GreenEarthCitizen (GEC)
Fen Wang
President and Founding Director at GreenEarthCitizen
greenearthcitizen.fenwang@gmail.com
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Honestly speaking, GreenEarthCitizen (GEC) is still a very young organization, less than one year old. Thus, it require us patience, investment with time and commitment, nurturing it to become a potential influential NGO. You see Greenpeace an influential NGO, but never forget that Greenpeace is already 40 years old. So now they became the largest environmental NGO in the world with offices in more than 40 countries and around 4 million volunteers. Friends of Earth also were founded in 1969, now 44 years old, with offices in 74 countries with around 2 million volunteers. So never under estimate the influence of an NGO, some of NGOs have won Nobel Prizes, e.g. Red Cross, etc. Some of the policies promoted by the NGOs are implemented by state governments, some of the proposals of NGOs were adopted as input for UN’s resolutions. Not to mention that many NGOs have been very active with movement on the ground, some of them are lobbying governments to take proactive actions, criticize certain governments in holding back sound initiatives or demonstrate when certain governments are not doing the right thing. NGOs some times are most active in the front line to push the actions of the governments for the justice, peace, environmental, climate and sustainability causes. No wonder Kofi Anna once said that NGOs truly rep-rent the conscience of humanity.
To be honest, compared to these already influential NGOs, we are not even started. We are now just crawling like a baby, however, but a necessary process. As we can’t walk if we don’t even know how to craw, we can’t run if we can’t even walk. Just as Lao-Tzu once said that ‘‘one thousand of miles starting with a single first step’’. While others say that building a nine floor of house starts with the foundation, if we can’t clean up our own apartment, how can we clean up the world. But the bright side is that one day we will be strong enough to walk and even run when conditions are ready. As a young organization, it is actually you, the owners who have the sacred duties to build this GEC great house up. The society chooses to support the stronger ones, whatever obstacles stand in the way, is just tests for us. The god wants to use these tests to strengthen our capacity, will-power, and consistency. We should regard every obstacle, failure, criticisms as stepping stones to climb up, in fact, the higher the steps the harder to climb. But believe that the landscape seen from the top of the mountain is marvelous, beautiful, and magnificent. Great things take longer time, patience some times is more valuable than quality. Just as Thomas Edison once said that “many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up”. I have always appreciated your ideas, suggestions, other sorts of input, etc. Some of them got implemented; some of them not yet, even if some of them not got implemented, you should never take it personally, as some times to get certain things done require certain conditions. But in the long run, all of your best ideas will be implemented. Therefore, I hope you will keep being engaged in giving ideas to us, the most innovative the better.
State-governments can no longer handle all of the world challenges alone, they need to work with us NGOs, corporations, and the global civil society. Only we all work together with solidarity, we can move the wheels of the history to get on the right track. It is not that I am trying to scare you, but the truth is that the concentration of green house gases has already passed the warning line; the climate system may get irreversible. Therefore we can’t stop the disasters to come, they will come eventually, but the only option left in our hands is to get ready to fight with the climate change, and call the governments to take the lead, it is no problems that we have to fight in the front line http://greenearthcitizen.org/?p=3493. It has also been the reason why scientists in the climate field are all talking about mitigation and adaptation efforts in combating the climate change; the greatest threat ever confronted mankind. Some governments say that we still have time, take it easy, but the truth is that their actions have been procrastinating than accelerating. I say that there is no time any more, the only chance for our common survival is that we have to take actions now.
The history has now pushed us to be fearless; in fact just as Marianne Williamson once said “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
On day GEC will be able to run into the global arena working with environmental and climate justice, human rights, peace and disarmament, etc. This is the vision in my mind; I hope this will become a vision in your mind as well, and eventually in the mind of all GEC people. The world we are living in does need a change, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTPvN0MTqB8, and it is the responsibilities of you and me, every single individual living on the planet, just as the video indicates that ‘‘the planet earth is actually you’’, so you must be the change you wish to see in the world.
Join us if you are willing help us do more for the world, http://greenearthcitizen.org/?page_id=284, your concrete support to us can help us continue to fight in the front line, http://greenearthcitizen.org/?page_id=29
All the best
Sincerely yours
Fen Wang
Founder and President at GEC International
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This article was published on September 15th: International Day of Democracy, in Global Education Magazine.
