The real goal of the Earth Charter is that it will in fact become like the Ten Commandments.

Inertia is a powerful force in human and political affairs.

I am on the board of corporations who contribute both to environmental problems and their solutions. And I am on the NGO side: the Earth Council and other organizations.

After all, sustainability means running the global environment - Earth Inc. - like a corporation: with depreciation, amortization and maintenance accounts. In other words, keeping the asset whole, rather than undermining your natural capital.

Either we reduce the world's population voluntarily or nature will do this for us, but brutally

A shift is necessary toward lifestyles less geared to environmental damaging consumption patterns.

Not to say that corporations are perfect today, but even grand corporations like Dupont have made immense progress in translating some of their past environmentally damaging practices into new profit opportunities.