Article 1

Future generations have a right to an uncontaminated and undamaged Earth and to its enjoyment as the ground of human history, of culture and of social bonds that make each generation and individual a member of one human family.

Each generation, sharing in the estate and heritage of the Earth, has a duty as a trustee for future generations to prevent irreversible and irreparable harm to life on Earth and to human freedom and dignity.

It is therefore the paramount responsibility of each generation to maintain a constantly vigilant and prudential assessment of technological disturbances and modifications adversely affecting life on Earth, the balance of nature and the evolution of mankind in order to protect the rights of future generations.

All appropriate measures, including education, research and legislation, shall be taken to guarantee these rights and to ensure that they not be sacrificed for present expediencies and conveniences.

Governments, nongovernmental organizations, and individuals are urged, therefore, imaginatively to implement these principals, as if in the very presence of those future generations whose rights we seek to establish and perpetuate.