Session Overview
Gupta, J. (2023). Keynote, Earth System Justice, Springtij Forum, 2023, 20 September, Terschelling
Details
Summary: “We mop with the faucet open. Only with a very small mop and a very big faucet. The world is a third world country”. So opened Professor Joyeeta Gupta’s plea for a global constitution at Springtij Forum 2023 at Terschelling.
“It is the top 4% who consume and pollute as much as we would need to provide all people on earth with the minimum access to food, water, electricity and infrastructure. We need to do something about global inequality. We have to think differently. I think we need to think differently about what makes us happy. Why can’t we be happy with less. I’m sure even very rich people can be happy with less. They just don’t know it yet.”
“We need a global constitution that thinks long-term and protects us all from ourselves. A global-level constitution that says everyone has certain rights to basic resources and the right not to be harmed by people elsewhere in the world.”