2021 World Environment Day Hosted by Pakistan

Munaza Kazmi

In 1972, the UN General Assembly designated 5June as “World Environment Day”. The first celebration, under the slogan “Only One Earth” took place in 1974. 

In the following years, World Environment Day has developed as a platform to raise awareness on the problems facing our environment such as air pollution, plastic pollution, illegal wildlife trade, sustainable consumption, sea-level increase, and food security, among others. 

Furthermore, World Environment Day helps drive change in consumption patterns and in national and international environmental policy.

The theme for World Environment Day 2021 is “Ecosystem Restoration” and will see the launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Ecosystem restoration can take many forms: Growing trees, greening cities, rewilding gardens, changing diets or cleaning up rivers and coasts. This is the generation that can make peace with nature.

Ecosystem restoration means assisting in the recovery of ecosystems that have been degraded or destroyed, as well as conserving the ecosystems that are still intact. Healthier ecosystems, with richer biodiversity, yield greater benefits such as more fertile soils, bigger yields of timber and fish, and larger stores of greenhouse gases.

However, restoration can happen in many ways – for example through actively planting or by removing pressures so that nature can recover on its own.

It is not always possible or desirable to return an ecosystem to its original state. We still need farmland and infrastructure on land that was once forest, for instance, and ecosystems, like societies, need to adapt to a changing climate.

Between now and 2030, the restoration of 350 million hectares of degraded terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems could generate US$9 trillion in ecosystem services. 

Restoration could also remove 13 to 26 gigatons of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. The economic benefits of such interventions exceed nine times the cost of investment, whereas inaction is at least three times costlier than ecosystem restoration.

All kinds of ecosystem can be restored, including forests, farmlands, cities, wetlands and oceans. Restoration initiatives can be launched by almost anyone, from governments and development agencies to businesses, communities and individuals. 

That is because the causes of degradation are many and varied and can have an impact at different scales.

Every year World Environment Day is hosted by a different country, in which official celebrations take place, and this year’s host is Pakistan.

The government of Pakistan plans to expand and restore the country’s forests through a 10 Billion Tree Tsunami spread over five years. 

The campaign includes restoring mangroves and forests, as well as planting trees in urban settings, including schools, colleges, public parks and green belts.

Through the 10 Billion Tree Tsunami, Pakistan is contributing to the Bonn Challenge, a global effort linked to the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.

Under the challenge, countries are pledging to bring 350 million hectares of the world’s deforested and degraded land into restoration by 2030.

World Environment Day is celebrated every once a year, to remind us that we are not alone on this planet.

There is a huge biological ecosystem that exists, and we as a human being survive because of that, since we are all bead of a chain, removing or damaging a bead can disturb the beauty and existence of the whole chain.

Preserving nature is our responsibility, that can be done by adopting simple steps, why it’s the most urgent to throw the peel off out of the car windows? We can keep it in paper and then to throw in dustbin. 

We go to recreational spots in order to pollute them, I believe first educate oneself then others. 

It is only the human that pollutes, damages and harms, can’t we just change this habit. We have taken a lot from this nature, it’s the time to refund, however, its not refund but an investment.

Next, it’s an appeal to the parents and institutions to create awareness among the younger generation, tell them aspects about nature and the significance of birds, animals, ecology, and even the small insects. 

A humble example could be our six-legged friends — bees. The contribution that bees make to food production is astonishing.

Moreover, respect Biodiversity & nature. Biodiversity plays an important role in offering ecological services that make life livable on Earth. Each species, no matter how big or small, has a considerable impact on the ecosystem.

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Munaza Kazmi has recently done Master of Philosophy from Bahria University Islamabad. Her debut novel is Unrequited Love.

She’s an author, columnist writing in different newspapers and a researcher having seven publications till yet, she’s been writing since 2016.

You can connect to Kazmi at twitter @munaza_kazmi or on research gate as munaza kazmi.

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