Anglican Communion News Service

(CPSA) A call has been made for a declaration of human environmental rights to ensure a sustainable environment for the future of humankind.

The call was made this week by the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, the Most Revd Njongonkulu Ndungane. The Archbishop said such a declaration would be similar to that of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, whose fiftieth anniversary is being celebrated this year.

Archbishop Ndungane was speaking at a media briefing at his residence in Cape Town following his return from London where he met the Archbishop of Canterbury to discuss the forthcoming worldwide Lambeth conference of Anglican Bishops. Archbishop Ndungane will chair section one of the conference, whose theme is -Full humanity -, which will deal with some of the most decisive issues facing humanity in the next decade.

He said that there is a need for people of the world to develop an earth ethic, as opposed to a global ethic, to ensure the sustainability of humanity.

"For thousands of years the earth's land, atmosphere and oceans have provided human beings with goods, resources and services that we need for our health and survival. But now population growth, economic growth for its own sake and an inappropriate choice of technology threaten the very future of our ecosystems and of humanity.

"The world is faced, among other things, with the threat of global warming. Some scientists believe that humankind's impact could be such that extinctions of whole species could occur within a generation. These are all problems that have far-reaching consequences.

"It is of fundamental importance that people the world over understand that the continuing lifeblood of the world depends on all living organisms and ecosystems," the Archbishop said.