2020 WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY ON BIODIVERSITY

June is a very important month for people, companies, governments and non-governmental organisations that care about the environment and its consequences.

On June 5, World Environment Day will be celebrated. The date was set by the United Nations (United Nations) in 1972, during the Stockholm Conference, with the aim of encouraging worldwide awareness and action for the environment. Organised by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), more than 150 countries participate each year in this event.

World Environment Day is the United Nations’ main date for promoting global awareness and action on behalf of the environment. Over the years, it has become the largest global public awareness platform on the topic.

Colombia will host World Environment Day in 2020, in partnership with Germany, as decided by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). The focus will be on biodiversity.

COLOMBIA TO HOST 2020 WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY ON BIODIVERSITY

Colombia ranks first in diversity of bird and orchid species and second in plants, butterflies, freshwater fish and amphibians. The country has several areas of high biological diversity in the Andean ecosystems, with a significant variety of endemic species. It also has part of the Amazon rainforest and humid ecosystems in the Chocó biogeographic area.

COLOMBIA TO HOST 2020 WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY ON BIODIVERSITY

Sustainable initiatives are increasingly on the rise. The reality of plastic pollution in the oceans, atmospheric pollution and global warming have led even the most sceptical to care about nature, to seek solutions to replace the use of plastic and to develop ideas that help the environment.

It is necessary to raise awareness, collaborate, make a difference and show the importance of the environment to those around us.

The Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), Inger Andersen, said:

“2020 is a year for urgency, ambition and action to address the crisis facing nature; it is also an opportunity to more fully incorporate nature-based solutions into global climate action. Each year, World Environment Day is a powerful platform to accelerate, amplify and engage people, communities and governments around the world to take action on critical environmental challenges facing the planet. We are grateful to Colombia and Germany for demonstrating leadership in this effort.”

2020 is a critical year for nations’ commitments to preserve and restore biodiversity. The objective will be to massively expand the restoration of degraded and destroyed ecosystems to combat the climate crisis and improve food security, water supply and biodiversity.

Climate action and biodiversity conservation are two sides of the same coin. We need to develop policies that prevent the extinction of plant and animal species. 2020 should be a year of new actions for biodiversity.

Although many believe that change must happen on a global scale and that only one person cannot change the world, it is essential that everyone does their part and that the whole of society demands compliance with environmental laws. We must all assume an attitude of environmental responsibility to change the current situation.

“The protection and improvement of the human environment is a major issue which affects the well-being of peoples and economic development throughout the world; it is the urgent desire of the peoples of the whole world and the duty of all Governments”. (Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment – Stockholm – 1972)

Among the main problems that affect the environment, we can highlight the inadequate disposal of garbage, the lack of selective collection and recycling projects, excessive consumption of natural resources, deforestation, insertion of exotic species, use of fossil fuels, waste of water and soil depletion. These problems and others could be avoided if the government and the population become aware of the importance of the correct and moderate use of our natural resources.

“The food we eat, the air we breathe, the water we drink and the climate that makes our planet habitable come from nature. We are more dependent than we think on its interconnected network and its delicate balance. It’s time to wake up. To become aware. To rethink our relationship with the environment”. (worldenvironmentday.global)

Finally, we can say that man as a whole, whether through society, governments, or each individual citizen, has not adopted concrete attitudes to improve the environment, but now we need to do something for our own survival.

Review your daily life and take the ecological attitudes you deem most correct and appropriate. Don’t expect someone to come and do it for you. Do it yourself.

Think about the following actions you can take to change your relationship with the environment:

1 – Establish commitments, environmental standards that include possible goals to be achieved.
2 – Investigate processes. Check the resources used and the waste generated. Check if there is waste of raw material and even human effort.
3 – Prioritise the purchase of environmentally friendly products. There are certain products that do not degrade in nature.
4 – Encourage your family and friends. Talk to everyone around you about the importance of acting in an environmentally friendly manner. Suggest and participate in incentive programs.
5 – Help to implement and participate in the selective garbage collection. You will be helping to save natural resources, increase the life of garbage dumps, decrease pollution.
6 – Investigate waste with energy and water. Locate and repair faucet leaks. Turn off lamps and equipment when not in use. Keep the filters of the air conditioning and ventilation system always clean to avoid wasting electrical energy. Use both sides of the paper, prefer e-mail over printing copies and keep your documents on external Hard Disk and pen drive, replacing the use of paper to the maximum.
7 – Promote the use of alternative or solidary transport, such as planning a car rotation for people to travel together or to use bicycles, public transport or even walk to work.
8 – This time of pandemic taught us that we can work at a distance, using the technological means available.
9 – Avoid polluting your environment. Carefully evaluate and identify possibilities to reduce the use of toxic products. Make a disposal plan for batteries, printer ink cartridges, etc.
10 – Adjust your vehicle’s engine regularly and keep the tire pressure at the recommended levels. Make sure your vehicle’s oil is being disposed of properly.
11 – Check carefully all the possibilities of risks of environmental accidents and take the initiative or participate in the effort to minimise its effects.
12 – Write down your results. Carefully record your environmental goals and the results achieved. Not only does it keep you stimulated but also allows you to evaluate the advantages of the environmental measures adopted.
13 – Volunteer work. Consider dedicating a part of your time, skill and talent to volunteer environmental work in order to make a difference by making a concrete and effective contribution to improving the life of the planet.

Please tell us what you have been doing to preserve the environment. 🙂

Please share and help raise awareness of this important topic.
Thanks

Sources:
• www.worldenvironmentday.global
• SANTOS, Vanessa Sardinha dos. “05 June – World Environment Day”; Brazil School. Available at: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/datas-comemorativas/dia-mundial-do-meio-ambiente-ecologia.htm.
• www.papelsemente.com.br/blog/dia-mundial-do-meio-ambiente-2019/&prev=search
• www.todamateria.com.br/dia-mundial-do-meio-ambiente/
• www.correiodoestado.com.br