UNEP identifies five ways to save planet

19 / 04 / 2024

By Marwa Nassar - -

The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has identified five ways to save the planet as the Earth Day is due to be market on April 22 under the theme of “Planet vs Plastics”.

The five ways are “reviving the ecosystems that sustain us”, “making some noise about climate change”, “conquering the global mountain of plastic”, “banishing dirty air from the skies” and “getting tree planting right”.

As for reviving the ecosystems that sustain us, the UNEP cautioned that over 2 billion hectares of land are degraded globally and the number and duration of droughts has risen by 29 per cent since 2000.

Finding solutions to these global problems is crucial. The Ecosystem Restoration Playbook: A Practical Guide to Healing the Planet describes approaches to restoring eight important types of ecosystems – forests, farmlands, grassland and savannahs, rivers and lakes, oceans and coasts, towns and cities, peatlands, and mountains. By taking these recommended actions, individuals can become part of a #GenerationRestoration!

The UNEP also called for make some noise about climate change. The world is in the grip of a climate emergency, a “code red for humanity,” according to the UN Secretary-General. Unless greenhouse gas emissions fall dramatically, warming could pass 2.9°C this century.

UNEP’s Act Now: Speak Up campaign shows how citizens can compel governments and businesses to deliver the kind of systemic change needed to limit planetary warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

The UNEP also urged conquering the global mountain of plastic. Plastic is everywhere; in clothing, household appliances, children’s toys, food packaging, medical devices…the list goes on.

While plastic has many uses, people’s addiction to single-use plastic is disastrous for the planet. It can take thousands, if not tens of thousands, of years to degrade. Yet people continue to produce and consume 430 million tons of plastic a year, two-thirds of it quickly ends up as waste dumped in landfills and polluting lakes, rivers, the soil and the ocean.

Recognizing plastic’s impact on climate change, ecosystems, wildlife and the economy, UN Member States agreed on a resolution to create a legally binding instrument by 2024 to end plastic pollution.

The UNEP also called for banishing dirty air from the skies as more than 99 per cent of the global population breathes unsafe air. Air pollution is the biggest environmental health risk, causing an estimated 7 million premature deaths every year. Exposure to dirty air can also cause heart and lung diseases, lung cancer and strokes among other ailments.

The UNEP also called for get tree planting right. Trees are amazing. They capture carbon from the atmosphere, protect and fertilize soils, provide a source of firewood and timber, and shelter many animals, birds and insects. No wonder tree planting, to restore ecosystems and counter climate change, has become so popular. But it is not as simple as it sounds. For example, planting the wrong trees in the wrong places can harm biodiversity and lead to all sorts of unintended consequences.

“Every action, however big or small, matters to the planet,” said Bruno Pozzi, Deputy Director of the UNEP Ecosystems Division. “The climate emergency, loss of nature and deadly pollution are not inevitable. We can reverse Earth’s decline but it needs us to come together and for everyone to play their part.”