The Earth Charter is based on a common care for our living planet, our home.

The preamble of the Charter focusses on these four main topics:
- Earth, Our Home,
- the Global Situation,
- the Challenges Ahead and
- the Universal Responsibility.

The principles are based on:
- Respect and Care for the Community of Life
- Ecological Integrity
- Social and Economic Justice
- Democracy, Non-violence and Peace

Read the Earth Charter (in .pdf)

7. To adopt patterns of production, consumption, and reproduction that safeguard Earth's regenerative capacities, human rights, and community well-being.

a). Reduce, reuse, and recycle the materials used in production and consumption systems, and ensure that residual waste can be assimilated by ecological systems.

b). Act with restraint and efficiency when using energy, and rely increasingly on renewable energy sources such as solar and wind.

c). Promote the development, adoption, and equitable transfer of environmentally sound technologies.

d). Internalize the full environmental and social costs of goods and services in the selling price, and enable consumers to identify products that meet the highest social and environmental standards.

e). Ensure universal access to health care that fosters reproductive health and responsible reproduction.

f). Adopt lifestyles that emphasize the quality of life and material sufficiency in a finite world.

10. Ensure that economic activities and institutions at all levels promote human development in
an equitable and sustainable manner.

a). Promote the equitable distribution of wealth within nations and among nations.

b). Enhance the intellectual, financial, technical, and social resources of developing nations, and relieve them of onerous international debt.

c). Ensure that all trade supports sustainable resource use, environmental protection, and progressive labor standards.

d). Require multinational corporations and international financial organizations to act transparently in the public good, and hold them accountable for the consequences of their activities.