During a session of the UNs Commission on Sustainable Development, the Baha’i International Community (BIC) presented the following thoughts on the topic.
The document highlights not just one, but various social components that contributes to the process. It views the issue as a “whole” rather than “parts” that needs some easy “fixing.” Here are the highlights from the document:
- Human nature
The culture of consumerism, however, has tended to reduce human beings to competitive, insatiable consumers of goods and to objects of manipulation by the market.
- Vision of development
It is not enough to conceive of sustainable consumption and production in terms of creating opportunities for those living in poverty to meet their basic needs.
- Crisis in the current economic system
The unfettered cultivation of needs and wants has led to a system fully dependent on excessive consumption for a privileged few, while reinforcing exclusion, poverty and inequality, for the majority.
- Technological development
Developing the capacity for identifying technological need and for technological innovation and adaptation—in light of societal needs and environmental constraints—will be vital to social progress.
- Education
As a starting point, the program of education must be based on a clear vision of the kind of society that we wish to live in; and the kind of individuals that will bring this about
- Baha’i community’s approach to cultural transformation
The cultural shifts taking place are evident in the greater capacity to carry out collective action, to see oneself as an agent of change in the community, as a humble learner, as an active participant in the generation, diffusion and application of knowledge.
