Worldconnectors – Page 9 – Worldconnectors, affiliate Earth Charter

Teresa Fogelberg

Teresa Fogelberg is Deputy Chief Executive of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). She is also board member at Cordaid, WWF Netherlands and the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED).

Professional background
Teresa Fogelberg is an expert on the subject of women and development. She is former Chief Reviewer of the Gender and Diversity Programme of the CGIAR at the World Bank, and Associate Professor in Anthropology at Leiden University. She also held the position of executive assistant to the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002. She has also held the role of Chair of the OECD Expert Group on Women and Development. At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs she was head of the Research department, head of the Women and Development department, and thematic specialist on women and development at the Dutch embassy in Dakar, Senegal.

Personal motto
Be touched by compassion: indifference is dangerous.

Tineke Lambooy

in Worldconnectors

Tineke Lambooy is researcher at the Centre for Sustainability at Nyenrode Business University, specializing in Corporate Social Responsibility and globalization. She is also lecturer and researcher at the Faculty of Law of the University of Utrecht. She is the initiator and lecturer of the courses Mergers & Acquisitions; Legal Aspects of Globalization and International Economic Public Law in the international masters programme International Business Law and Globalization at Utrecht University.

Professional background
Tineke Lambooy is editor of the European Company Law review journal and has worked as PhD researcher on the legal aspects of Corporate Social Responsibility at the University of Leiden. She was also initiator of the Foundation Golden Child Preparatory School, with fundraising for a secondary school in Ghana as goal. Tineke Lambooy has worked as a corporate lawyer specialized in, for instance, international transactions and privatizations. She was moreover initiator of the CSR programme Loyens & Loeff.

Her personal motto
May Summertime always be with you: let the fish keep jumpin’ and the cotton grow high!

Awraham Soetendorp

in , Worldconnectors

Awraham Soetendorp is former rabbi of the Reform Jewish Community of The Hague, and rabbi of the Union of Dutch Reform Jewish Communities. He is also active as peace-builder and public voice towards positive change through the Jacob Soetendorp Institute for Human Values. He is currently secretary of the Stichting Prinsjesdagviering: the Foundation for the Budget Day Celebration in the Netherlands.

Professional background:
Awraham Soetendorp has worked as Rabbi in the Liberal Jewish Community in The Hague, the Netherlands, and as Rabbi of the Union of Dutch Reform Jewish Communities. As religious leader he was a participant in the World Economic Forum and various other international conferences around the world. In 2001, he was elected president of European Region of the World Union for Progressive Judaism. He was also appointed as member of the Earth Charter commission in 2000. He is the founder of the Hope Foundation for Children for Universal Education and was a member in the UNESCO committee working towards new chart of global ethics. Awraham Soetendorp has also been a board member and (co)-chair at various organizations and committees.

Erik Thijs Wedershoven

in Worldconnectors

Erik Thijs Wedershoven is president of the Worldconnectors and Senior Manager at EY’s Long-Term Value Team.EY supports him in his role as president of the Worldconnectors. In his work, he mainly focuses on strategy (operationalization) as well as managing and measuring social impact. One example is the project he did together with a team for Volvo Group on the societal costs and benefits of fully electric public transport.

Professional background
Before joining EY, he worked at KPMG and NCDO he also was also Youth Representative to the United Nations General Assembly. He was a member of the Dutch government’s delegation to the UN Millennium Summit in 2005, UN General Assembly in 2004 and 2005, and UN Commission on Sustainable Development in 2006.

He studied Economics and Political Science at the University of Maastricht and UC Berkeley. In 2011 he graduated from Sciences Po Paris and London School of Economics and Political Science LSE) with a dual degree Master in Public Administration (MPA).

Erik Thijs is half French and is an active judo player in his spare time.

Jan van de Venis

in Worldconnectors

Jan van de Venis is a solicitor and owner of the law firm JustLaw and Legal Desk Director of the Swiss Waterlex. He particularly concentrates on human rights and sustainable development issues. He is also chair of the board of Stand Up For Your Rights and The Crowd Versus. Jan was a member of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) in the Governance and Remuneration Working Group and a special guest lecturer on Human Rights for several universities, including the University of Utrecht.

Professional background
Jan van de Venis was previously legal counsel at Greenpeace International and senior associate at the law firm Marree en Dijxhoorn. He is author of several publications on human rights law and sustainable development. He is a popular speaker on these subjects, also given the relation to MVO. He is also currently involved as advisor to multiple campaigns and innitiatives on human rights and a healthy environment (incl. Child’s Right to Nature and a Healthy Environment, Institutionalising the Rights of Future Generations)

His personal motto
We may not always be able to control things that cross our paths, but we are in control of the way we respond.

Jan Pronk

in Earth Charter Vrienden, Worldconnectors Earth Charter Vrienden

The UN Conference on Environment and Development in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro was considered by many as a clarion call. The Cold War had ended, and henceforth, the global focus would be on combating poverty linked to environmental protection. I had the privilege of attending that conference and was impressed by the renewed enthusiasm, both among politicians and the youth.

New initiatives were emerging everywhere, and one of them was the drafting of the Earth Charter, a groundbreaking and inspiring document outlining principles to guide our actions as citizens of the Earth.

I was tangentially involved in the Earth Charter initiative, first in my roles as Minister for Development Cooperation and Minister for the Environment, and later when I had the opportunity to teach at the University for Peace in Costa Rica, where the office of Earth Charter International is located. Ruud Lubbers was the driving force behind the Charter, both internationally and in the Netherlands. When he passed away, I wholeheartedly took over the chairmanship of Earth Charter Netherlands, not only as one of his former friends and comrades but also as a friend of Earth Charter Netherlands.

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See Jan Pronk’s contributions to the dialogue series in collaboration with the Worldconnectors on Climate Action (July 7, 2020) and on Migration and Refugees (Migratie en Vluchtelingen) (March 9, 2021). A compelling podcast from Earth Charter International features a conversation between director Mirian Vilela and Jan Pronk discussing his key moments in the UN and international politics, available here (podcast van Earth Charter International). A series of three podcasts about Jan Pronk’s political ideals and positive actions was released in September 2021 by the Correspondent. You can listen to it here (hier te beluisteren.)

Frans Versteeg

in Worldconnectors Earth Charter Vrienden

The Earth Charter has become more and more meaningful to me in recent years. After many years in the international business world, I have come to experience the Earth Charter as a summary of my beliefs.

Taking the life process of the Earth, our home, as a starting point. As ‘natural’ as it may sound, we, as humanity, seem to have become increasingly distant from it at this time.

For this reason, I find the Earth Charter and the call to seek a new beginning more necessary than ever.

Through my projects in energy and food transition, I have gradually become more focused on water: Today, about 2 billion people live with water scarcity and water stress. If we do nothing, that number could be 5 billion by 2050. In my opinion, transporting water on a global scale will become necessary to help large areas and many ‘megacities’. Through the Greenlandic shaman Angaangaq Angakkorsuaq, I became involved in the challenge of doing something with the melting ice of Greenland.

In addition to water scarcity, there are also significant challenges with the quality of our water. Chemical pollution is just one part of it. Human-caused electromagnetic pollution has also become a significant problem. I believe that restoring water to its ‘natural structures’ has become essential for our environment and ourselves. Introducing vitalized water into the world is a second activity for me.

From my HR/organizational consulting practice, I work with companies on new inclusive leadership, so that organizations for the next phase of our consciousness development can be built, especially from the business sector. The Earth Charter can make a significant contribution to this consciousness development.

For more information, please visit the following websites: CC Coach and For Good Clean Change.

Heleen de Mooij-Lubbers

in Worldconnectors Earth Charter Vrienden

“I SEE YOU – Sustainability starts with yourself. Where do we truly connect with our mind and heart? The art of truly coming back to our own source and, from deep trust, offering our real contribution and personal responsibility in all the beautiful core values that the Earth Charter provides. Awareness of what we may let go, do, and pass on together in the Earth that has been given to us. It starts with truly seeing yourself and seeing the other, beyond thoughts that have already formed. Beyond knowledge, beyond words, keep looking by being able to see.

It starts with one!

How may and can we look differently at the talent in everyone, in nature, in every culture?

I am blessed to be the daughter of my loving parents, my father Mr. RFM Lubbers, who has meant a lot to Earth Charter with his wisdom. In my younger years, I consciously and unconsciously received wise words of meaning.

I am grateful to be part of the “Friends of Earth Charter Netherlands” and to contribute and inspire where desired.

To contribute to the warm group of people and organizations that consciously commit to the Earth Charter or any form in the broad and beautiful visions of sustainability. Above all, I hope to embark on a journey with the more unconscious field and engage in conversations with those people, to listen, touch the core, and together create awareness to make a difference.

How is it in our education, where we have developed so much from our thinking, collected so much correct knowledge, and also run the risk of being further away from our source? When we SEE the talents and passions that each individual possesses, a world opens up. And when you encourage that, the impossible becomes possible for every student, our future leaders. Society and education have developed from thinking.

“We are so much more than we think.” How can we use emotional, and spiritual intelligence much more alongside true cognitive analyses? How pure can we remain and bring forth wisdom together? Wisdom beyond intelligence. From authentic leadership, intrinsic motivation arises to make a difference. “What you give attention to, grows.” How consciously do we give our attention to the positive difference we want to make together?

From wisdom, we are all one and have to take care of each other and embrace and respect diverse cultures. We share the belief in Love.

For sustainable development, my father advocated Pneuma as the fourth pillar alongside the three Ps: People, Planet, and Prosperity. Spirituality in this modern time, “beyond religions,” is important. The art of looking further, looking beyond judgment to see the gift.

What prevents us from truly seeing? Fear of what cannot or should not be seen. The courage to look beyond old loyalty and to talent and possibilities beyond the expectations of the system or our history.

The pressure of performance is increasing, and even now, in a society where much is required, we also want to convey our responsibilities in sustainability. When we realize that we mainly get to do this, the first step has been taken.

From must to meet. From looking to seeing. From talking about to doing together.

Taking personal responsibility is crucial for everyone in the system. When each individual can take their own, also emotional responsibility, the next generation is free to develop as optimally as possible. To experience space and free awareness and, from themselves, create the awareness and personal motivation in their share for our collective existence.

One of my father’s messages is: ‘Strong economy through ecology.’ Respect for the natural balance is crucial. My follow-up message is: ‘Strong society through connection and natural balance of heart and mind, of IQ and EQ.’ The power of looking through the eyes of our hearts and showing that we are so much more!

Life goes on, and the times, that is us.

‘Be who you want to be.’ Truly being who you are is sometimes our greatest challenge.

Do you follow the path of expectations, the expectation of how it should be, the experience that has already been formed by (family) history, or do you follow the path from your desires, not to prove the opposite, to live from authentic power?

To discover from authentic power is good to experience that it is you who can make a difference rather than waiting for the difference or change to be made by others or that system you depend on.

Discover your own qualities and look beyond the rules, beyond the imagined requirements, dare to show yourself, beyond old loyalty.

To make that difference, to discover what increases happiness is sometimes just: being silent.

In these two words, Silent and Being lies so much meaning, silent to be able to hear and see beyond (not) knowing and Being in all its purity to receive. Receive wisdom beyond intelligence. Is that not what true education in sustainability is about?

It was an honor for me to speak about this in January at the Earth Charter Education Conference in Costa Rica. Beautiful encounters and much inspiring wisdom to receive and pass on together.

Looking from your own core, from yourself – completely contrary to looking from yourself – to the big picture, I think ensures the ultimate form of liberation. Freedom means not only being free but especially the right to do good. To bring forth the good together.

Heleen de Mooij-Lubbers – In Eigen Kracht

New mail

“To move forward, we must acknowledge that amidst a dazzling diversity of cultures and life forms, we form one human family and one Earth community with a common destiny. We must unite to realize a sustainable global society based on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice, and a culture of peace. To do this, it is a requirement that we, the peoples of Earth, openly express our responsibility to each other, to the larger community of life, and to future generations.”

“The spirit of human solidarity and kinship with all life is strengthened when we live in reverence for the mystery of existence, in gratitude for the gift of life, and in humility regarding the place of humans in nature.”

“We urgently need a shared vision of essential values that provide an ethical foundation for the emerging world community.”

(From the preamble of the Earth Charter)

The title “Earth Charter” might suggest that it is a charter for the environment or climate. However, the Earth Charter is much more than that. It calls on us to look at ourselves and each other in a different way. Moving from the imposed freedom that prioritizes individual opinions and interests, relentlessly defends one’s own righteousness, almost collapses under the weight of personal responsibility, and reduces the global population to 7 billion individuals, we shift toward a vision where we see our role as part of a larger whole. We are part of a creation that we don’t fully understand, that surprises us with unforeseen and undeserved challenges, and that is not always someone’s fault, a creation that calls on us to strive for a good life for everyone we are connected to, including those in another place and time.

This mindset brings reverence for all life, instills confidence but also humility about our own role, and leads to social and economic justice. If this is true, then caring more for others leads to less concern for ourselves, and we can find happiness in knowing that we live eternally in the world community, much like a drop of water can only survive when it joins the ocean.

Giuseppe van der Helm is the director of the Coöperatie Leren voor Morgen.

Personal motto: My belief in the goodness of humanity motivates me to fight against our inability to look beyond our own group and the horizon of a single year. The conviction is that we are not compartmentalized beings but unique and social individuals who deeply integrate into the world we are a part of.