The UN’s World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg (WSSD) is fast approaching, and the United States government has shown little commitment up to this point. This is a problem-- if the Summit, or global environmental progress in general, is to be successful, American involvement is crucial. We, as students, want to show our commitment! So here's what we’ve come up with:
We have come up with a statement called the Recognition of Responsibility for students to sign. Severn Cullis-Suzuki, a member of YSEC, is on the Secretary General Kofi Annan’s Advisory Panel for the Summit, and will attend the meetings in Johannesburg. Though we may not be able to directly affect the presence of the American government, we as students can be present, in a sense, at the international forum. She will take this document with as many students’ signatures as possible to South Africa where she may well have the opportunity to present it at a plenary session of the WSSD. In addition, our plan is to take part in the NGO forum, by reserving a booth where every name will be read aloud in South Africa as a kind of symbolic marathon. The purpose of the statement is to give students voice a place at this summit, by demonstrating our support for environmental sustainability. But even more importantly, it is to show America and the world that solving the problems of the global environment is a high priority for American students, and that we are committed to finding sustainable solutions.
To give this document power, we need to get signatures from as many students at as many universities as possible. Each signature represents a personal commitment, as well as a public avocation of goals we can all be proud of. Responsibility is what the Summit must be about. The world’s environmental problems are worsened by the fact that governments and individuals are not taking responsibility for their role in environmental degradation.
Obviously, time is of the essence, so we really need your help to:
1) Spread the Recognition of Responsibility around your campus and have students sign on by signing on to this website, and entering their name, school and email address.
2) Send it to contacts you have at other schools, explain it to them with the points in this letter, and get them to do the same.
And, of course, sign it yourself!
This is grassroots organizing, folks. With your help we can take advantage of a unique opportunity to make our voices heard in the international arena.
Read the Recognition of Responsibility HERE
View who has already signed the Recognition of Responsibility
Sign the Recognition of Responsibility by filling out the form below