Universal Ethics Summit Program
Click HERE to read Declaration
Sponsors:
- Won kwang University
- Woori Investment and Securities
- Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Korea
- Headquartersof Won Buddhism, Office of International Affairs
- The Commemorative Activities Committee for the Centenary of Won Buddhism
The Need for Moral Politics
Introduced by Ven. Chung Ohun Lee, Ph.D.
Executive Director, UN Affairs and Interreligious Work, Won Buddhism International
Welcome to the G20 Universal Ethics Summit. The most powerful leaders, economists and financiers have come to Seoul from all over the world on November 2010 to fix the world’s broken economic system. We are here in this room and we also have come from around the world to advocate for justice, brighten humanity, and elevate politics. We have come to deliver a very simple but profound message to the G20 leaders. The solution of the world economic woes does not lie in revamping certain elements of our financial structure and system, but in challenging an overarching an economic ethos that has served to institutionalize the greed and produced massive wealth for the few, while failing to provide value for the humanity. The theme of our conference is Moral Politics. We believe that we must call upon to G20 leaders to summon their moral courage and the political will to do three things:
- Invest their economic restructuring with universal human and spiritual values.
- Connect and reconnect with the notion that the first duty of an economic system is to create an economic environment that enables all people to live in dignity – free for once of basic human needs.
- Develop meaningful economic reform and compassionate policy making that result in economic justice for all people, in every corner of the world. Our speakers and panelists will explore in depths themes related to the importance of ethical policies and politics: creativity and spirituality, moral leadership, and green redemption. I am confident that, together, we have the spirit, the intelligence, the will to make our voice heard.