Table Of ContentETHICS IN ACTION
FOR SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT
Ethics in Action Meeting on Education, Casina Pio IV, Vatican City, October 2017
ETHICS IN ACTION
FOR SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT
EDITED BY
JEFFREY D. SACHS,
MARCELO SÁNCHEZ SORONDO,
OWEN FLANAGAN,
WILLIAM VENDLEY,
ANTHONY ANNETT, AND
JESSE THORSON
FOREWORD BY
POPE FRANCIS AND
ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW
Columbia University Press
New York
This book was made possible by the remarkable leadership of Monsignor Marcelo
Sánchez Sorondo, who hosted and guided the Ethics in Action initiative during his
tenure as Chancellor of the Pontifical Academies. Ms. Gabriella Marino (Pontifical
Academies) brilliantly coordinated the meetings that provided the foundation of
this volume, in collaboration with Prof. Anthony Annett and Ms. Sharon Paculor
(Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University). Ethics in Action
was supported by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, Religions
for Peace, the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University,
the University of Notre Dame, the Blue Chip Foundation, the Fetzer Institute,
Ms. Christina Lee Brown, and Ms. Jacqueline Corbelli.
Columbia University Press
Publishers Since 1893
New York Chichester, West Sussex
cup.columbia.edu
Copyright © 2022 Columbia University Press
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Sachs, Jeffrey, editor.
Title: Ethics in action for sustainable development / edited by Jeffrey D. Sachs,
Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, Owen Flanagan, William Vendley, Anthony
Annett, and Jesse Thorson.
Description: New York : Columbia University Press, [2022] | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021052015 (print) | LCCN 2021052016 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780231202862 (hardback) | ISBN 9780231202879 (trade paperback) |
ISBN 9780231554756 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Sustainable development—Moral and ethical aspects. |
Sustainable development—Philosophy. | Social justice.
Classification: LCC HC79.E5 E755 2022 (print) | LCC HC79.E5 (ebook) |
DDC 338.9/27—dc23/eng/20220113
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021052015
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021052016
Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable
acid-free paper.
Printed in the United States of America
Cover design: Julia Kushnirsky
Cover painting: Eugène Delacroix, Untergehende Sonne
CONTENTS
Foreword, by Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew ix
Introduction, by Jeffrey D. Sachs and Owen Flanagan 1
PART ONE: ADVANCING THE COMMON GOOD:
SHARED VIRTUES AND VISIONS OF WELL-BEING!9
1. The Vision and Values of the Sustainable Development Goals,
by Jeffrey D. Sachs 11
2. A Social Movement to Make the Last First,
by Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo 28
3. Virtue Across Traditions: Common Ground?, by Owen Flanagan 34
4. Secular Ethics, Moral Capital, and the Sustainable Development Goals,
by Owen Flanagan 58
5. The Current Resurgence of Interest in the Civil Economy Paradigm,
by Stefano Zamagni 72
PART TWO: RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS AND
THE COMMON GOOD!81
6. The Confucian Conception of the Common Good in
Contemporary China, by Anna Sun 83
vi Contents
7. Hinduism: “Consider the common good in all actions,”
by Anantanand Rambachan 92
8. Judaism and the Common Good, by David Rosen 102
9. Buddhism and the Common Good, by Kyoichi Sugino 111
10. Greek Orthodoxy and the Common Good, by John D. Zizioulas
and Jesse Thorson 121
11. Catholicism and the Common Good, by Daniel G. Groody 129
12. Islam and the Common Good, by Hamza Yusuf 136
PART THREE: AN ETHICAL CONSENSUS ON
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: POVERTY!143
13. The Challenge of Global Poverty, by Jeffrey D. Sachs 157
14. Ethical Actions to End Poverty, by Anthony Annett 163
15. Community-Based Poverty Reduction, by Jennifer Gross 167
16. Judaism and Poverty, by David Rosen 173
PART FOUR: AN ETHICAL CONSENSUS ON
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: PEACE!179
17. On Peace and a Moral Framework for Statecraft, by
Jeffrey D. Sachs 186
18. Advancing Shared Well-Being as a Multireligious Vision of
Positive Peace, by William F. Vendley 194
19. Building Peace: Strategies, Resources, and Religions, by
R. Scott Appleby 215
PART FIVE: AN ETHICAL CONSENSUS ON
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: MIGRATION!223
20. The Drivers of Migration, by Jeffrey D. Sachs 229
21. A Muslim Perspective on Refugees, by Hamza Yusuf 235
22. Migration and Refugees: A Christian Perspective, by
Daniel G. Groody 238
PART SIX: AN ETHICAL CONSENSUS ON
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: BUSINESSES
AS AGENTS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT!245
23. Toward a Laudato si’ Coherent Corporate Responsibility Management,
by Klaus M. Leisinger 254
24. Sustainable Investment and Ethics in Action, by Kerry Kennedy 261
2.5 The Case for Business in Achieving the SDGs, by Jacqueline Corbelli 266
Contents vii
PART SEVEN: AN ETHICAL CONSENSUS ON
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: EDUCATION!271
26. The Challenge of Education, by Jeffrey D. Sachs 277
27. What Will It Take to Meet the Sustainable Development Goal
for Education?, by Radhika Iyengar 283
28. “Only Connect”: Neuroscience, Technology, and Global Literacy,
by Maryanne Wolf 289
PART EIGHT: AN ETHICAL CONSENSUS ON
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: CLIMATE JUSTICE!297
29. Climate Disruption: A Personal Journey Into the Ethical and
Moral Issues, by Veerabhadran Ramanathan 303
30. The Religious Case for Environmental Care, by
Emmanuel Adamakis 308
31. Health Justice Is Climate Justice, by Ted Smith and
Christina Lee Brown 312
32. Environmental Injustice: How Treaties Undermine the Right
to a Healthy Environment, by Lisa Sachs, Ella Merrill, and
Lise Johnson 316
33. Ethics in Action and Divestment, by Erin Lothes 327
PART NINE: AN ETHICAL CONSENSUS ON
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: MODERN SLAVERY,
HUMAN TRAFFICKING, AND ACCESS TO JUSTICE
FOR THE POOR AND VULNERABLE!333
34. Actualizing Justice for the Poor, by Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo 345
35. Multireligious Action Against Modern Slavery and Trafficking,
by William F. Vendley 351
36. Violence Against the Poor and Ethics in Action,
by Sharon Cohn Wu 360
PART TEN: AN ETHICAL CONSENSUS ON SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT: INDIGENOUS PEOPLES!367
37. Care of the Earth, Care of the Soul: Indigenous Communities and Inner
Climate Change, by T8aminik (Dominique) Rankin, Marie-Josée Tardif,
and Daniel G. Groody 375
38. Practical Approaches to Sustainable Development in Indigenous
Communities and Traditional Populations of the Amazon,
by Virgilio Viana 380
viii Contents
PART ELEVEN: AN ETHICAL CONSENSUS ON
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: CORRUPTION!385
39. Understanding and Combatting Corruption, by Sean Hagan 392
40. The Role of Institutions in Fighting Corruption, by Jermyn Brooks 400
PART TWELVE: AN ETHICAL CONSENSUS ON SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT: THE FUTURE OF WORK!407
41. Unions and the Future of Work, by Sharan Burrow 416
42. The Coming AI Revolution: Is This Time Different?,
by Carl Benedikt Frey 421
43. Slow but Sure: Cooperatives and Integral Ecology,
by Nathan Schneider 425
44. The End of Work as We Know It: A Muslim Perspective,
by Hamza Yusuf 431
Conclusion: Toward a Moral Economy, by Anthony Annett
and Jesse Thorson 439
List of Contributors 445
Index 455
FOREWORD
On September 1, 2017, we issued a “Joint Message on the World
Day of Prayer for Creation,” in which we wrote:
The urgent call and challenge to care for creation are an invitation for all
of humanity to work toward sustainable and integral development. . . . We
urgently appeal to those in positions of social and economic, as well as political
and cultural, responsibility to hear the cry of the earth and to attend to the
needs of the marginalized, but above all to respond to the plea of millions and
support the consensus of the world for the healing of our wounded creation.
We are convinced that there can be no sincere and enduring resolution to the
challenge of the ecological crisis and climate change unless the response is
concerted and collective, unless the responsibility is shared and accountable,
unless we give priority to solidarity and service.1
In this spirit, we hope that people in all parts of the world—especially
students and young leaders—will contemplate and draw on the lessons and
wisdom offered by the many contributors to Ethics in Action for Sustainable
Development. In the writings in this volume, scholars and practitioners from
a wide variety of religious traditions and academic disciplines find common
ground in defending the Creation—our common home (oikos)—and in calling
for human dignity and economic justice for all peoples across faiths, cultures,
traditions, nations, and geographies. In these contributions, we see how the
diverse religious traditions regard human beings as made body and soul in
God’s image, as part of the Creation.
x Foreword
It is our heartfelt conviction that there are profound connections among all
living things and all human beings.2 Therefore, we concur with the contribu-
tors to this volume that the world’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),
adopted by all 193 member states of the United Nations, can help us to find a
global path forward for the common good, and a method of worldwide collab-
oration to address the pressing social, economic, and ecological challenges of
our age. The SDGs help to nurture a strong sense of the common good. They
draw attention especially to the suffering of the poor and the suffering of the
planet. From a religious perspective, “The way we relate to nature as creation
directly reflects the way we relate to God as Creator. There can be no distinction
between concern for human welfare, protection of the environment, and care
for our salvation.”3
Jesus taught, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with
all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend
all the Law and the Prophets” (Mt 22.37–40). In our estimation, the pursuit
of the global common good and social justice can be understood as a faithful
response to this teaching. We may say that the world’s shared commitment to
sustainable development is a way to foster love toward neighbor and Creation.
Yet though people of goodwill everywhere yearn for the common good and
social justice, we observe that the prevailing culture of hate, greed, arms race,
and power that is not at the service of the poor is taking the world in the oppo-
site direction: an upward spiral of war, violence, poverty, forced migration, and
environmental destruction. We must, with all our hearts, speak out against this
hate and violence, which is of course a dire negation of love, the common good,
and social justice. We must, above all, recognize humanity’s current peril:
Step by step, we are moving towards catastrophe. Piece by piece the world risks
becoming the theater of a unique Third World War. We are moving towards it
as if it were unavoidable. But we must forcefully repeat: No, it is not inevitable!
No, war is not inescapable! When we allow ourselves to be devoured by this
monster represented by war, when we allow this monster to raise its head and
guide our actions, everyone loses, we destroy God’s creatures, we commit sacri-
lege and prepare a future of death for our children and grandchildren.4
We see these rising dangers in a pandemic that has claimed the lives of mil-
lions while leaving the poor without access to life-saving vaccines and medicines.
We see the rising dangers in the multiple ecological crises—climate change, hab-
itat destruction, and wanton pollution—that have all intensified in recent years.
We see the rising dangers most starkly in the war against Ukraine, which esca-
lates with frenzied calls for even more destructive weapons, and with no urgent
call for peace, negotiations, and conciliation on behalf of the main actors.
