(c.) Declaration of Interdependence (2 pages)

Five members of the David Suzuki Foundation wrote the following Declaration of

Interdependence in 1992 for the United Nations' Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

In 2001, Finnish composer Pehr Henrik Nordgren wrote his Symphony no. 6

"Interdependence" based on the declaration, which also served as lyrics to the

piece. It was performed for the first time in Sendai, Japan in December, 2001.

THIS WE KNOW

We are the earth, through the plants and animals that nourish us.

We are the rains and the oceans that flow through our veins.

We are the breath of the forests of the land, and the plants of the sea.

We are human animals, related to all other life as descendants of the

first-born cell.

We share with these kin a common history, written in our genes.

We share a common present, filled with uncertainty.

And we share a common future, as yet untold.

We humans are but one of 30 million species weaving the thin layer of life enveloping the

world.

The stability of communities of living things depends upon this diversity.

Linked in that web, we are interconnected — using, cleansing, sharing, and replenishing

the fundamental elements of life.

Our home, planet Earth, is finite; all life shares its resources and the energy from the sun,

and therefore has limits to growth.

For the first time, we have touched those limits.

When we compromise the air, the water, the soil, and the variety of life,

we steal from the endless future to serve the fleeting present.

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