Support the Rights of Nature (MGA)

                                        “Obedience to the voice of the earth, of being, is more important for our future happiness
                                                                                               than the voices of the moment, the desires of the moment.
                                                                                               … being itself, our earth, speaks to us and we must listen
                                                                                    if we want to survive and to decipher this message of the earth.”
                                                                                                                                                                     Pope Benedict XV1

 
Twenty years after the Earth Summit of 1992, the world, once again, will come together to take stock of where we have been and to forge agreements on what more needs to be done in order to sustain all life on Earth at the Rio + 20 Conference in June 2012.

As individuals, as institutions, and as a people, we need a change of heart to preserve and protect the planet for now and for future generations. To help us to move beyond our habitual use of nature for development, the Bolivian government sponsored a World People's Conference 2010 and for many, reintroduced the language of Mother Earth and the realization that we are partners with, not dominators of, the Earth we need for life.

Nature is still treated as property under current law around the world. The economic well-being of society can no longer depend on the destruction of Nature. There are alternative ways. They call forth a quantum shift in thinking and acting at a global grassroots level. We, as Mercy sisters can make our impact now, for the good of all.

It is up to us and Civil Society to set the course to help make sure that the future we want is the future we will get in the final Rio+20 document in June. We cannot wait for governments to set the course. We, the People, must do that now.
At the Rio + 20 UN Conference Mercy Global Action, is signing up to the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature/Rights of Mother Earth. At a special signing ceremony June17 in Rio Mary Bilderback will sign on behalf of MGA

There is a strong universal call for the acceptance and implimentation of the Rights of Nature by all Nations. You, as a Mercy sister or associate or colleague, can be part of this call by adding your signature as an individual to the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature. The goal of the Alliance is “ to steer the course in defining Rights of Nature, Rights of Mother Earth as the Foundation for Sustainability and to promote all action that is undertaken (at Rio) to be addressed in harmony with nature"

To learn more about this initiative, click here

To support this initiative and add your signature, click here

You can also add your view on ‘Why the Rights of Nature are important to you’ at this crucial time in the history of the planet.

It was Thomas Berry’s view that “Every component of the Earth has three rights:

• The Right to Be;
• The Right to Habitat; and
• The Right to fulfill its role in the ever-renewing processes of the Earth.”

Global Alliance is planning to be an active, visible voice at Rio+20 Earth Summit and at the parallel People’s Summit, speaking as the voice for our Earth Community.

Mercy Sisters, through MIA will be represented at the Earth Summit at Rio by Aine O’Connor rsm, Mercy Global Action Coordinator at the UN and at the People’s Summit, by Mary Bilderback rsm.

As the Secretaty General of the 2012 UN Conference, Sha Zukang, advised recently: “Keep the Earth in full view as you negotiate the outcome document.”

To find: Prayer for Mother Earth as a Living Being, click here

Messages to Catherine Gibbons rsm - MGA Intern