World Environment Day is celebrated on June 5 every year to remind people about the importance of nature. This day is celebrated across the globe to spread awareness and highlight the significance of why nature should not be taken for granted.
Since 1974, World Environment Day is being celebrated while engaging governments, businesses and citizens in an effort to address pressing environmental issues.
With the coronavirus outbreak and people being confined indoors, the environment and mother Earth seem to have benefitted slightly. In the absence of human activities amid the coronavirus-induced lockdown, nature is getting time to clean itself and reclaim its space.
2021 Theme:
The theme for World Environment Day 2021 is 'Ecosystem Restoration ". With this big and challenging picture in front of the World, this year's World Environment Day will mark the beginning of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, with major emphasis on the theme “Reimagine, Recreate and Restore" the ecosystem.
Pakistan will be the global host for the big day. This day will also see the launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. In 2020, the theme was 'Celebrate Biodiversity'.
History of World Environment Day:
World Environment Day is one of the biggest annual events organised by the United Nations (UN) to generate awareness about the significance of nature and greenery. The United Nations Assembly established World Environment Day in 1972, which was the first day of the Stockholm Conference on the human environment.
In 1974, it was celebrated with the theme 'Only One Earth'. Since then, various host countries have been celebrating this day, and the idea for rotating the center of these activities started.
- "The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it". - Robert Swan
World Environment Day was first observed in 1974 in the US. Investing in ecosystems is investing in our future World Environment Day 2021, which counts with Pakistan as the host country this year for its official celebrations, calls for urgent action to revive our damaged ecosystems.
From forests to peatlands to coasts, we all depend on healthy ecosystems for our survival. Ecosystems are defined as the interaction between living organisms - plants, animals, people - with their surroundings.
This includes nature, but also human-made systems such as cities or farms.
Significance of the Day:
The main idea behind celebrating World Environment Day is to highlight the importance of the environment and to remind people that nature should not be taken for granted.
According to the UN, this day provides us with an opportunity to broaden the basis for an enlightened opinion and responsible conduct by communities, enterprises and individuals in preserving and enhancing the environment.
It is celebrated across the globe to respect and acknowledge everything that the environment has given us and to take the pledge that we will protect it. On this day, governments and normal citizens focus their efforts on a particular environmental issue to generate awareness.
What is Ecosystem Restoration:
Ecosystem restoration implies "assisting in the recovery of ecosystems that have been degraded or destroyed". It also includes the conservation of the ecosystems that are fragile or still intact.
Ecosystem restoration means preventing, halting and reversing this damage – to go from exploiting nature to healing it. The ecosystem can be restored in many ways. Planting trees is one of the easiest and best ways of caring for the environment.
Also read: Govt issues advisory on reclaiming dumpsites on World Environment Day
People also need to eliminate pressures on the environment. Urban and rural landscapes have different ways to adapt and restore ecosystems.
Between now and 2030, the restoration of 350 million hectares of degraded terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems could generate US$9 trillion in ecosystem services. Restoration could also remove 13 to 26 gigatons of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
- "Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land." Aldo Leopold
The economic benefits of such interventions exceed nine times the cost of investment, whereas inaction is at least three times more costly than ecosystem restoration.
This World Environment Day will kick off the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030), a global mission to revive billions of hectares, from forests to farmlands, from the top of mountains to the depth of the sea.
Ecosystem restoration is a global undertaking at a massive scale. It means repairing billions of hectares of land – an area greater than China or the USA – so that people have access to food, clean water and jobs.
Restoration also creates jobs in rural areas where they are most needed.
Restoring ecosystems carries substantial benefits for people. For every dollar invested in restoration, at least seven to thirty dollars in returns for society can be expected.
2021 Host Country: Pakistan
Every World Environment Day is hosted by a different country, in which official celebrations take place, and this year’s host is Pakistan.
The Government of Pakistan plans to expand and restore the country’s forests through a ‘10 Billion Tree Tsunami‘ spread over five years. The campaign includes restoring mangroves and forests, as well as planting trees in urban settings, including schools, colleges, public parks and green belts.
Through the 10 Billion Tree Tsunami, Pakistan is contributing to the Bonn Challenge, a global effort linked to the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Under the challenge, countries are pledging to bring 350 million hectares of the world’s deforested and degraded land into restoration by 2030.
Also read: Pakistan to host World Environment Day 2021
UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030). The UN Decade runs from 2021 through 2030, which is also the deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals and the timeline scientists have identified as the last chance to prevent catastrophic climate change.
Led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the UN Decade is building a strong, broad-based global movement to ramp up restoration and put the world on track for a sustainable future.
That will include building political momentum for restoration as well as thousands of initiatives on the ground.
How has coronavirus affected the environment?
The global outbreak of the deadly coronavirus has affected human lives and daily activities, but it has improved the air quality and reduced water pollution.
With most of the cities under lockdown, there has been a significant reduction in carbon emissions which has restored the ecological system. But the disposal of medical waste like disinfectants, masks, gloves and the burden of untreated waste has also increased multifold during the pandemic.
Furthermore, once the situation bounces back to normal, the environment may start suffering again. Long-term goals and proper implementation of strategies and policies are the need of the hour for global environmental sustainability.
" People blame their environment. There is only one person to blame and only one themselves". Robert Collier
The emergence of COVID-19 has also shown just how disastrous the consequences of ecosystem loss can be. By shrinking the area of natural habitat for animals, we have created ideal conditions for pathogens – including coronaviruses – to spread.
Some countries have already invested in restoration as part of their strategies to bounce back from COVID-19. Others are turning to restoration to help them adapt to a climate that is already changing.
