On 1-7 November, I travelled to Lucknow, India, to participate on behalf of the Global Governance Forum, along with Augusto Lopez-Claros and Joshua Lincoln, in the 24th International Conference of Chief Justices of the World, organized by the City Montessori School (CMS), one of the most amazing institutions I have ever experienced. India is the world’s most populous country, and everything is at a scale that exceeds what we might imagine or experience elsewhere. The CMS, founded in 1959 by a Bahá’í couple, provides primary and secondary education focussing on the oneness of God, the oneness of religions and the oneness of humankind to 61,345 students on 21 campuses in Lucknow.

Students presenting to the conference

Before the start of the Chief Justices’ conference, we were divided between campuses to speak to groups of 300-500 students. Over two days I addressed about 2,000 students, speaking on “Climate Change, Environmental Justice, and the need for Establishment of an International Environment Court”. My talk covered planetary boundaries, climate change, dealing with climate anxiety, and the transition required. From the perspective of environmental justice, it is the affluent consumer society and its materialism that is most responsible, while the poor are the primary victims. I challenged the youth to question their assumptions about the economy and human well-being. Since the environmental problems are planetary, we need global environmental governance, including the creation of a Global Environment Agency, giving the UN Environment Assembly the power to adopt binding global legislation, and creating an International Environment Court. The students always had excellent questions for discussion after the presentations. We also addressed business school students at three universities.

The school’s president, Geeta Gandhi Kingdon, addresses the participants following their arrival

The International Conference of Chief Justices of the World, on the theme “Deliberative Humanity: Justice, Consultation and Co-Governing the World”, was beautifully organized on different CMS campuses, with the 450 justices, legal experts and other speakers all making 10 minute presentations in plenary or six parallel sessions by thematic groups (see report on IEF website). Each speaker had a protocol officer and a personal car and driver to cross the unbelievable traffic in the city. At the opening ceremony, 8,000 students in traditional costumes performed varied Indian dances, accompanied by a dozen marching bands and floats. Each session also began with student dances, and the evening ended with a cultural programme of dances by one of the campuses. I spoke in a plenary session the last day on “Environmental Justice”. Before leaving we had a field trip to The Residency, the ruins of the seat of the old British Colonial Government in Lucknow, which was besieged during the first Indian mutiny in 1857 until all within it died of disease or starvation, and the city was laid waste. It is a symbol of the Indian struggle for independence.