As the entire environment is polluted through a result of globalization and the increasing of number of population and basic need of the individuals worldwide, our planet needs Urgent and decisive measure on environmental and land protection. Following this, different international forums are being conducting across worldwide.
Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) event that was hosted on 28 September 2019, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York for the under the theme “Restore the Earth” is among them. As the document emailed for The Ethiopian Herald, from the GLF event coordinator Julie Mollins, more than 400 people from 46 countries have participated and discussed on the solution for safeguarding the land for better future life.
Tesfaye Gashaw, Public Relation and Communication Department Head FDRE Environment, Forest and of Climate Change Commission and one of Ethiopian delegates in the forum told The Ethiopian Herald that among the research paper presented at the forum one appreciated Ethiopia and Tanzania for their contribution in protecting natural resources. And the paper recommended other countries to follow the two countries’ experience as urgent global solution to address this challenge.
He also added that, restoring the world’s forests by planting a trillion trees is the most promising – and cost-effective – means of tackling climate change. Beyond sequestering carbon, these trees can stand guard against extreme weather events; protect endangered species; and bring shelter, food, money and cultural preservation to communities around the world.
Yet forests are not the only ecosystems we stand to benefit from properly protecting and restoring to full health. More than 40 percent of the value of the world’s ecosystems is contained in wetlands; and Arctic peat lands, which make up some 30 percent of the Earth’s land surface, store 8 percent of all below-ground carbon. Three billion people depend on ocean life for their livelihoods, while 2 billion live in dry lands suffering from water scarcity.
On the other hand, Ethiopian President Sahle-Work Zewde has said Ethiopia is implementing a 10 Years development program that contributes to the world green economy in averting deforestation. The program also includes interest of the world in sustaining common peace and prosperity, she added. The President made the remark while addressing the general debate of the 74th session of the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York on September 27, 2019.
The president also underscored that Ethiopia’s commitment in order to implement the GDP and the climate submit agendas. Accordingly, she stated that it is planned to plant 4 billion trees in different corners of the country within one and half year. And with this inspiration, it was able to plant more than 350 million saplings and smash the world record per 12 hours to enhancing sustainable development, she added.
Additionally, the president said that, the world has sufficient resource, power and capacity in order to protect our planet but the time is becoming late. Therefore, President Sahlework has called on the world to take urgent and series actions to address urgent global challenges.
As the report of GLF indicates, Autumn Peltier, Chief Water Commissioner, the Anishinabek Nation and speaker at the forum, said that if we keep harming Mother earth, one day she may decide to destroy everything as she has the power to destroy us all. As to her, we all need to think about the planet and work together on solutions to reduce the impacts of human negligence.
Her remarks launched GLF New York, a day of talks and presentations that brought together youths, business leaders, policymakers, scientists and each world community working on environmental protection, to galvanize action on the upcoming U.N. Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030). The initiative, which recognizes that restoration and other natural options could contribute more than a third of the solution to the climate crisis, aims to clean up and restore land and waterways on a massive scale, providing an urgently needed buffer against global warming.
The GLF report also indicates, since 2007, with the help of many adults, companies and governments, nearly 14 billion trees have been planted to absorb harmful CO2 from the atmosphere and reported to the Plant-for-the-Planet tree-counter. A trillion trees could capture 25 percent of human-made carbon emissions every year. “Currently, there are 3 trillion trees worldwide, and we have space to reforest an area the size of the United States, enough room for another trillion trees.”
Now with the new Plant-for-the-Planet App it has never been easier to plant trees, Felix Finkbeiner Founder, Plant-for-the-Planet says on his presentation on the forum. “No matter when and where you are, now nobody has an excuse not to plant. With just a few clicks, users can support tree-planting projects from all over the world.”
The Plant-for-the-Planet App is available for iOS and android and will be launched on the sidelines of the Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) on Sept. 28. GLF is jointly coordinated by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), UN Environment and the World Bank.
“If every single person, every company and every institution becomes climate neutral, we can save our future,” Finkbeiner says. Reducing carbon dioxide emissions reduces the likelihood that an overabundance of greenhouse gases will trap heat in the atmosphere, causing such environmental disturbances as melting polar ice caps and rising ocean levels.
“We have to fasten our seatbelts, because the next decade will be the critical decade,” said Inger Andersen, executive director of UNEP and the other paper presenter at the forum. “We hold in our hands this frightening responsibility to forever change the trajectory of our planet.”
The U.N. Decade on Ecosystem Restoration overlaps the timeline identified in 2018 by the world’s leading scientists to stop post-industrial average temperatures from rising to 1.5 degrees Celsius or more and prevent catastrophic climate change.
All things considered, each individual, public and private sectors, government and non-government organs, religious institutions, higher officials and ordinary people who are found across the world should put their own finger print in protecting the planet before it destroys us, the GLF participants agreed.
The Ethiopian Herald October 5/2019
BY HIZKEL HAILU
