CODES FOR A HEALTHY EARTH
Cultivating Peace with All of Life
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This website was launched on September 21st, 2019 as a single landing page showing Codes for a Healthy Earth. Now, Eco-Governance is offered as the meta-architecture for implementing "the Codes". In this context, Codes for a Healthy Earth forms the basis of shared agreements and organizing principles for an emergent global community engaged in implementing Eco-Governance as a new way of organizing ourselves, as one humanity, for the benefit of all Life.
You are invited to consider endorsing and sharing Codes for a Healthy Earth as a universal and evolving* social contract to be voluntarily adopted by all People of Earth who commit to uniting and working together, in mutual responsibility and accountability, for rapid social and ecological healing and regeneration.
* This document has been updated with slight refinements on 22/11/22 and 12/01/23. You can view the edits here. In the future, it is the intention that all edits will be in consultation with an Advisory Circle and announced in a newsletter beforehand to allow for feedback from the community.
CODES FOR A HEALTHY EARTH
Cultivating Peace with All of Life
“In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.”
— Iroquois wisdom
PREAMBLE
The urgent and complex global challenges we face will not be resolved from within the same systems that created them. Today, people of all cultures and ages are rising up around the world to demand a fundamental transformation of how we organize ourselves as a species.
Hundreds of millions of people and millions of groups are working on countless regenerative and compassionate solutions. Throughout this vast and diverse global movement there is a growing recognition that we already have the knowledge, skills, ideas, technologies and resources, as well as the wise, service-based leadership, to effectively address all our escalating crises. Our primary challenge is to align and organize effectively for whole-system healing and transformation.
To ensure an optimal integration of our global abundance of wisdom and solutions, it is essential that We, the People, reclaim our individual and collective authority and responsibility to align ourselves and our social systems – governance, law, economics, media, education, etc. – with the principles of Life and evolving human consciousness.
In light of this recognition, we, People of Earth, are uniting around a whole-system healing framework that effectively supports community-led self-organization at the local and global levels to realize our shared needs and aspirations for a Healthy Earth.
DECLARATION
We, People of Earth, unite in love and concern for our planetary home and all its inhabitants. We come together as one humanity, across national, cultural and ideological boundaries, to restore the well-being of all Life on Earth.
We recognize that our personal, collective and planetary health are all interconnected and interdependent. For humanity to thrive, the entire planetary ecosystem must thrive.
We affirm that the only legitimate purpose of governance is to protect and cultivate the health and vitality of the planet and all its inhabitants for generations to come.
THEREFORE, we, People of Earth, pledge to self-organize for immediate and resilient global action. We commit to working together with aligned communities, organizations, institutions and networks to:
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Transform our social systems to effectively serve the healing, integrity and well-being of all Life.
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Restore the health and diversity of the biosphere.
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Ensure all humans and animals can meet their Core Needs through guaranteed access to:
i. living soil
ii. healthy water
iii. vitalizing food
iv. fresh clean air
v. physical and emotional safety
vi. comfortable shelter
vii. the cultural and ecological conditions and resources needed for all to realize their unique potential – in mutual enrichment with their communities and ecosystems.
4. Cultivate a shared, whole-system understanding of our collective challenges, existing solutions, and optimal healing pathways forward.
5. Co-create a globally coordinated transition to a shared culture of peace, kindness, harmony in diversity, wisdom, integrity, accountability, collaboration, regeneration and reverence for All of Life.
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
We commit to organizing around the following principles as the foundations essential for the radical whole-system healing strategy that is urgently required at this time:
Nonviolence and Stewardship
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Aspire to do no harm, and to align our thoughts, words and actions with that which is nourishing for the entire Community of Life.
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Protect, honor and restore the Foundations of Life – Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Climate, Biodiversity, and the Web of Life.
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Protect and honor Indigenous peoples and their lands and integrate their counsel, wisdom and knowledge systems in all sectors of human affairs.
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Ensure all decisions are based on the analysis of consequences to the health of the whole for the next seven generations, and that human and non-human stakeholders are represented and taken into account.
Harmony in Diversity
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Honor and heed the voices of marginalized groups in co-creating the way forward.
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Ensure the full protection and equality of girls and women in all social sectors.
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Develop our understanding about the essential and vitalizing nature of human and ecological diversity.
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Cultivate cultures of inclusivity that celebrate our life-enriching differences.
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Acknowledge the deep layers of individual, cultural and environmental trauma, and work to implement holistic healing and rehabilitation strategies that prioritize the most vulnerable communities, species and ecosystems.
Economy and Law
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Give legitimacy to those laws that protect and regenerate Life and delegitimize all laws that permit harm to Life.
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Invest only in that which protects and regenerates Life, and disinvest from any and all enterprises that harm or could harm Life.
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Ensure all corporations and enterprises harming Life will be supported to either transform or dissolve.
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Create the optimal conditions for the core needs of all humans and animals to be met as we transition to healthier economies and enterprises.
Education, Learning and Media
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Inform citizens everywhere about the global and local challenges, their systemic causes, and the wealth of existing solutions, initiatives and networks from all sectors dedicated to personal, collective and planetary healing and transformation.
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Identify, develop and scale holistic healing and regenerative learning opportunities for people of all ages, learning styles, interests and abilities, to support the flourishing of the individual, the community, and the whole.
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Cultivate the wisdom, art and science of systems-thinking and whole-system health and healing.
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Evolve our language, communication skills, creative expression and cultural narratives to cultivate an informed, empathic, compassionate and vibrant human society.
Transitioning to New Social Systems
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Ensure that people in positions of leadership are skilled in applying the principles of whole-system health and healing, and fully embody the values of integrity, courage, compassion, wisdom, commitment, service, expertise and dedication to the good of the whole.
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Initiate evolving online platforms to learn, gather, refine and disseminate the best existing innovative laws, policies and practices for whole-system health and healing in all sectors, and to design pathways for their swift worldwide adoption and implementation according to local needs and conditions.
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Align technology and scientific advancement to serve whole-system health and healing.
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Cultivate self-organizing community-led ‘wisdom and expertise circles’ to advise on the wisest policies and most effective solutions, while giving voice to the needs, resources and interdependencies of all human and non-human stakeholders.
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Design and implement a seamless transition to new forms of local and global governance dedicated to cultivating the most efficient and vitalizing flow of energy (resources, skills, information, ideas, etc.) through the entire planetary ecosystem.
TOWARDS A THRIVING WORLD FOR ALL
We, People of Earth, affirm that a worldwide adoption of the principles outlined in these Codes has the capacity to solve multiple crises simultaneously and create a culture of Peace with All of Life.
We support the translation of these principles into an evolving set of recommended laws and policies for all national and local governments, corporations, and community-led initiatives. We honor all the wisdom traditions and call on them now to bring their unique and shared understanding in service to humanity and all of Life. Aligning around a comprehensive framework for whole-system health enables people across the world to self-organize effectively towards manifesting a shared vision of a thriving planetary ecosystem where:
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The Web of Life is restored to its natural balance, with clean air, healthy soil, and easily accessible pure water and vitalizing food for all living beings.
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All humans and animals receive precisely what they need to realize their unique potential, in mutual enrichment with the whole.
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Global society organizes according to new forms of distributed governance that puts whole-system health as its core purpose and organizing principle.
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Humanity works together as a compassionate life-enriching species, contributing to ever-evolving harmony in diversity, and cultivating the conditions for All of Life to flourish.
TOGETHER WE RISE FOR ALL OF LIFE
Video from 2019