A Message to
The 2004 Meeting of Concerned
Citizens for a Sustainable Society

from Gary Gardner
Director of Research
Worldwatch Institute
September 22, 2004

To All Assembled:

I am pleased to learn of your meeting in Osaka to discuss the major environmental issues facing your city, your country, and the world, and to talk about strategies for addressing them.

Local initiatives like yours are the key to a new, sustainable civilization. Local citizens understand well the problems facing their communities, and are in the best position to evaluate solutions to these problems. You are part of a global wave of action that is asking new questions, and demanding new answers, in the effort to create a new vision of development.

Although the movement to build a sustainable world is taking root worldwide, the fact remains that most citizens are still on the sidelines. People like all of you assembled in Osaka are the vanguard of the sustainability movement, the leaders who will point the way for the rest of your community and society. I salute you for your leadership, and I send you warmest greetings from Washington, DC. Best wishes for a successful conference.

Sincerely,
Gary Gardner
Director of Research
Worldwatch Institute