Today is World Environment Day. Like other countries in the world, various programs have been organized in Bangladesh on the occasion of the day. This year's National Tree Planting Campaign-2021 will be celebrated under the theme "Promise in Mujib Barsho, Make Green Sonar Bangla".
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the National Tree Planting Campaign at 11.00 AM on Saturday by planting 4 saplings of 'Sonalu', 'Jam', 'Amra' and 'Fig' trees at Ganobhaban compound in the capital.
A statement from the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate said the government expects the country's large population, especially the current generation, will play a leading role in conserving the ecosystem and biodiversity on the occasion of World Environment Day. The Ministry has undertaken extensive programs through the Department of Environment and the Department of Forests to create awareness among the people in this regard.
World Environment Day is observed on June 5 every year to remind the people about the importance of nature. The day is observed across the world to inform people that nature should be respected for its values.
World Health Organization (WHO) has joined UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, a mission to prevent, reverse the degradation of ecosystems and the diversity of life they sustain. WHO will work as a collaborating agency along with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
World Environment Day is one of the biggest annual events organised by the United Nations (UN) to generate awareness about the significance of nature. 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, the theme of World Environment Day was 'Only One Earth'. Since then, various host countries have been observing it. World Environment Day was first observed in 1974 in the United States.
With the world beginning to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, there is increasing recognition that healing from the pandemic is linked to healing the planet.
Resetting humanity’s relationship with nature will be the focus of the World Environment Day on June 5, which also marks the launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, a ten-year global push to prevent, halt and reverse ecosystem degradation.
“It’s easy to lose hope when we think of the sheer magnitude of the challenges we face and the avalanche of bad news that we wake up to every morning,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
“But just as we caused the climate crisis, the biodiversity crisis and the pollution crisis, we can reverse the damage that we’ve done; we can be the first generation to reimagine, to recreate and to restore nature to kickstart action for a better world.”
This year, Pakistan is the host country for World Environment Day observance and showcasing its own restoration initiatives, such as its Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Project, which aims to plant 10 billion trees by 2023. Pakistan, which is one of the countries most at risk from climate change, has also launched an Ecosystem Restoration Fund to support nature-based solutions to climate change.
Nature can and must be part of the solution as international momentum grows to decarbonize all sectors of our economies. Ecosystem restoration can help protect and improve livelihoods, regulate disease, reduce risk of natural disasters and contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
A recent UNEP report found that the economic benefits of ecosystem restoration are compelling. Between now and 2030, the restoration of 350 million hectares of degraded terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems could generate US$9 trillion in ecosystem services and remove up to 26 gigatonnes of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
The economic benefits are ten times more than the cost of investment, whereas inaction is at least three times more costly than ecosystem restoration.
Pandemic recovery plans offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to chart a new path by shifting investments towards a “restoration economy” that can provide millions of green jobs.
