We stand this day at the edge of a new frontier. Actions we take will decide the future of our planet, the fate of Nature and the lives of future generations.

We are confronted with a perpetuation of growing disparities between and within nations, a worsening of poverty, hunger, ill health and illiteracy, and the continued deterioration of ecosystems on which we depend for our well-being. We now understand that in the course of human events, through endeavours of peoples to better their lives and those of their descendants, we have become dependent upon forms of industry and in particular, forms of energy, which now threaten Nature on this planet, and the atmosphere, oceans, farms, forests, fisheries and villages, towns and cities upon which we depend.

Both the common heritage of humankind, and the health of the global commons and the natural systems which they contain, are jeopardised by the damaging effects of human pollution and resource exploitation. The skies and oceans now suffer a strange and dangerous sea change. We are setting in train events which we know it is beyond human capacity to remedy or to control.

In the course of industrial evolution our economies have grown to become a threat to natural evolution and to Nature itself. We are both losing touch with Nature and destroying it. We do this at our peril. We hold these truths to be self-evident: that human beings should respect and protect the global commons and the diversity of life on earth; that industrial nations should achieve economies that work with Nature not against it; that human beings should secure peace and peace with the natural world; that peace, development and environmental protection should be interdependent and indivisible; that present power and past use of Nature confers a proportionate responsibility to act in its defence and restitution; and that whenever any form of economy becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organising its powers in such a form, as seem to them most likely to effect the safety, happiness and well being of this and future generations.

Together and separately, governments of nations have passed laws and declared principles which raise hope that such aims will be fulfilled. Yet their taxes and investments, the inducements of enterprises to the people, the means of production and generation of energy and transportation, continue to degrade the common environment, to reduce the vastness of the earth, to weaken the human spirit and to divorce it from that of Nature. Significant environmental problems remain embedded in the social fabric of all nations. Progress towards a sustainable future is too slow. A sense of urgency is lacking, particularly amongst leaders of governments and industries who continue to plan for today and not tomorrow. Global governance and global environmental solidarity remain too weak to make progress a world-wide reality.

As a result, the gap between what has been done thus far and whatis realistically needed is widening. Human invention, labour and capital have too often been driven by a pursuit of material development which sanctions the use of every resource, whether within the ground or below it, and the capture and turning to human purposes of any creature or living being, any river, sea, ocean, forest or mountain, the rain and the atmosphere, without regard for the damage this causes to the systems of Nature which support human life, or the debasement of human values it entails, and without giving room or respect for other species on the earth.

It therefore becomes necessary to break the bonds which have tied our economies to the exploitation of resources and polluting industries which are transforming the global commons to the common detriment. We are therefore resolved to put in place a new country with a new form of governance, to provide a state whose territory is the conscience of industrialism, whose boundaries are only those of nature and the imagination, whose armies will be only those who make themselves citizens through their actions and their dreams. This country will serve the purposes of all peoples, the natural cycles and life on earth, and it will not challenge or usurp other countries, except in so far as it calls upon their citizens to act in pursuit of the protection of the earth. Nor will this country have an existence or any sovereignty except in expression of the common purpose of its citizens in pursuit of its objectives.

Proclamation

Having landed at Rockall on June 11 1997 Reaffirming the purposes of Greenpeace and those who support, went before, inspired, work with and will follow it With the goal of increasing the protection of nature and the global commons for the well-being of human-kind Aware that our means are limited but our ideals are widely shared

Recognizing the integral and interdependent nature of the Earth, our home Acknowledging the efforts of others in common action, Believing in action rather than words,

Proclaims that:

The capital of The Global State of Waveland is first Rockall, on the Atlantic Frontier. The people of Waveland will assemble through communication and through action, in pursuit of its purposes. The capital of Waveland may in future, lie elsewhere, as and when human activities justify action for the purposes for which this country is established. It will be the practice of this nation to amend its constitution from time to time in accordance with the needs of the planet. It is the purpose of this nation to defend Nature, protect the global commons, reform industrialism and secure peace.

In pursuit of these purposes it will

1. Raise such opposition as may be necessary, make such arrangements as may be required, use whatever means should be entailed without violence to any person, to enlist the support of people, to respond to their call, to support any friend, oppose any foe, to heed the voice of Nature, in order to maintain the right, freedom and liberty of all peoples to enjoy a clean and whole environment.

2. Find, create, encourage and provide innovation and solutions to environmental problems caused by things or activities which damage, threaten or destroy Nature or the natural systems of the Earth.

3. Bear witness to environmental wrongs and injustices, wherever they may be found.

4. Act at all times in pursuit of its purposes, by means independent of any control by other governments or business or any financial provision thereof. We the people of Waveland, in order to build a better future in greater union with Nature, do ordain and establish the Constitution of The Global State of Waveland. Applications for citizenship may be made in spirit or in person. Citizens of The Global State of Waveland pledge to the following: Without violence and by bearing witness, to defend Nature, to protect the global commons, to reform industrialism, and to secure peace, believing in action, rather than words.