On June 5 2021, individuals, communities, civil society, businesses and governments around the world marked World Environment Day by sending a clear message across the globe: we must heal the planet, we must start now and we must work together because everyone has a role to play in reviving the world’s ailing ecosystems.
Launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration
Hosted this year by Pakistan in partnership with UNEP, this global environmental event was both a celebration of the planet and a rallying call for action, as it also marked the formal launch of the (2021-2030) UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, which aims to mobilize hundreds of millions of people to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems.
“The task is monumental. We need to replant and protect our forests. We need to clean up our rivers and seas. And we need to green our cities. Accomplishing these things will not only safeguard the planet’s resources, it will create millions of new jobs by 2030, generate returns of over U.S. $7 trillion every year and help eliminate poverty and hunger,” the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said during a virtual gala.
Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP, which is leading the UN Decade alongside the Food and Agricultural Organization, said that ecosystem restoration could help address all three planetary crises of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. “Ecosystem restoration can help bring back lost biodiversity, create productive land for agriculture, provide jobs, restore nature’s buffers against zoonotic diseases, and helps vulnerable communities adapt to changing climate,” she said. “But, ecosystem restoration alone won’t solve all of our problems,” she noted. “We must stop further ecosystem destruction. But how? By reforming agriculture, changing how we build our cities, decarbonizing our economies, and moving to circular economic models. Restoration, as a quick-acting solution, can buy us time to make these transformations.” Read Ms. Andresen’s full speech: http://bitly.ws/e4hj
Global Commitments and Action
At the World Environment Day launch event in Islamabad, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan said the world must correct its course over the next 10 years, showcasing the country’s ambitious Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Project, which aims to plant 10 billion trees by 2023. Pakistan also took this opportunity to announce the restoration of about 1 million hectares of degraded lands by 2023 as part of the Bonn Challenge while launching its first green bond to raise $500 million to finance clean energy projects. Watch full launch: http://bitly.ws/e4hT
Other major government commitments announced include over £8 million in new funding from the United-Kingdom to protect rare wildlife and vulnerable habitats across the globe while Germany for its part revealed it would be the first country to provide funding – 14 million Euro – to the Multi-Partner Trust Fund for the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, with Finland supporting the launch with 3 million Euro.
The private sector also made noteworthy pledges. E.ON, Europe’s largest operator of energy distribution networks, promised to create biotopes under 13,000 kilometres of high-voltage lines in forest areas; beauty brand Dove and Conservation International committed 8.5 million Euro to protect and restore 20,000 hectares of forest in North Sumatra, Indonesia. BYJU’S, a leading Indian edtech company with over 90 million users, joined with UNEP to launch a platform to educate young minds on ecosystem restoration, while a Virtual Ecosystem Restoration Classroom was created for students in South Africa.
A Day of Celebration
From Pakistan, to the Americas to Europe, events spanned the globe on this World Environment Day, including tree-plantings, community clean-ups, concerts, film screenings, artistic tributes to tackle the unsustainable practices and celebrate nature.
Many joined in on social media, taking part in a Snap Challenge organized by UNEP to show how they will change behaviors and share their ecosystem restoration action to be part of #GenerationRestoration. Celebrations included a virtual concert featuring Patti Smith, the Dave Matthews Band, Michael Stipe and other international artists, as well as the world premiere of “Is It Too Much to Ask”, a song by DJ Don Diablo for #GenerationRestoration.
Other festivities saw music-led environmental non-profit REVERB launch a Music Climate Revolution to galvanize musicians, fans and music industry leaders to fight the climate crisis.
In India, celebrities, including actors Shilpa Shetty, Akshay Kumar and Arjun Kapoor, released a series of videos calling for a concerted global effort to protect the environment. UNEP Goodwill Ambassadors Gisele Bündchen, Dia Mirza, chef Massimo Bottura and Formula E driver Lucas De Grassi decided to lend their support on social media, while young artists such as US poet Jordan Sanchez and Indian sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik created imaginative pieces to highlight the urgent need for restoration. Musician and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Angélique Kidjo, who unveiled a special song from her forthcoming album Mother Nature to mark World Environment Day and also spoke at a restoration event, summed up the urgency of the world’s task. “The children of this world, this planet, will hold us accountable for generations to come if we do not act. That’s why I say, let’s be bold and fearless because we are fighting for something greater than us.”
For more information on World Environment Day:
https://www.worldenvironmentday.global/
You might also like…
UN-SPBF calls for Integrated Solution #ForNature
New tool for coastal nations to help improve ocean quality
GEO summit to promote Earth observations for Indigenous peoples
Photo by Deepak Kumar / Unsplash