Manifesto for the Earth

Book excerpt: For more than a decade Mikhail Gorbachev has been engaged in working to protect the earth and its inhabitants via the organization he founded in 1992, Green Cross International. In an age when ecological crises, poverty and military conflicts are humanity’s main challenges, Gorbachev urges us to stop regarding these problems in isolation. The man who changed the destiny of Russia, Europe and the world is now calling for a global and comprehensive Perestroika (reform) for the twenty-first century. Based on his many years of experience in international politics, Gorbachev appeals for urgent action founded on a broad vision, including a strengthening of the UN and reforms to the World Bank, the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund. To complement the Declaration on Human Rights and the Charter of the UN he has co-authored the remarkable Earth Charter that is based on four key principles: 1. Respect and Care for the Community of Life; 2. Ecological Integrity; 3. Social and Economic Justice; 4. Democracy, Nonviolence, and Peace. Manifesto for the Earth is a courageous and thought-provoking work by a respected elder statesman. In a partisan and polarized world, this is a “manifesto” that does not compromise its integrity to political, ideological or national sympathies.