arctic
  Ocean may be gone by 2015-2030
• Greenland glaciers have doubled their rate of
  flow in the last few years (6km/y 1997, 9km/y
  2000, 13km/y 2003), now raising sea level 0.83 mm
  per year
• Similar melting of the West Antarctic ice sheet
  is adding another 0.55 mm per year, and
  accelerating

11
There is little time left to act

• Global temperatures have already risen 0.6C and
  will probably rise a further 3, or even up to
  4.5-5 by 2100
• Ocean temperatures have risen at least 3 km deep
• Glaciers and snow cover have decreased cold
  days, nights and frost have become rarer hot
  days, nights and heat waves more frequent
• Sea level rise has doubled in 150 years to 2
  mm/year, and recent polar melting is adding
  another 2 mm/year
• Recent surge in CO2 levels from less uptake by
  plants
• We may soon be approaching a tipping point where
  runaway climate change would be catastrophic

12
The most vulnerable areas risking catastrophic
collapse this century

• Arctic Ocean and Greenland ice sheet
• Amazon rain forest
• Northern boreal forests
• El Nino affecting weather in North America,
  South-East Asia and Africa (3C rise).
• Collapse of West African monsoon
• Erratic Indian summer monsoon

13
Climate changeeffect on the economy

• The Stern Report estimated the annual cost of
  uncontrolled climate change at more than 660
  billion (5 to 20 of global GDP, as compared to
  1 for control measures for greenhouse gases).
• Climate change represents the greatest market
  failure in human history

14
The energy challenge

• Industrial economy, agriculture, transportation,
  communications, trade, urbanization, consumer
  lifestyle all depend on cheap and abundant energy
• Energy demand will grow 50 by 2030, but oil
  production is peaking and will decline 75 in 30
  years coal may also peak by then
• Climate change requires a rapid halt to fossil
  fuel use
• Adaptation will be extremely expensive and the
  struggle for diminishing resources globally
  destabilizing
• A fossil-fuel-based civilization is unsustainable

15
Food Production

• The Green Revolution of the 1970s postponed food
  supply as a limit to growth
• Crop production has improved in the last 20 years
  from 1.8 to 2.5 t/ha. but such intensive
  agriculture requires high energy, fertilizer and
  petrochemical inputs
• World cereal production per person peaked in the
  1980s and has decreased slowly since
• Feeding the growing world population and reducing
  hunger by half will require doubling world food
  production by 2050
• Land, water, phosphate, energy are all limiting

16
Soil degradation
17
The coming soil crisis

• Many past civilizations collapsed because they
  degraded their soil
• Average global soil loss today is 10 to 100 times
  the rate of soil formation
• In Indiana, USA, for each ton of grain harvested,
  a ton of soil is lost
• Since 1945, erosion has degraded 1.2 billion
  hectares, equal to China plus India, 38 of
  global crop land
• Annual soil loss is 75 billion tonnes, with 12
  million ha abandoned, 1 of total

18
Start of a Global Food Crisis

• In 2007, the price of wheat rose 100, maize 50,
  rice 20, increasing staple food prices for the
  poor over 10. By mid-2008 food prices up 78,
  soybeans and rice up 130
• Global food reserves are lowest for 20 years,
  with only 57 day grain reserve
• Climate change, drought, floods, soil erosion,
  overfishing are reducing food production
• With grain being diverted for biofuel, 800 m
  motorists are competing with 2 bn poor
• There are 960 m hungry people, 40 m more in 2008
  due to higher food prices
• Food is being priced out of reach for the poor

19
Resource Depletion

• Many key materials are being exhausted rapidly
  (estimated years left predicted/today's rate)?
• Phosphorus (fertilizer) 142-345
• Antimony (drugs) 15-30
• Copper (wire, coins, pipes) 40-60
• Hafnium, Indium (chips, LCDs) 5-15
• Platinum (catalysts, fuel cells) 15-360
• Silver (jewelry, catalysts) 15-30
• Tantalum (cellphones, cameras) 20-115
• Uranium (weapons, power stations) 30-60
• Zinc (galvanizing) 20-46

20
The failure of social and economic development to
eliminate poverty

• - Development has been our largest collective
  undertaking, with humanitarian aims and enormous
  material and technological investment
• - While it brought impressive benefits, it failed
  to narrow the gap between rich and poor
• - The gap has widen into an abyss
• (based on Baha'i International Community, 2005).

21
Accumulating economic, socialand environmental
debt

• Financial crisis debt transferred to governments
• UK Chief Scientist (19 March 2009) the world
  faces a 'perfect storm' of problems in 2030 as
  food, energy and water shortages interact with
  climate change to produce public unrest,
  cross-border conflicts and mass migrations

22
Scenariosplausible futures

• Business as usual in a materialistic society
  ignoring the future
• Retreating to a fortress world of old values
• Making a transition to sustainability

23
Scenarios from World 3(Meadows et al. (1992)
Beyond the Limits)?

• Business as usual Transition 1995
  Transition 2015

24
ARE WE SEEING THE FIRST SIGNS OF THECOLLAPSE OF
CIVILIZATION? (image IKONOS Lang, ESRI 1998)?

25
End of the growth paradigm

• Is endless growth realistic?
• Everything in nature follows cycles with optimal
  sizes
• Economic growth has depended on population
  growth, fossil fuel energy subsidy, resource
  discoveries and technological innovation
• The first three all end in this century
• All that is left is our brains and heart

26
Collapse of the financial system

• The 2007-2008 collapse of the financial system
  was due to greed, herd behaviour, and
  over-confidence in scientific approaches to risk
  management
• Complex statistical models do not work for
  extreme events
• Each vulnerability was evaluated independently
• Future projections were based on past experience
• There was no evaluation of overall systems
  behaviour
• Jamison 2008

27
Where is the Economy going?

• Origins in American consumer society living
  beyond its means, accumulating debt
• UK minister "worst recession in 100 years"
• The challenge to economic assumptions
• Head of European Central Bank "We live in
  non-linear times the classic economic models and
  theories cannot be applied, and future
  development cannot be foreseen."
• Derivatives over 500 trillion by 2008 (x4 5y).
• European countries on brink of insolvency
• Warnings of hyperinflation

28
CAUSESANDBARRIERSHow did we get ourselves
into such a situation?What is preventing us from
solving it?

29
Compartmentalized view of the worldThe
environment is outside of us(Mark Tobey,
Head of Boy, 1955).
30
Economic ThinkingDisjunction with Reality

• The planet's resources are free for the taking
• Short term perspective the quarterly balance
  sheet the next election
• Herd mentality of investors and speculators
• Expectation that things will always get better
  (growth).
• In nature, cycles and optimal sizes uncontrolled
  growth is like a cancer

31
Disjunction with reality

• - Economic thinking is challenged by the
  environmental crisis
• - It can no longer insist that there is no limit
  to nature's capacity to fulfil any demand made on
  it
• - Attaching absolute value to growth, to
  acquisition, and to the satisfaction of people's
  wants is no longer a realistic guide to policy
• - Economic decision-making tools cannot deal with
  the fact that most of the major challenges are
  global
• (based on The Prosperity of Humankind, Bahá'í
  International Community, Office of Public
  Information, Haifa, 1995)

32
A self-centred materialism

• The early twentieth century materialistic
  interpretation of reality has become the dominant
  world faith in the direction of society
• Rational experimentation and discussion are
  expected to solve all the issues of human
  governance and development
• Dogmatic materialism has captured all
  significant centres of power and information at
  the global level, ensuring that no competing
  voices can challenge projects of world wide
  economic exploitation
• (based on Bahá'í International Community, One
  Common Faith, 2005).

33
The wealthy live unsustainable lifestyles
34
The unsustainable consumer culture

• - Materialism's vision of human progress produced
  today's consumer culture with its ephemeral goals
• - For the small minority of people who can afford
  them, the benefits it offers are immediate
• - The breakdown of traditional morality has led
  to the triumph of animal impulses and hedonism
• - Selfishness has become a prized commercial
  resource falsehood reinvents itself as public
  information greed, lust, indolence, pride,
  violence are broadly accepted and have social and
  economic value
• - Yet it is a culture without meaning
• (based on Bahá'í International Community, One
  Common Faith, 2005, p. 10).

35
Barriers to change

• No politician will sacrifice short-term economic
  welfare, even while agreeing that sustainability
  is essential in the long term
• Deep social divisions within societies and
  between countries prevent united action in the
  common interest
• Primacy of self interest over solidarity

36
Business as usual is not an optionbut how will
we respond to

• Climate change?
• Changes in energy systems and use?
• Food shortages and price rises?
• Forced migrations of environmental refugees?
• Reform of the economic system?

37
Global land grab

• Wealthy governments and large companies are
  buying/leasing large areas of land in poor
  countries for food export to ensure their own
  food security
• 10 m ha were bought in 2008, 20m in first half of
  2009 ( half all arable land in Europe).
• South Korea 690,000ha and UAE and Egypt 400,000ha
  each in Sudan Saudi Arabia 500,000ha in
  Tanzania Daewoo 1.3m ha in Madagascar Libya
  100,000ha in Mali South African businesses 8m ha
  in DR Congo China 2.8m ha in Congo and 2m ha in
  Zambia, with 1 m Chinese farm labourers in Africa
  in 2009

38
The main danger

• "The main danger we face is... that by late 2009
  the global economy will be perking up again
  (because the housing sectors will have bottomed
  and the unwinding of commodity prices will boost
  consumption among oil importers) and governments
  will go back to business as usual, missing a
  once-in-a-life-time opportunity to address the
  serious vulnerabilities in the worlds financial
  system which the current crisis has revealed. In
  that scenario, the next crisis would find us with
  little ammunition left. That is the real danger."
• Augusto Lopez Claros, letter to the Financial
  Times, 4 December 2008

39
Denial, Depression or Action?Do we have a
choice?

• Can we go and hide on a remote island?

40
The Transformation of Human Society(Mark Tobey,
The New Day, 1945).
41
How do we achieve a transformation in values?

• Science has no particular competence
• Scientific information does not change behavior
• Chaos is an opportunity for spiritual and
  intellectual leadership
• Evolution with punctuated equilibrium
• Opportunities are opening before us

42
Vision in Bahá'í writings and statements

• Integrated
• environmental
• social
• economic
• sustainability

43
Sustainabilityis fundamentally anEthical
Challengeegotism versus altruismme first
versus all together
44
Oneness of Humankind

• Acceptance of the oneness of mankind is the first
  fundamental prerequisite for the reorganization
  and administration of the world as one country,
  the home of humankind.
• (Universal House of Justice, The Promise of World
  Peace, p. 13-14)
• This requires a profound reconsideration of every
  dimension of our lives and society, including the
  environment.

45
Transformation must startat the individual level

• We cannot segregate the human heart from the
  environment outside us and say that once one of
  these is reformed everything will be improved.
  Man is organic with the world. His inner life
  moulds the environment and is itself also deeply
  affected by it. The one acts upon the other and
  every abiding change in the life of man is the
  result of these mutual reactions.
• (Letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, 17
  February 1933, Compilation on Social and Economic
  Development, p. 4)

46
We must give a higher priority to the
environment in our community, economy and society

• ...sustainable environmental management must come
  to be seen... as a fundamental responsibility
  that must be shouldered - a pre-requisite for
  spiritual development as well as the individual's
  physical survival.
• (Bahá'í International Community, Valuing
  Spirituality in Development Initial
  Considerations Regarding the Creation of
  Spiritually Based Indicators for Development. A
  concept paper written for the World Faiths and
  Development Dialogue, Lambeth Palace, London,
  18-19 February 1998)?
• Both quotations imply an intimate link between
  environment and spirituality

47
TheInside(Mark Tobey, Meditative Series
No.VIII, 1954).
48
Connection between spirituality and nature

• Environmental crisis the result of a spiritual
  crisis.
• We cut ourselves off from our spiritual nature
  and from God, and from our roots in the natural
  world

49
No separation of natural environment and
spiritual reality

• Nature is God's Will and is its expression in and
  through the contingent world.
• (Bahá'u'lláh, Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 142)

50
Contact with nature

• The country is the world of the soul, the city is
  the world of bodies.
• (Bahá'u'lláh, in J. E. Esslemont, Bahá'u'lláh and
  the New Era. Chpt. 3, p. 35)

51
Study of nature scientific and spiritual

• When... thou dost contemplate the innermost
  essence of all things, and the individuality of
  each, thou wilt behold the signs of thy Lord's
  mercy in every created thing, and see the
  spreading rays of His Names and Attributes
  throughout all the realm of being.... Then wilt
  thou observe that the universe is a scroll that
  discloseth His hidden secrets, which are
  preserved in the well-guarded Tablet. And not an
  atom of all the atoms in existence, not a
  creature from amongst the creatures but speaketh
  His praise and telleth of His attributes and
  names, revealeth the glory of His might and
  guideth to His oneness and His mercy.... Look
  thou upon the trees, upon the blossoms and
  fruits, even upon the stones. Here too wilt thou
  behold the Sun's rays shed upon them, clearly
  visible within them, and manifested by them.
• ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of
  'Abdu'l-Bahá, p. 41-42)

52
Individual spiritual effortto detach ourselves
fromthe consumer lifestyle

• We must avoid "the temptation to sacrifice the
  well-being of most people -- and even of the
  planet itself -- to the advantages which
  technological breakthroughs can make available to
  privileged minorities."
• (based on Baha'i International Community,
  Prosperity of Humankind)

53
Detachment from material things

• The true seeker should be content with little,
  and be freed from all inordinate desire.
• (Bahá'u'lláh, Kitáb-i-Iqán, p. 193-194)

54
Voluntary Simplicity

• Take from this world only to the measure of your
  needs, and forego that which exceedeth them.
• (Bahá'u'lláh, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts,
  p. 193).

55
Moderation in lifestyle

• It is unjust to allow people
• "to lay up riches for themselves, to deck their
  persons, to embellish their homes, to acquire the
  things that are of no benefit to them, and to be
  numbered with the extravagant."
• None should be allowed to "either suffer want, or
  be pampered with luxuries."
• (Bahá'u'lláh to the Sultan of Turkey, Gleanings
  from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, CXIV, pp.
  235-236)

56
Moderation

• Shoghi Effendi called for
• "the exercise of moderation in all that pertains
  to dress, language, amusements, and all artistic
  and literary avocations" and "the abandonment of
  a frivolous conduct, with its excessive
  attachment to trivial and often misdirected
  pleasures."
• (Shoghi Effendi. The Advent of Divine Justice, p.
  30).

57
The spiritual danger of intellectual pride

• The desire to know everything
• The pride to think we can know everything through
  science
• "I think, therefore I am"
• Rationalist/individualist approach
• Individual is final arbiter of right or wrong
• We decide what is true
• Expression of egotism and self-centeredness
• Places us above nature, to exploit and destroy it

58
"Opposing our passions"

• Desire is a flame that has reduced to ashes
  uncounted lifetime harvests of the learned
• ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Secret of Divine Civilization, p.
  59).

59
Transforming the inner environmenthumility to
acknowledge there is an unknowable essence we
must love and worship, though our minds cannot
grasp it nor our hearts contain it(Mark Tobey,
Aerial Centers, 1967).
60
Humility and Environment

• Every man of discernment, while walking upon the
  earth, feeleth indeed abashed, inasmuch as he is
  fully aware that the thing which is the source of
  his prosperity, his wealth, his might, his
  exaltation, his advancement and power is, as
  ordained by God, the very earth which is trodden
  beneath the feet of all men. There can be no
  doubt that whoever is cognizant of this truth, is
  cleansed and sanctified from all pride,
  arrogance, and vainglory....
• Bahá'u'lláh

61
Science for Everyone

• The expansion of scientific and technological
  activity... must cease to be the patrimony of
  advantaged segments of society, and must be so
  organised as to permit people everywhere to
  participate in such activity on the basis of
  capacity. Apart from the creation of programmes
  that make the required education available to all
  who are able to benefit from it, such
  reorganisation will require the establishment of
  viable centres of learning throughout the world,
  institutions that will enhance the capability of
  the world's peoples to participate in the
  generation and application of knowledge.
• (Baha'i International Community, Prosperity of
  Humankind).

62
Transforming Communities(Mark Tobey, Coliseum,
1942).
63
The CommunityThe basic unit of social
organization

• Material needs
• Economic and educational activities
• Social and spiritual life
• Relationship with local environment
• Balance of local autonomy and larger integration

64
The challenges forcommunities

• ...assisting in endeavours to conserve the
  environment in ways which blend with the rhythm
  of life of our community...
• Universal House of Justice
• responding to the increasing mixing of the
  peoples of the world by rebuilding human
  communities in all their diversity

65
Building unity in communities

• This is exactly what Baha'i communities are
  developing through the institute process and the
  core activities of devotional meetings, group
  study, children's classes and pre-adolescent
  activities.
• "The ultimate testimony that the Baháí community
  can summon in vindication of His mission is the
  example of unity that His teachings have
  produced."
• (Bahá'í International Community, One Common
  Faith, p. 43).

66
Convincing leaders of thought ofthe power of
spiritual change

• A fair-minded observer is compelled to entertain
  at least the possibility that the phenomenon may
  represent the operation of influences entirely
  different in nature from the familiar
  onesinfluences that can properly be described
  only as spiritualcapable of eliciting
  extraordinary feats of sacrifice and
  understanding from ordinary people of every
  background.
• (Bahá'í International Community, One Common
  Faith, p. 44).

67
Self-organizing transformation based on contact
with the creative Word

• The culture of systematic growth taking root in
  the Baháí community would seem... by far the
  most effective response the friends can make to
  the challenge discussed in these pages. The
  experience of an intense and ongoing immersion in
  the Creative Word progressively frees one from
  the grip of the materialistic assumptions... that
  pervade society and paralyze impulses for change.
  It develops in one a capacity to assist the
  yearning for unity on the part of friends and
  acquaintances to find mature and intelligent
  expression.
• (Bahá'í International Community, One Common
  Faith, p. 51).

68
Responding to the world'senvironmental problems

• ...the parallel efforts of promoting the
  betterment of society and of teaching the Bahá'í
  Faith are not activities competing for attention.
  Rather, are they reciprocal features of one
  coherent global programme.... The obligation of
  the Bahá'í community is to do everything in its
  power to assist all stages of humanity's
  universal movement towards reunion with God.
• (Bahá'í International Community, One Common
  Faith, p. 51-52).

69
Extending the process of systematic learning

• As you continue to labour in your clusters, you
  will be drawn further and further into the life
  of the society around you and will be challenged
  to extend the process of systematic learning in
  which you are engaged to encompass a growing
  range of human endeavours. In the approaches you
  take, the methods you adopt, and the instruments
  you employ, you will need to achieve the same
  degree of coherence that characterizes the
  pattern of growth presently under way.
• Universal House of Justice, Ridvan 2008

70
This is transformation from the inside
outcoherence between words and actions(Mark
Tobey, New Genesis, 1958)
71
Addressing the challenges of the outer
environment(Mark Tobey, Urban Renewal, 1964)
72
Environmental impactsmust be reduced

• at the global level
• in each country
• in every community
• by each individual
• through a balance of material and spiritual
  approaches

73
Preservation of Nature

• Bahá'í Scriptures describe nature as a reflection
  of the sacred. They teach that nature should be
  valued and respected, but not worshipped rather,
  it should serve humanity's efforts to carry
  forward an ever-advancing civilization. However,
  in light of the interdependence of all parts of
  nature, and the importance of evolution and
  diversity "to the beauty, efficiency and
  perfection of the whole," every effort should be
  made to preserve as much as possible the earth's
  bio-diversity and natural order.
• (Bahá'í International Community, Valuing
  Spirituality in Development Initial
  Considerations Regarding the Creation of
  Spiritually Based Indicators for Development. A
  concept paper written for the World Faiths and
  Development Dialogue, Lambeth Palace, London,
  18-19 February 1998)

74
The spiritual principle environmentalsustainabil
ity is a fundamental responsibility

• As trustees, or stewards, of the planet's vast
  resources and biological diversity, humanity must
  learn to make use of the earth's natural
  resources, both renewable and non-renewable, in a
  manner that ensures sustainability and equity
  into the distant reaches of time. This attitude
  of stewardship will require full consideration of
  the potential environmental consequences of all
  development activities. It will compel humanity
  to temper its actions with moderation and
  humility, realizing that the true value of nature
  cannot be expressed in economic terms. It will
  also require a deep understanding of the natural
  world and its role in humanity's collective
  development both material and spiritual.
  Therefore, sustainable environmental management
  must come to be seen not as a discretionary
  commitment mankind can weigh against other
  competing interests, but rather as a fundamental
  responsibility that must be shouldered a
  pre-requisite for spiritual development as well
  as the individual's physical survival. (Bahá'í
  International Community, Valuing Spirituality in
  Development Initial Considerations Regarding the
  Creation of Spiritually Based Indicators for
  Development. A concept paper written for the
  World Faiths and Development Dialogue, Lambeth
  Palace, London, 18-19 February 1998)

75
A new vision of economics

• The ultimate function of economic systems should
  be to equip the peoples and institutions of the
  world with the means to achieve the real purpose
  of development that is, the cultivation of the
  limitless potentialities latent in human
  consciousness.
• (Bahá'í International Community, Valuing
  Spirituality in Development Initial
  Considerations Regarding the Creation of
  Spiritually Based Indicators for Development. A
  concept paper written for the World Faiths and
  Development Dialogue, Lambeth Palace, London,
  18-19 February 1998).

76
New economic models

• ... furthering a dynamic, just and thriving
  social order. Such economic systems will be
  strongly altruistic and cooperative in nature
  they will provide meaningful employment and will
  help to eradicate poverty in the world.
• (Bahá'í International Community, Valuing
  Spirituality in Development Initial
  Considerations Regarding the Creation of
  Spiritually Based Indicators for Development. A
  concept paper written for the World Faiths and
  Development Dialogue, Lambeth Palace, London,
  18-19 February 1998)

77
Rehabilitating the Reputationof Religion

• A global intelligensia, its prescription largely
  shaped by materialistic misconceptions of
  reality, clings tenaciously to the hope that
  imaginative social engineering, supported by
  political compromise, may indefinitely postpone
  the potential disasters that few deny loom over
  humanity's future.... As unity is the remedy for
  the world's ills, its one certain source lies in
  the restoration of religion's influence in human
  affairs.
• (Bahá'í International Community, One Common
  Faith, p. 42-43 )

78
Global Governanceframework of lawsenvironmental
and social standardsreplacement of national
sovereigntyaddressing climate changeglobal
management of resourcesequitable distribution

79
Action in Civil SocietyAcademic and Research
Institutions

• UN Decade of Education for Sustainable
  Development UNESCOcat International Expert
  Meeting of Faith-based organizations, March 2007
  http//www.bcca.org/ief/mtg/UNESCOcatESD07.pdf
• US Partnership for DESD http//www.uspartnership.o
  rg/
• European Consumer Citizenship Network (CCN) and
  its successor, the Partnership for Education and
  Research for Responsible Living (PERL)
  http//www.hihm.no/concit/
• Values-based Indicators of Education for
  Sustainable Development http//www.ESDinds.e
  u/

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Something fundmental is missingthe pace and
scale of changepossible only with spiritual
transformationin an accelerating process of
organic change (Mark Tobey, Lovers of Light,
1960)
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The only solution...the World Order of
Bahá'u'lláh

• Until such time as the nations of the world
  understand and follow the admonitions of
  Bahá'u'lláh to whole-heartedly work together in
  looking after the best interests of all
  humankind, and unite in the search for ways and
  means to meet the many environmental problems
  besetting our planet, ...little progress will be
  made towards their solution....
• Universal House of Justice

82
Conclusions

• We must overcome
• - narrow perspectives
• - materialism
• We must encourage
• - spirituality
• - balance
• - moderation
• - consultation

83
We need generalists -Whole systems specialists

• 'Abdu'l-Baha described how in the future the
  Learned required "knowledge of the sacred
  Scriptures and the entire field of divine and
  natural science, of religious jurisprudence and
  the arts of government and the varied learning of
  the time and the great events of history" in
  order to meet "the necessary qualification of
  comprehensive knowledge."
• ('Abdu'l-Baha, Secret of Divine Civilization, p.
  35-36)

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The challenge to us all

• Become leaders in the transformation of society
  and its relationship to the environment
• Use spiritual principles to guide us
• Lay new intellectual foundations for social
  change from the inside out
• Pioneer in building new economic and social
  systems and institutions
• Bring us back into balance with a sustainable
  environment
• Lay a solid foundation for an ever-advancing
  civilization

85
The years ahead will be difficult, but there is
reason for hope

• Transforming environments
• is only possible
• from the inside out

86
Thank you

• The planet will thank you too