For several centuries, modern industrial societies have been living off the common capital of the planet. During this period, the world’s natural and social resources have been drastically underpriced and we have amassed huge debts to the environment, the poor and future generations. It has become increasingly clear that the businesses and governments which created these imbalances are also incapable of correcting them through their present policies.
Our global economic system is now in grave crisis, threatening the entire planet, its institutions and species.
A new kind of common wealth is needed to protect the assets of Earth, resolve our private and public debts, and create a global society of justice, sharing and sustainability for everyone.
Our commons are the collective heritage of humanity — the shared resources of nature and society that we inherit, create and use. People across the world are now rediscovering these common goods and choosing to protect them for future generations.
Whether our commons are traditional (rivers, forests, indigenous cultures) or emerging (solar energy, intellectual property, internet), communities are managing them through unique forms of self-governance, collaboration and collective action. And in working together to preserve these resources, we are generating new standards of responsibility, mutual aid and sustenance for all beings.
Global Commons Trust promotes the creation of trusteeships, where the rights to our commons may be realized for the benefit of all. This promises a very different world than the ownership society of exploitation and aggression so prevalent today. When people claim the sovereign right to manage and revalue their common goods, civilization is transformed.
Imagine a world where
• commons trusts preserve and regenerate the assets of a commons
• private industry prospers from the surplus resources which it rents from these trusts
• governments provide citizens with an income generated through the use of these commons
Global Commons Trust opens a window into this rising global trusteeship society — a world where everyone benefits from the preservation and use of their common resources, and the cooperative human spirit is lifted through new energetic patterns of sustainability, wealth and power.
Find out more and become a trustee of the global commons.