It’s Up to Us: A Children’s Terra Carta for Nature, People & Planet
It’s Up to Us: A Children’s Terra Carta for Nature, People & Planet
Christopher Lloyd
HRH The Prince of Wales
What On Earth Books, 2022
64pp., hbk., RRP $A39.99
9781913750558
On January 11.2021, The Prince of Wales’s Sustainable Markets Initiative announced the ‘Terra Carta’ – a charter that puts sustainability at the heart of the private sector. Terra Carta (Earth Charter) will provide a roadmap to 2030 for businesses to move towards an ambitious and sustainable future; one that will harness the power of Nature combined with the transformative power, innovation and resources of the private sector.
This book, illustrated by 33 different artists from around the world, offers ” a beautiful, lyrical and thought-provoking voyage through Nature, the threats we face and an action plan for the future” based on that Terra Carta. Developed in partnership with The Prince’s Foundation, a charity established by HRH The Prince of Wales to demonstrate how Nature can be put at the heart of human activities it is written in easily-accessible text which explains the importance of each element- Nature, People and Planet – and why it is critical that they are in harmony. It shows how the actions of humans have led to change in the environment, how natural habitats have become polluted and the evolution of climate change. It explains the role of carbon dioxide in that change, using language that anyone can understand, the consequences of the planer heating, and what everyone on the planer must agree to do if we are to keep the planet healthy and habitable. That it is up to us, as individuals and collectively, to act now.
If your students have been following the book trail that I have threaded through this year’s reviews that tracks the development of both planet and humans…
BANG! The Story of How Life on Earth Began
Australian Backyard Naturalist
We are One: How the World Adds Up
The Amazing Meals of Martha Maloney
then this book is a natural addition because it not only has that planet in crisis but offers it a future through the children who now understand where we have come from to get where we are. It includes the Terra Carta itself, including QR codes to scan to find out more, and while that, in itself, seems to be a commitment to be undertaken by the corporate world, nevertheless, it offers a roadmap for the children so they can consider the ways they can make a difference. Combined with other books written especially for them about climate change, the environment and sustainability, they can, as a class, develop their own Terra Carta for the school and/or their families to follow. There is nothing so overwhelming as a global issue, but also nothing so empowering as knowing that as an individual, you can make a difference.
