The 49th edition of the World Environment Day was marked yesterday, June 5, under the ash-tag theme, OnlyOneEarth. While the official event marking the Day was held, this year, at the Tekniska Museet in Stockholm, Sweden, governments around the world, also joined the celebration in different ways.
Aside the issuing of powerful statements of commitment to the one earth, many stakeholders including private companies and non-governmental organisations undertook symbolic actions such as planting of trees, clearing of water channels, and road shows in support of the global advocacy to protect and sustain the environment.
The World Environment Day was first celebrated in 1973 following the UN Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm a year earlier. Since then, the Day has been celebrated annually, on June 5, with hosting right being rotated among member states of the United Nations.
In a message he gave yesterday, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres traced the origin of the World Environment Day: “Fifty years ago, the world’s leaders came together at the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment and committed to protecting the planet. But we are far from succeeding. We can no longer ignore the alarm bells that ring louder every day,”
Mr. Guterres who said “all 17 Sustainable Development Goals rely on a healthy planet”, made no pretense in setting the tone for the most pressing environmental challenges facing the world: “We must all take responsibility to avert the catastrophe being wrought by the triple crises of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss.”
We commend the host country, Sweden, for leading the charge by announcing a ban on issuing new licenses for the extraction of coal, oil, and natural gas from 1st July this year. Sweden’s Minister for Climate and the Environment, Annika Strandhäll, disclosed this in her remarks thus: “Our message to the global community is clear. The winners in the global race will be the ones that speed up the transition, not the ones that lag behind and cling to a dependency on fossil fuels”.
She reiterated the commitment of the Swedish government: “Making the green jobs of the future by accelerating the climate transition is one of the top priorities for the Swedish government. As part of our efforts to implement our climate ambitions, we must take actions against activities that have a negative impact on our health and our environment”.
It is interesting that this year’s theme, #OnlyOneEarth, is exactly the same that was adopted for the maiden edition of the World Environment Day 49 years ago. Little wonder the Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Inger Andersen, aptly captured the challenges ahead in a moving narration. “The triple planetary crisis is accelerating, and why? Because we consume 1.7 planets a year. We have only one Earth. We have to accept that we’re not doing enough to protect it”.
Ms. Anderson added for effect: “I stand before you because we have to do better. We know what to do. The science has told us we have to end fossil fuels. We have to restore nature to its full glory. We have to transform our food systems. We have to make our cities green”.
NatureNews joins all stakeholders, at national and international levels, in marking the historic day. The theme of the celebration, Only One Earth, aligns with our corporate philosophy and cardinal goal of making everyone thinks of “The Environment First”. We urge all nations and corporate entities to pledge commitment to the Paris Agreement objective of limiting global warming to 1.5° C immediately and net-zero, eventually to save ur planet earth.
We therefore call on the Nigerian government to step up public advocacy for climate change mitigation and adaptation, and to offer incentives to stakeholders who are ready to support global climate actions in the country. We note with dismay the pervasive use and indiscriminate disposal of polythene bags which complicate the current environmental challenge in Nigeria. We demand urgent legislation that will ensure the effective control, and perhaps outright ban, of such hazardous products to free our environment of deadly pollution.
We all owe an obligation to protect our Only One Earth for generations yet unborn.
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