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8 December 2009 | News | COP 15
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The Second Commission of the United Nations General Assembly approved on Friday a resolution submitted by Bolivia called “Harmony with Nature”
The initiative creates an item in the UN General Assembly’s agenda to fully analyze the break of the balance between human beings and Mother Earth and to discuss proposals and initiatives that promote a life in harmony with nature.
This new decision, which was supported by 62 out of 192 countries, was taken before the COP 15 on Climate Change started in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Besides the idea of living in harmony with nature, there is the notion of climate debt introduced by Bolivia in the official climate change negotiations.
The Bolivian government believes the developed countries owe a climate debt to the global South that they should repay.
There is also a request of recognition Mother Earth by the UN General Assembly. These are the most progressive proposals submitted so far in terms of fighting climate change.
The Bolivian government emphasized during the presentation of the resolution that “many scientific studies have shown that the magnitude, scope and speed of human-led climate change in the last half century are unprecented in the history of humanity. Hence the importance of the concept of harmony that seeks the present and future well being of both nature and humanity.
There can neither be human wellbeing or development if we destroy our home”, they said.
The resolution also invites other countries and corresponding agencies of the United Nations to consider the subject and to tell the Secretary General their opinions and views on this.
Also, it asks the Secretary General to prepare a report to be submitted at the 5th period of sessions of the General Assembly in 2010.
The new measure implies the challenge that new proposals are created at a political and intergovernmental level that take into account not only the human well being but also the intrinsic value of the species and ecosystems, regardless of their usefulness to the human being.
“The lives of human beings always involve a degree of impact on planet Earth.
The challenge for humanity is that the impact is not such that it ends up destroying the balance of the Earth by turning against the human development”.
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