This year’s world environment day comes with the theme “Reimagine. Recreate. Restore.” and the global host for the event is Pakistan. The theme focuses on reversing the degradation of our ecosystem by rebuilding it. “I want people to understand the situation we are in is serious but there is always something we can do, we have to remain positive and we have to act,” said Jordan Sanchez, 19, the writer of the World Environment Day poem – “Recreate, Reimagine, Restore”.
World Environment Day came into existence in 1972 and over the years, the day became an international platform for increasing awareness among people and taking appropriate actions on issues of paramount importance such as marine pollution, global warming, sustainable consumption and wildlife crime.
In UAE, the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE) has announced few national initiatives that advance the country’s efforts to leverage innovation to conserve and restore ecosystems.
Dr. Abdullah Belhaif Al Nuaimi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, said: “Over five decades, the UAE has worked hard to ensure that its development journey did not come at the expense of the environment. MOCCAE continues these efforts through an integrated approach that combines effective environmental legislation and regulations with on-the-ground action.”
He added: “As we celebrate World Environment Day, we are proud to announce three new initiatives that will help develop game-changing solutions to environmental issues and inform decision making.”
MOCCAE is planning to collaborate with an innovator company to promote pioneering climate solutions and entrepreneurship, as the first initiative. The Ministry has also published the fourth edition of UAE State of Green Economy Report and has launched the UAE Chemical research platform.
While governments across the globe are coming up with such initiatives aimed at restoring our ecosystem, the layman should be made aware of their responsibilities. But what we have been witnessing over the last couple of years is people flooding social media platforms with their photos of planting trees on June 5th and that’s it. There are people who have embraced planting trees as a part of their lives, but for a majority, planting trees require a specific day. Let’s hope for a time when planting trees are not restricted to a single day of a year, but rather a practice that is followed throughout.
