Building an effective coalition requires a set of shared values. For a coalition that focuses on systemic sustainable change, these are provided by the Earth Charter which also functions as a soft-law document to provide a framework for sustainable development.
The coalition’s common goal is a sustainable future—a future that can only emerge by embracing ecological wisdom, social justice, economic equity, and participatory democracy. True justice cannot exist without sustainability, and without justice there will be no peace.
It must be realized that sustainability has an ecologically sound and legally defensible definition that can be adopted by local governments. Further, progress toward the goal of a sustainable future can be measured through community determined and adopted sustainability indicators.
The COME project provides a framework, process, and toolkit to develop and practice non-hierarchical organization, communication and decision making skills, and a process for determining a community or region's carrying capacity, assessing its resources and uncovering roadblocks to change.
Our laws both reflect our values and determine who we can become. We must both separate our household waste and stop industrial practices that damage the biosphere and exploit people. Implementing an Earth jurisprudence is the beginning of this process.