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Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2001 11:51:33 EST
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Subject: [wa-afr] [unioNews] UNEP Releases Global Outlook Report
Thema: [unioNews] UNEP Releases Global Outlook Report
Datum: 29.01.01 15:10:55 (MEZ) Mitteleuropäische Zeit
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UNEP Releases Global Outlook Report
With the UN proclaiming the year 2001 the year of dialogue among
civilisations, the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) has released its Global
Environmental Outlook report which notes that globalisation poses a big
threat to ancestral cultures and indigenous communities.
The report also aims to demonstrate that the present globalisation process
does not only encompass economic, financial and technological issues, but
also the human cultural and spiritual dimensions of society and their
interdependence.
"As we enter the new millennium, globalisation has become a dominating factor
aggravating the threats to ancestral cultures and indigenous communities,"
says the report.
"The current trends undermining the cultural diversity of our planet are also
largely responsible for the erosion of biodiversity and the rich heritage of
indigenous peoples," it adds.
UNEP's recent study on the cultural and spiritual values of biodiversity has
demonstrated that sustainable development and the richness of cultures are
interdependent.
The study provides ample evidence of the close relationship between cultural
diversity, biodiversity-mega-rich areas and indigenous peoples.
Of the estimated 6,000 cultures in the world, between 4,000 and 5,000 are
indigenous and more than 2,500 languages are in immediate danger of
extinction and a number are losing the ecological contexts that keep them
functional.
"It is a well established fact that without an understanding and tolerance
for one another's cultural and spiritual dimensions, peace will remain
elusive.
"However, we have to recognise that respect for nature and the preservation
of the ecological balance of our planet are essential for the achievement of
international peace and security," says the report.
Adds Klaus Toepfer, the Executive Director of UNEP, in the report: "The
environmental dimension of the concept of peace and security cannot be
ignored any more."
The UN Millennium Declaration adopted by more than 110 leaders at the UN
headquarters in New York in September 2000 agreed on the fundamental values
essential to international relations in the 21st century.
It was agreed that differences within and between societies should be neither
feared nor repressed, but cherished as a precious asset of humanity.
"A culture of peace and dialogue among all civilisations should be actively
promoted," it was further agreed.
Meanwhile, the UNEP has announced that Environment Ministers attending the
Second Global Ministerial Environment Forum to be held in Nairobi, Kenya from
5-9 February will convene a special event to celebrate the International Year
of the Dialogue Among Civilisations from an environmental perspective.
Toepfer hailed the move, observing that "the preservation of a healthy and
green planet should be the main concern of a modern culture and should frame
how we think, live, behave and relate to nature and its bounty."
PanAfrican News Agency * January 29, 2001 * Nairobi / KENYA
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