Subject: "Toward Sustainable Community: Five Years since the Earth Summit"

Moved By: the Rt. Rev. Barry Jenks from the Diocese of British Columbia

Seconded By: the Rev. Arthur Anderson from the Diocese of Qu'Appelle

That the Anglican Church of Canada endorse the Canadian Ecumenical Report, "Toward Sustainable Community: Five Years Since the Earth Summit" (*attached), which was commissioned and endorsed by the Commission on Justice and Peace of the Canadian Council of Churches, and prepared by the Inter-Church Committee on Ecology, a unit of the Taskforce on the Churches and Corporate Responsibility; that it review its own policies in light of the recommendations included therein; and that it commend it to the dioceses and parishes for study and action.

In June of 1992, the nations of the world and non-governmental organizations (NGO's) including churches gathered at the Rio Earth Summit, or UNCED (United Nations Conference on Environment and Development) to help the global community develop plans to deal with the problems of ecological destruction and global poverty. Canada is a signator of the agreement that was signed there called "Agenda 21", and thereby agreed to analyze and evaluate its own work on the issues involved. Churches have responded through program, policy and advocacy work.

"Sustainable development" has become the key concept in the follow-up process after Rio. It has become the main agenda for the ongoing work of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development and for the Rio Review + 5, or Earth Summit II in June of '97. As Canadian Churches we are beginning to question the term as it is increasingly misused to legitimize current economic approaches which are premised on unlimited growth and expansion which are unsustainable. We are proposing therefore to advocate for "sustainable communities" which balance many competing factors, economic, social and environmental.

Terms like sufficiency, justice, peace and integrity of creation, and a just and moral economy are the premises on which we base our critique and integrate it under the theme of "ecojustice".

The work of building sustainable communities must be undertaken at all levels, local to global.

Source: EcoJustice Committee

Submitted by: the Rev. Margaret Marquardt, Chair