We cannot segregate the human heart from the environment outside us and say that once one of these is reformed everything will be improved. Man is organic with the world. His inner life moulds the environment and is itself deeply affected by it. The one acts upon the other and every abiding change in the life of man is the result of these mutual reactions. [From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Baha'i Faith from 1921 to 1957, to an individual]

I have heard Trevor Phillips, Chair of the UK’s new Equality and Human Rights Commission say on a number of occasions that there are two questions we need to answer and answer well in the 21st century:

1. How do we live with each other?

2. How do we live with/on our planet?

We cannot answer these questions separately from each other. And we cannot answer them satisfactorily unless we abandon the illusion that focusing on material needs and resources alone will solve our social and environmental challenges. We must examine ourselves and our spiritual reality:

No matter how far the material world advances, it cannot establish the happiness of mankind. Only when material and spiritual civilization are linked and coordinated will happiness be assured. for in material civilization good and evil advance together and maintain the same pace. [From the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá]

The 1995 Copenhagen Declaration, produced by the UN World Summit for Social Development, contained this ringing call:

We heads of State and Government are committed to a political, economic, ethical and spiritual vision for social development that is based on human dignity, human rights, equality, respect, peace, democracy, mutual responsibility and cooperation, and full respect for the various religious and ethical values and cultural backgrounds of people. Accordingly, we will give the highest priority in national, regional and international policies and actions to the promotion of social progress, justice and the betterment of the human condition, based on full participation by all.

Noble language, but the reality has been rather different. Why?

Our framework for solving the world’s problems right now is largely materialistic - and it has failed us. We need another picture, another world view, another story about who we are and how we relate to ourselves, to our fellow humans, and to the planet we all inhabit.

The Baha’i International Community published a seminal statement for the Copenhagen summit. The Prosperity of Humankind. It’s a document that repays study and it offers us a new frame of reference:

The bedrock of a strategy that can engage the world’s population in assuming responsibility for its collective destiny must be the consciousness of the oneness of humankind. Deceptively simple in popular discourse, the concept that humanity constitutes a single people presents fundamental challenges to the way that most of the institutions of contemporary society carry out their functions.

So what’s the new story? Prosperity tells us how, in a letter to Queen Victoria, Baha’u'llah, the Founder of the Baha’i Faith, compares the world to a human body. This is, according to Prosperity…

…the one model holding convincing promise for the organization of a planetary society… Human society is composed not of a mass of merely differentiated cells but of associations of individuals, each one of whom is endowed with intelligence and will; nevertheless, the modes of operation that characterize man’s biological nature illustrate fundamental principles of existence. Chief among these is that of unity in diversity.

The statement continues:

Justice is the one power that can translate the dawning consciousness of humanity’s oneness into a collective will through which the necessary structures of global community life can be confidently erected…

…justice is the practical expression of awareness that, in the achievement of human progress, the interests of the individual and those of society are inextricably linked…

The implications for social and economic development are profound. Concern for justice protects the task of defining progress from the temptation to sacrifice the well-being of the generality of humankind - and even of the planet itself - to the advantages which technological breakthroughs can make available to privileged minorities.

These, too, are noble words. But what evidence do we have that we can turn them into gritty reality?

Baha’is, along with other faith communities, are getting to grips with the challenges of sustainable development, as this story from One Country magazine illustrates. 2005 saw the launch of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development . Peter Adriance is a board member of the International Environment Forum, a Baha’i-inspired NGO that addresses issues around environment and sustainable development:

“Many faith communities are already well practiced in terms of environmental protection and concern,” said Mr. Adriance, who is also a member of the executive team of the US Partnership for the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development and also the US Bahá’í community’s NGO liaison. “So now it is a matter of making the transition to the larger question of sustainability — and how to promote it through education.

“Faith communities recognize the moral dimension of the need to achieve sustainability,” Mr. Adriance continued. “The sacred writings of the world’s religions are a powerful source of motivation for many people, and an essential ingredient in making the transition to sustainability.

“Without the spiritual principles brought by religion, how are we going to generate the political will to make the necessary changes in behavior? Religion has a key role to play in motivating people to contribute to the ongoing well-being of humanity, instead of just to their own immediate comfort,” said Mr. Adriance.

According to Mr. Adriance and others, recent efforts by faith-based organizations to respond to the Decade include a wide range of efforts by religious groups to begin to incorporate education for sustainable development in their curricula, outreach, and other activities.

Education is crucial, but we will need to do much more to ensure a sustainable future for humankind. And to do the much more we will need to understand that we are in a time of transition from our collective childhood to our collective adulthood. As the human race passes through its coming of age, we face a time of unprecedented turmoil and danger. As Prosperity says:

A world is passing away and a new one is struggling to be born… What is required of the peoples of the world is a measure of faith and resolve to match the enormous energies with which the Creator of all things has endowed this spiritual springtime of the race.

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