World Environment Day is approaching and Pakistan is getting ready to host the event for the year 2021, with a focus on this year’s theme of “Ecosystem Restoration.”
World Environment Day is celebrated every year on June 5, to remind humans that they are not the sole inhabitants of the planet and how their actions affect the rest of the living beings. The event is observed by United Nations to promote global awareness and work towards improving the environment.
More than 150 nations participate each year under the guidance of the UNEP. Last year, the event was hosted by Colombia in partnership with Germany, with the theme of conservation of biodiversity.
The ecosystems across the planet are collapsing – from the Great Barrier Reef to the melting of crucial glaciers in various parts of the world. Moreover, with the coronavirus pandemic wreaking havoc for over a year now, everything else has taken a backseat and the generation of single-use plastic waste has increased tremendously.
Assigning the responsibility of hosting World Environment Day to Pakistan will help renew focus and attention toward the environmental crises in the country | Image: Horder Healthcare
At such a time, the global communities will pledge to ecosystem restoration. The State of Finance for Nature report released by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) said that a total investment of $8.1 trillion is required for nature preservation between now and 2050. This amount is desired to tackle the interlinked climate, biodiversity and land degradation crises.
Inger Andersen, the Executive Director of UNEP, said,
Biodiversity loss is already costing the global economy 10 percent of its output each year. If we do not sufficiently finance nature-based solutions, we will impact the capacities of countries to make progress on other vital areas such as education, health and employment. If we do not save nature now, we will not be able to achieve sustainable development.
Ecosystem restoration implies assisting in the revival of bionetworks that have been damaged or destroyed, most of which can be attributed to various anthropogenic activities. It also includes the conservation of the ecosystems that are fragile or still intact but are at risk of degradation.
The South Asian country Pakistan is to host the World Environment Day 2021, emphasizing creating a good relationship with nature. The event will also see the launch of the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030.
Within the next 10 years, the UN aims to focus on preventing and reversing the loss of degraded natural ecologies to fight the impacts of climate change with the support of countries, partners, and people.
The UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration will also mark the deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals and the timeline that scientists recognized as crucial to evade the consequences of climate change.
In 2014, the Pakistan government started massive afforestation drive through a “Billion Tree Tsunami” – an ambitious project that included restoring mangroves, increasing forest cover and planting trees in urban areas.
Climate change and the melting glaciers of the Himalayas create a huge risk of severe weather events like droughts, rainfall and flooding in Pakistan. Assigning the responsibility of hosting World Environment Day to Pakistan will help renew focus and attention toward the environmental crises in the country.