On 7 May 2014, the Earth Charter International Secretariat hosted a webinar on the post-2015 agenda with a focus on the data revolution. The two high-level guest speakers were Hazel Henderson and Herman Mulder. Around fifty people attended the webinar and an inspiring discussion took place.
Find in this link the recording of this webinar: http://www.wiziq.com/online-class/1779954-data-revolution-in-the-post-2015-agenda
Conclusions
The involvement of the private sector is crucial. Even though it is not always clear, some goals of the private sector and the society overlap. There has to be a common language to create understanding between the two. For this reason the private sector has to take on the challenge and introduce transparency to the supply chains. The externalities have to be internalized and made visible for the society, the consumers. For instance prices on goods and services have to show the inherent social and environmental externalities.
The media also has a role in shifting views and raising awareness for protecting the global commons. In that process, it is important that financial capital does not receive more attention than the other five forms of capital (human, social, natural, intellectual, and manufactured).
The government’s role in repurposing markets is also relevant. Government should introduce regulations that help change mindsets. The facilitation of collaboration between the private, public, and NGO sectors is also crucial in this process.
The usage and understanding of technology has to be redefined, too. Especially in developing countries, technology can help bring as yet unavailable services to the poor. For instance, mobile phones are now used for banking. Such innovative ideas and strategies can result from the cooperation between different sectors.
In addition, interests have to be created for companies to engage in sustainability. It could be a strong vision, a “pneuma” that triggers the change. The Earth Charter is one of the main organizations in the field of sustainability that can become the leading vision.
“The Earth Charter has been a leading vision to help organize people’s thinking around a totally new paradigm…It is one of the most important set of principles that we have to guide us.”- Hazel Henderson.
Click to read this webinar’s full report here.