A Statement of US Civil Society for Habitat II

1. Habitat 1: “Land… cannot be treated as an ordinary asset, controlled by individuals and subject to the pressures and inefficiencies of the market. Private land ownership is also a principle instrument of accumulation and concentration of wealth, therefore contributes to social injustice.”

2. Habitat II: “A Community Sustainability ‘Roadmap’…an urban-rural industrial rebalance with ecology, as a fundamental paradigm of authentic, meaningful national/global human security.”

3. A Statement of US Civil Society for Habitat II Called for -- reductions in industrial and natural resource use, multi-racial and multicultural decision-making, and zero emissions and waste: “Sustainablelivelihoods in an atmosphere of social, economic, and environmental justice.”

4. Signers (partial listing): • Bread for the World • Center of Concern • Citizens Network for Sustainable Development • Coalition for a Strong United Nations • Friends of the Earth, Habitat for Humanity • Int’l Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission • National Wildlife Federation • Population Action International • Sierra Club • U.S. Network for Habitat II • Woman’s Environment and Development Organization • Zero Population Growth.

5. "Democracy is not a panacea. It cannot organize everything and it is unaware of its own limits. These facts must be faced squarely. Sacrilegious though it may sound, democracy is no longer well suited for the tasks at hand. The complexity and the technical nature of many of today's problems do not always allow elected representatives to make competent decisions at the right time." Club of Rome

6. "The emerging 'environmentalization' of our civilization and the need for vigorous action in the interest of the entire global community will inevitably have multiple political consequences. Perhaps the most important of them will be the gradual change in the status of the United Nations. Inevitably, it must assume some aspects of world government."Mikhail Gorbachev

7. "The concept of national sovereignty has been immutable, indeed a sacred principle of international relations. It is a principle which will yield only slowly and reluctantly to the new imperatives of global environmental cooperation."UN Commission on Global Governance

8. "This is our world, a common world. Everybody should feel a common responsibility." Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General, UN  

9. Mindset of the NGOs To build a sustainable future, all levels of society (e.g. national governments, local authorities, regional and international organizations, the private sector, and business groups, research groups, and academic institutions, religious communities, and especially the NGO community) must be challenged and must act. The search for answers must extend to every hamlet, house, village, town, and to every entity of civil society. It must involve every one of us, not just the UN. Everyone must join in.

10. Create a network of peoples and organizations in the US concerned with the need for sustainable communities. This can help bring together a set of unique responses and solutions in order to find comprehensive solutions to very complex problems. Business/industry leaders must be included in the debate in order to achieve pragmatic policies which inject in the concept and practice of sustainability into economic and political processes.

11. The idea of a ‘global commons’ must be translated into concrete political actions where local level efforts and community driven strategies can be a source of inspiration at a time when there exists disillusionment in government and international events. Emphasis should be then placed on operationalization at local and individual levels.