United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres has urged immediate action to safeguard the Earth’s essential ecosystems from pollution, climate change impacts, and biodiversity loss.
Guterres highlighted the importance of countries fulfilling their commitments to restore degraded lands and ecosystems, which, according to him, aligns with the global agreement to protect biodiversity known as the Kunming-Montreal Biodiversity Framework.
He made these remarks in a message to commemorate this year’s World Environment Day, themed “land restoration, desertification, and drought resilience.”
World Environment Day has been observed annually since 1973 and has become the most significant global platform for environmental outreach.
Guterres stressed the need for countries to leverage their national climate action plans to stop and reverse deforestation by 2030.
He also called for increased financial support to help developing nations adapt to extreme weather, protect natural environments, and promote sustainable development.
Every dollar invested in ecosystem restoration creates up to thirty dollars in economic benefits, Guterres said.
He noted that the failure to curb runaway pollution, climate chaos and biodiversity destruction is evident, stating that healthy, fertile lands are transforming into deserts, thriving ecosystems into dead zones and rising carbon dioxide emissions.
This results in crop failures, vanishing water sources, weakened economies, and endangered communities, with the poorest suffering the most, he stated.
We are Generation Restoration. Together, let us build a sustainable future for land and humanity, he added.
Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme, echoed this call to action, urging global participation in ecosystem restoration.
“By restoring ecosystems, we can address the triple planetary crisis: climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution.
“This also helps in limiting global temperature rise, increasing carbon storage, and reducing poverty and hunger, aligning with the Sustainable Development Goals,” she said.
Andersen also emphasised that land restoration can unify actions and ambitions across these critical issues.
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