Bhubaneswar, India, February 19, 2021 (IPS) – “Our war on nature has left the planet collapsing. This is meaningless and suicidal. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has said that the consequences of our recklessness are already evident in human suffering, and massive economic losses. And the accelerating erosion of life on Earth.
“By changing our view of nature, we can recognize its true value. By reflecting this value in economic policies, plans and systems, we can direct investments to activities that restore and reward nature.” United Nations Environment ProgramUnited Nations Environment Programme’s flagship new report.
”Making Peace with Nature: A Scientific Blueprint for Confronting Climate Emergencies, Biodiversity and Pollution It identifies the severity of Earth’s triple environmental emergencies of climate, biodiversity loss and pollution, but also provides detailed solutions by drawing on global assessments, including assessments from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change And the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, As well as the United Nations Environment Program Global Environment Outlook report, The United Nations Environment Program International Resource Panel, And the new results are on the rise Zoonotic diseases Like COVID-19.
Without the help of nature we will not succeed and we will not survive
Guterres warned that “without the help of nature we will not prosper and we will not survive.”
Nevertheless, the UN Secretary-General expressed his particular hope that the commitment to climate and biodiversity will see progress as he is set to welcome the United States’ return to the Paris Agreement today, February 19.
The “net-zero club” is growing, said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Program.
“ Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the year 2020 was emerging as a true moment of our commitment to steer the Earth and our commitment to directing the Earth and its people towards sustainability. (But) the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem integrity, along with climate change and pollution, will undermine our efforts in 80 percent of the targets. Estimated sustainable development, particularly in the areas of poverty, hunger, health, water, cities and climate reduction. “
“Women account for 80 percent of those displaced by climate disruption. Contaminated water kills 1.8 million others, most of them children;” Guterres said 1.3 billion people are still poor and nearly 700 million are hungry.
Christian Walzer Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Executive Director of Health Programs and one of the co-authors of the “Making Peace with Nature” report, told IPS via email: “Healthy and working nature is the basis on which we must build better. Trying to separate economic recovery from healthy environments and climate change.” It ignores the basic fact that the solutions to these crises are tightly linked and mutually reinforcing. ”
He stressed that ecosystem degradation increases the risk of pathogens transmitting from animals to humans, and the importance ofOne healthAn approach that considers human, animal and planetary health together. Walzer is a veterinarian who leads One Health issues around the world.
Economic growth has produced disproportionate gains in prosperity for a rapidly expanding world population, leaving 1.3 billion people impoverished, with the extraction of natural resources tripling to devastating levels and creating a planetary emergency. Subsidies on fossil fuels, for example, and prices that leave out environmental costs drive the wasted production and consumption of energy and natural resources that underlie all three problems.
Guterres noted that governments are still paying more to exploit nature than to protect it, spending $ 4 trillion to $ 6 trillion on subsidies that harm the environment. He said overfishing and deforestation were still being encouraged by countries globally because it had helped GDP growth, although the livelihoods of local fishermen and forest dwellers had been greatly undermined.
On the current growth path despite the temporary reduction in emissions due to the epidemic, the Earth is heading towards at least 3 ° C of global warming this century; More than a million of the estimated 8 million plant and animal species are at high risk of extinction; Diseases caused by pollution currently kill about 9 million people prematurely each year.
Solution Scheme
The authors of the Making Peace with Nature report assess the links between multiple environmental and development challenges, and explain how advances in science and bold policymaking can open a path towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 and a carbon-neutral world by 2050 while the curve is on. The curve of biodiversity loss and pollution and waste curbing.
Taking this path means innovating and investing only in activities that protect both people and nature. Success will include restoring ecosystems, a healthier life, as well as a stable climate.
Amidst a wave of investment to revitalize economies hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, the plan conveys the opportunity and urgency for ambitious and immediate action. It also defines the roles that everyone – from governments and companies to societies and individuals – can and should play.
“The year 2021 is a wonderful year or a watershed year,” Guterres said. “It is a year of mental transformation.” 2021, with the upcoming climate and biodiversity convention meetings, is the year in which governments must come up with synergistic and ambitious goals to protect the planet.
To change the current path of unsustainability, the UNEP blueprint includes several recommendations, some of which include government inclusion of natural capital while measuring the economic performance of both countries and companies, setting a price for carbon and diverting trillions of dollars in subsidies from fossil fuels, unsustainable agriculture and transport towards solutions. Low carbon and environmentally friendly.
The time has come, the report advises, to expand and improve networks of protected areas to meet the ambitious international biodiversity targets. Moreover, NGOs can build networks of stakeholders to ensure their full participation in decisions related to the sustainable use of land and marine resources, the report recommends.
Financial organizations need to stop lending to fossil fuels and promote the expansion of renewable energy. The development of innovative financing for biodiversity conservation and sustainable agriculture is now of paramount importance.
Firms can adopt circular economy principles to reduce resource use and waste and commit to maintaining transparent supply chains free from deforestation.
Scientific organizations can pioneer technologies and policies to reduce carbon emissions, increase resource efficiency and raise the resilience of cities, industries, societies and ecosystems.
Individuals can reconsider their relationship with nature, learn about sustainability and change their habits to reduce their use of resources, reduce the waste of food, water and energy, and adopt healthy diets. Two thirds of global carbon dioxide emissions are associated with households. “People’s choices matter,” Guterres said.
© Inter Press Service (2021) – All rights reservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service
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