Can We Teach the Earth Charter Anymore? - A Critical Examination of the Earth Charter’s Role in Education

Oct 15, 2026

The paper interrogates the Earth Charter’s suitability as a guide for environmental education, arguing that it has become dated since its 2000 debut as a global framework for a sustainable future. Drawing on critical discourse analysis and social justice perspectives, it contends the Charter reinforces dominant oppressive narratives and marginalizes concerns from affected communities. It proposes updating the Charter through social-justice framing and democratic, co-creative tools accessible worldwide in local languages.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages23

Reading Time58 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Purpose and framing

Analytical approach

Key arguments and limitations

Proposed update method

Can We Teach the Earth Charter Anymore? A Critical Examination of the Earth Charter’s Role in Education Nicholas R.G. Stanger, Western Washington University, Nick Engelfried, Reconnect Earth Sarah Clement, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Ash Kunz, North Central Washington Regional Libraries, Rachael Grasso, Western Washington University, & E. Smokey Brine, Western Washington University, United States of America Abstract The Earth Charter has become a dated guiding document for the ﬁeld of environmental education. When the document debuted in 2000 as the global “framework to guide the transition to a sustainable future” (Earth Charter Initiative, n.d.-a, para. 2), the writers promoted it as a solution to environmental problems that incorporated voices of a wide spectrum of diverse communities from across the globe. The Earth Charter is a broad and ambitious document, designed to encourage action at local, national, and international levels (Earth Charter Initiative, 2009) . Using critical discourse analysis methodology and social justice lenses, this paper examines the value of the Earth Charter as an educational tool as we enter the Anthropocene, a new geologic period in which our species is the largest force inﬂuencing and changing the planet (Olvitt, 2017) . We argue that the Earth Charter reinforces dominant oppressive myths of sustainable development and excludes concerns voiced by marginalized populations. In perpetuating problematic narratives, we question the Earth Charter in its currentform as a relevant and useful framework for informing environmental education 20 years after its publication. We suggest a method for updating the Earth Charter with social justice framing, using democratic, co-creative tools that are accessible to communities around the world, in their own languages. Résumé Publiée en 2000, la Charte de la Terre est aujourd’hui dépassée en tant que document-guide en éducation à l’environnement. Présentée à l’époque comme un cadre mondial qui guiderait notre transition vers un avenir durable (Earth Charter Initiative, s.d., paragr. 2), elle apportait, selon ses auteurs, une solution aux problèmesenvironnementaux qui conjuguait les voix d’une pluralité de groupes dans le monde. Document large et ambitieux, la Charte se voulait un moteur d’action à l’échelle locale, nationale et internationale (Earth Charter Initiative, 2009) . La valeur de la Charte de la Terre en tant qu’outil éducatif à l’aube de l’Anthropocène, cette nouvelle périodegéologique où, de toutes les espèces, c’est l’humain qui exerce la plus grande inﬂuence sur la planète (Olvitt, 2017), est revue à la lumière d’une analyse critique dudiscours et sous l’angle de la justice sociale. Nous avançons que la Charte de la Terre renforce non seulement les mythes oppressifs dominants du développement durable, Canadian Journal of Environmental Education, 23 (3), 2020 31 mais exclut aussi les préoccupations exprimées par les populations marginalisées. Or, sachant qu’elle perpétue des discours problématiques, nous remettons en question sa pertinence et son utilité sous sa forme actuelle, vieille de 20 ans, pour orienter l’éducation à l’environnement. Nous proposons une méthode de mise à jourdu document qui intégrerait un cadre de justice sociale et des outils démocratiques etcocréatifs accessibles aux sociétés du monde entier, dans leur langue. Keywords: Earth Charter, environmental education, education for sustainable development, inclusion, culturally relevant pedagogy, anthropocentrism, ecocentrism Mots-clés : Charte de la Terre, éducation à l’environnement, éducation audéveloppement durable, inclusion, pédagogie culturellement adaptée, anthropocentrisme, écocentrisme Can We Teach the Earth Charter Anymore? A Critical Examination of the Earth Charter’s Role in Education The Earth Charter is a succinct, four-page document that promotes guidelines for global solutions to environmental problems. Its 16 principles fall under the

FAQs

Why do the authors question the Earth Charter’s relevance in education?

They argue it reinforces dominant oppressive myths of sustainable development while excluding concerns voiced by marginalized populations, making it less useful for informing environmental education 20 years after publication.

What methods and perspectives guide the paper’s analysis?

The paper uses critical discourse analysis methodology alongside social justice lenses to evaluate the Charter as an educational tool.

What do the authors propose to update the Earth Charter?

They suggest revising it with social justice framing and using democratic, co-creative tools that communities around the world can access in their own languages.

Oct 15, 2026

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