5/3/13

SLU Professor Speaks to United Nations on Earth Day

Jon Rosales

CANTON - “Think global, act local” is the motto Jon Rosales keeps in the back of his mind when teaching his students and when speaking with the United Nations.

Rosales, associate professor of environmental studies at St. Lawrence University, recently spoke to the 193 Member States of the UN as part of the third annual interactive dialogue on Harmony with Nature, an initiative discussing development options agenda between “independent experts” and the General Assembly of the United Nations. The purpose of the dialogues is to advance discussions on different economic approaches, in the context of sustainable development, and to further a more ethical basis for the relationship between humanity and the Earth.

Rosales’ talk, titled “Where We Meet Nature: Two Options for the Development Agenda,” focused on identifying environmental thresholds and the cultures that avoid reaching beyond environmental limits.

His discussion, aimed to influence the post-2015 development agenda, encouraged member states to “consider the emerging field of sustainability science in decision making” and “enable and support those are who are already living sustainably.”

“At a deep level, I think we all know how to live in harmony with nature,” Rosales said. “Those that want to live this way now should be enabled, encouraged and promoted.”

Since 2009, the UN General Assembly has marked International Mother Earth Day on April 22, expressing its conviction that, to achieve a just balance among the economic, social and environmental needs of present and future generations, it is necessary to promote harmony with nature and the Earth, according to a press release from the UN News Service.

Rosales has published dozens of articles related to environmental affairs, most with a focus on climate change. His current research focuses on the impacts of climate change on native subsistence villages in Alaska, making their concerns visible, advocating for their assistance, and calling on governments to act on climate change. His work is housed on the Alaskan Sharing Indigenous Knowledge website (AKSIK.org).

He has been invited to speak at side events to eight United Nations conferences on climate change, at conferences of the Society for Conservation Biology, the Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences, and the North American Benthological Society, and is an expert reviewer for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. He is currently the director of international affairs of the Center for the Advancement of the Steady-State Economy.

Rosales earned his bachelor’s degree in international relations specializing in diplomacy from the University of Minnesota and he has two master’s degrees: one in economics specializing in ecological and international economics from Mankato State University and the other in public affairs specializing in technology, energy and environment and foreign policy from the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota. He earned his Ph.D. in conservation biology from the University of Minnesota.

Full text of Rosales’ presentation to the United Nations
Watch Rosales’ presentation to the United Nations (1 hour, 26 minute mark)