United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged countries worldwide to undertake several steps to end man’s “suicidal” war against nature, stressing that nursing Earth back to health is vital to humanity’s survival.
Countries must ensure “bold” climate action that will help limit global temperature rise to 1.5°Centigrade aside from adapting to forthcoming changes, he noted.
He cited the need for stronger measures that will protect biodiversity, warning people continue to “heedlessly plunder Earth’s resources” and deplete wildlife.
There’s urgency to reduce pollution by building circular economies that drive down or lower waste generation, he continued.
“These steps will safeguard our only home and create millions of new jobs,” he said in his 2021 International Mother Earth Day (IMED) message.
‘Restore our Earth’ is the 2021 IMED theme as Guterres warned this planet is already at a tipping point due to nature’s suffering at the hands of humanity.
“Humanity continues to abuse the natural world,” he said.
Continuous depletion of nature and treating air, land and seas as mere dumping grounds are already pushing ecosystems and even food chains to the brink of collapse, he noted.
“This is suicidal,” he said, recognizing nature is vital to humanity’s survival.
He, however, noted countries worldwide can reverse such suicidal trend by ending the abuse against nature.
“On this IMED, let us all commit to the hard work of restoring our planet and making peace with nature,” he said.
The bid to recover from the onslaught of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic is an opportunity to pursue such peace, he noted.
“Recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic is a chance to set the world on a cleaner, greener, more sustainable path,” he said further.
In 2009, the UN General Assembly designated April 22 as IMED.
“Earth and its ecosystems are our home, and convinced that in order to achieve a just balance among the economic, social, and environmental needs of present and future generations, it is necessary to promote harmony with nature and the Earth,” UN said in its resolution covering IMED’s designation.