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By Dr. Richard Munang
Today is #WorldEnvironmentDay
“For tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today”. The science is clear. Time is running out. We must go from harming our planet to healing it. We need to rethink the way we live & the way we consume. There is #OnlyOneEarth. We have to protect it.
As the young people worldwide put it, “Nothing about us, without us”. This most explicit announcement by young people that indeed they have come of age and have something substantive to offer in driving solutions to the planetary crisis we face – biodiversity loss, #climatechange, #pollution, and waste.
This 2022 #worldenvironmentday #worldenvironmentday2022 focuses on a very timely theme. We have #OnlyOneEarth. Let’s take care of it. Science warns us that we are already on unsustainable pathways. Ecologically speaking, humanity is already using about 1.6 times the amount of services that nature can provide sustainably. However, every $1 invested in restoration creates up to $30 in economic benefits in taking action.
On climate change, the UN Environment Programme #EmissionsGap report reminds us that the globe is already on a dangerous path that will see an average temperature rise over 3°C this century. This is far beyond the Paris Agreement target under Article 2 of limiting global warming to well below 2°C and pursuing 1.5°C. However, in taking action, a strategic pathway prioritizing investments in actions that lower emissions while unlocking economic opportunities – popularly called the “green pandemic recovery” can cut emissions by up to 25% to put the globe closer to the 1.5°C pathway while unlocking much needed socio-economic opportunities.
How the youth can take leadership and put in their fair share in steering global development away from unsustainable pathways is the essence of this #WorldEnvironmentDay. This will require selfless, purposeful, self-disciplined #youth to apply what they have (not what they hope to have) to devise restorative #ClimateAction solutions that touch any lives. Be useful. Be mindful. Be kind. Be bold. Become a #generationrestoration champion. We have the tools. Let us go forth and apply them. Yes, it’s possible because we can.