Steven C. Rockefeller chaired the Earth Charter International Drafting Committee from 1996 to 2000. He was also the first Chair of the ECI Council and member of the Earth Charter Commission.
In October 2014, Mirian Vilela and Marina Figueiredo Mello conducted a long interview with Steven Rockefeller to record his views on the Earth Charter and his reflections on his twenty years’ experience with the Earth Charter Initiative. This project received the generous support of Amana-Key and Oscar Motomura.
“Steven Rockefeller has been a source of knowledge, depth and a great inspiration. Over the past 25 years I often reach out to him for guidance and advice.” Mirian Vilela
As part of our effort to communicate the purpose and relevance of the Earth Charter and to celebrate the 20th anniversary since its launch, herewith you will find extracts of the Interview:
The greater purpose of the Earth Charter
The relevance of the Earth Charter
Story of the Earth Charter Drafting process
Vision on the future of the Earth Charter movement
How can someone use the Earth Charter?
Message for Leaders
Message to Educators
Message for Young Leaders
Message to the Skeptics
Professor Rockefeller is professor emeritus of religion at Middlebury College, where he also served as dean of the College. Much of his research and writing has focused on global ethics, sustainable development, and the interrelation of democracy, ecology, and spirituality. He received his bachelor of arts degree from Princeton University, his master of divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York City, and his Ph.D. in the philosophy of religion from Columbia University.
Professor Rockefeller is the author of John Dewey: Religious Faith and Democratic Humanism (Columbia, 1991) and the co-editor of two books of essays, The Christ and the Bodhisattva (SUNY, 1987) and Spirit and Nature: Why the Environment is a Religious Issue (Beacon, 1992).