The petition
A. INTENTION
We have the intention to create an environmentally responsible spiritual Movement. We believe this intention can elevate our Movement to the next phase in its development. Environmental responsibility, in this context, means explicitly promoting environmental sustainability in every possible context.
B. EXPLANATION
Sustainability has become a catch word in society. It can mean carbon neutrality, self-sufficiency, and everything in between. Overall, to us, sustainability means environmental accountability - where an organization, community, or individual takes into account how their actions influence the environment.
Doctor Bevan Morris, the President of Maharishi Univeristy of Management, has recently signed a Climate Commitment with the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, which states that the University will take action to become as environmentally accountable as possible.
For instance, as part of this commitment, the University shall create a greenhouse gas inventory - a model that basically accounts for the amount of carbon dioxide created by our activities on campus. It is known, in the scientific community, that greenhouse gases are the primary cause of global warming and our climate crisis. The intention of creating a greenhouse gas inventory is to find ways to mitigate and reduce carbon emissions - thereby minimizing our institution's contribution to the climate crisis.
The University has begun to take into account its impact on the environment. Now we, the sidha signatories, believe the Global Country of World Peace, should likewise explicitly consider how its activities influence the environment. It would be prudent for the entire Movement to follow the intelligent guidance of our University, so we can expressly improve the quality of the environment, and the quality of life, in every place where this Movement has a presence.
C. BENEFITS
Sustainability has tangible economic, social, and environmental benefits. These three types of benefits have been referred to, by organizational sustainability analysts, as the triple bottom line.
(1) Economic: Simply consider the, unfortunately rising, cost of public utilities. It would be prudent to run the numbers on how much utilities cost the Global Country each year. And these costs are going to continue to run amuck as the Global Country continues to expand and build. Peace Palaces and schools that are self-sufficient with respect to energy and water would save on these hard costs, bottom line.
(2) Social: We believe the Movement has a responsibility to educate the public about the merits of holistic health and the value of environmental responsibility. The mainstream interest in everything green, from schools to supermarkets, opens up an opportunity for dialogue, on a large scale, with society. If we become sustainable in every way then we serve as real role models for social change.
(3) Environmental: With expansion comes responsibility. As we continue to construct Peace Palaces around the world, we ought to consider the environmental impact of new construction and also the environmental impact of our energy consumption practices. We want to do our part to mitigate global warming in order to prevent a climate crisis.
These are three simple ways to look at the value of sustainability. As we are an organization, we probably ought to understand, and be privvy to, the practical values of explicit sustainability. We believe the continuity of this Movement, as an organization, in large depends upon comprehension of, and subsequent right action along, this triple bottom line.
D. OBJECTIVES
Let the model of the University President's Climate Commitment serve as a guiding light toward full and total organizational sustainability. The principles within this agreement, when applied to the entire Movement, may in fact lead our organization to the next level of success and fulfillment.We propose an adaptation of our University's commitment on the scale of the Global Country of World Peace. The following illustrates our proposed lines of action, which will, inevitably, elevate this movement to its proper position as a role model for social organizations everywhere.
(1) Establish a Minister of Sustainability for the Global Country of World Peace
(2) Declare a Mission Statement to be the first Carbon Neutral Spiritual Organization
(3) Conduct a comprehensive Greenhouse Gas (GHG) inventory for the entire global Movement
(4) Launch a Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Action Plan subsequent to this comprehensive inventory
(5) Author policies that require all Maharishi Vastu construction to be up to environmental standards
(6) Set-up a Clean Energy Revolving Fund and begin to largely invest in renewable sources of energy
(7) Let Peace Palaces double as Sustainability Centers, where people can come to learn about organic food, renewable energy, or sustainable construction, and integrate consciousness with sustainability
E. SIGNATORIES
We, the sidhas of the Global Country of World Peace, believe this line of action shall propel the Movement into an age of success. We believe in the merits of becoming leaders on the level of environmental responsibility as well as leaders on the level of consciousness. Our care for the environment shall shine through and attract the world to an age of peace and prosperity.
Jai Guru Dev,
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