Cultural Diversity and Biodiversity for Sustainable Development

This booklet is the summary of a high-level roundtable on "Cultural Diversity and Biodiversity for Sustainable Development", convened by UNEP together with UNESCO during the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002. Chaired by former French President Jacques Chirac, the prominent interdisciplinary panel included the Heads of State of New Zealand and Mozambique, Ministers from India and Iran, as well as Nobel Laureates Ms. Rigoberta Menchu and Wole Soyinka and Ms. Esther Camac. It underlined the importance of respecting and integrating the diversity of nature and culture as a prerequisite for sustainable development and examined ways and means to further the dialogue on cultural diversity and biodiversity. It also features ideas on how to develop a global environmental ethic - benefiting fully from the culture, knowledge and skills of indigenous peoples.