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The Common Agenda

Closing: Toward a Sustainable Future

The ages of the people who wrote this Common Agenda range from 26 to 70.
A generation from now, many of us will be gone, and the youngest of us will be welcoming grandchildren into the world.

butterflyWhat kind of world will that be? A world in which food production replenishes the land and fosters connection among people, and between people and nature? A world where entrepreneurs find economic opportunity in products and services designed to enhance environmental quality and prevent disease? A world where we understand that we depend on thriving ecosystems and act accordingly; where burdens and responsibilities are shared equitably; where communities are prosperous and vibrant; a world at peace? Or something else — where climate change, depletion and contamination of natural resources, and deterioration of infrastructure have continued on their current trajectory, worsening disparities, fomenting violent conflicts, and robbing all species of the opportunity to thrive?

We have a responsibility to leave our children and our children’s children a safer, more prosperous, cleaner and sustainable world full of hope and vision. We know that we cannot prevent all detrimental impacts of human activities, but we seek to set the bar high by committing to steady, measurable elimination of unnecessary or avoidable detrimental impacts.

We are confident that the vision in this Common Agenda will resonate with many people. We believe that the action items we have chosen have great potential to foster new alliances and move us towards these Generational Goals.

We call now on community, civic and professional organizations, businesses, unions, students and scholars, health care providers, elected officials and our public institutions to use this Agenda, as context for reaching out to people and organizations they have not worked with before; as a standard for proposed policies and programs; and as a tool for tracking progress and holding ourselves accountable to choices that lead to a healthy future for our children.