STATE OF GLOBAL EMERGENCY STATE OF GLOBAL EMERGENCY The WorlldShiift 2012 Decllaratiion The Wor dSh ft 2012 Dec arat on

THE CRISIS AND THE OPPORTUNITY There is no doubt that we are now in a state of global emergency. This unprecedented worldwide crisis is a symptom of a much deeper problem: the current state of our consciousness; how we think about ourselves, and our world. We have the urgent need and, now the opportunity, for a complete rethink: to reconsider our values and priorities, to understand our interconnectedness and to shift in a new direction - living in harmony with nature and each other. Every person, community, and society in the world is already, or will soon be, affected by the crisis, through climate change, economic breakdown, ecosystem collapse, population pressure, food and water shortages, resource depletion, nuclear and other threats. If we continue on our present unsustainable path, by mid-century the Earth could become largely uninhabitable for human and countless other forms of life. However, total system-collapse could occur much sooner caused by eco-catastrophes or escalating wars triggered by religious, geopolitical or resource conflicts. These threats are real. The underlying causes of the present global crisis have been building momentum for decades and could soon become irreversible. Estimates of when the point of no return will be reached have been reduced from the end of the century, to mid-century, to the next twenty years, and recently to the next five to ten years. The window of opportunity for pulling out of the current crisis and breaking through to a peaceful and sustainable world may be no more than a few years from now. This timeline coincides with the many forecasts and prophecies that speak of the ending of the current cycle of human life on this planet, and the possible dawning of a new consciousness by the end of the year 2012. Today, millions of forward-thinking groups and individuals all over the world are