(1888PressRelease)
October 20, 2008 - The youth of today, will soon inherit this planet Earth from their parents and grandparents. But many young people fear the problems they will inherit.
The Youth Earth Plan 0.5, released this fall by Our Task, is a comprehensive analysis of today’s unsustainable global trends, but the report also posits specific changes that institutions should make to improve the trends. The report was released by Our Task, an NGO based in Arlington, Virginia, USA.
“To understand the challenges that await us, Our Task ( OT ) has spent two years collecting and analyzing some of the most respected and globally-focused outlook reports for the world's social, economic, resource, and ecological systems. We analyzed studies published by United Nations ( UN ) agencies, the World Bank ( WB ), and other respected organizations,” said Angeline Cione, Our Task member. “Forty thoughtful young adults ( aged about 15 to 25 ) from fifteen countries have contributed to the effort and dozens of mentors and financial contributors have supported the work,” said Gerald Barney, Chair of Our Task.
The Youth Earth Plan 0.5 shows that the world’s social, economic and environmental trends are connected and that they are heading in unsustainable and even disastrous directions. The Plan explains that our human culture has led us into lifestyles that are unraveling the very fabric of our planet, but the world’s leading institutions have not sounded a timely and effective warning of the extreme dangers we humans now face.
To address this cultural disorder, the Youth Earth Plan makes specific requests for changes in culture-shaping institutions: governments, corporations, spiritual/religious, education, international organizations, media, scientific, and civil society organizations. In general, these requests call for a greater focus on long-term environmental, social and economic sustainability.
Dr. Gerald O. Barney, Chair of OT said, “Today’s youth will have to face the consequences of the short-sighted decisions being made today. We want to give youth a voice so their futures will be considered when important decisions about resources, the environment, and economic growth are being made.”
Our Task is seeking comments and suggestions for its next version of the Youth Earth Plan. You can read the Youth Earth Plan 0.5 online at http://www.ourtask.org/getinvolved/pdfs/yeprint.pdf, and you can share your comments at http://www.ourtask.org/2008/08/yep-comments.html.
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