World Environment Day is a global day that is celebrated annually on 5th of June since 1973. The commemoration of World Environment Day is led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). This year the event will be held in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under the theme, ‘’Land restoration, Desertification, drought resilience’’.
40% of the world’s population (3.2 billion people) have been impacted by land degradation while 55 million people are affected by drought annually. Drought has become a serious hazard to crops and animals leading to reduced global food productivity by 20% if land degradation continues food prices will go up by up 30% in 2040.
Every year, UNEP hosts The World Environment Day events to raise awareness on critical environmental issues. UNEP mobilizes hundreds of millions of people to take action to protect the environment.
Environment degradation is not inevitable. We have the power and the knowledge to reverse the harm and restore the environment if we work now through ecosystem restoration. Successful land restoration requires an approach the uses knowledge and ambition across generations.
Ecosystem restoration is the process of reviving natural spaces. Restoring I billion ha of land will go a long way towards achieving the sustainable development goals reversing nature loss and curbing climate change.
Everybody alive now is part of a generation that is the first to witness the devastating effects of environmental degradation. We could be the planets last hope to reverse the course.