Individuals, communities, civil society, businesses and governments around the world, yesterday marked World Environment Day, themed, #OnlyOneEarth, with official celebrations held in Stockholm, Sweden, announcing a ban on issuing new licenses for the extraction of coal, oil, and natural gas from July 1, to protect people and planet.
Announcing the ban, Sweden’s Minister for Climate and the Environment, Annika Strandhäll, said: “Making the green jobs of the future by accelerating the climate transition is one of the top priorities for the Swedish government.
“As part of our efforts to implement our climate ambitions, we must take actions against activities that have a negative impact on our health and our environment.”
“Our message to the global community is clear. The winners in the global race will be the ones that speed up the transition, not the ones that lag behind and cling to a dependency on fossil fuels,” she added.
Ahead of the Sunday celebrations, UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, warned that the Earth’s natural systems “cannot keep up with our demands.”
“It is vital we safeguard the health of its atmosphere, the richness and diversity of life on Earth, its ecosystems and its finite resources. But we are failing to do so.
“We are asking too much of our planet to maintain ways of life that are unsustainable,” he cautioned, noting that this not only hurts the Earth, but also its inhabitants,” he said.
By providing food, clean water, medicines, climate regulation and protection from extreme weather events, Guterres reminded that a healthy environment is essential for people and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“It is essential that we wisely manage nature and ensure equitable access to its services, especially for the most vulnerable people and communities,” Guterres underscored.
Our message to the global community is clear. The winners in the global race will be the ones that speed up the transition, not the ones that lag behind and cling to a dependency on fossil fuels.
Ecosystems crises
More than three billion people are affected by degraded ecosystems. Pollution causes some nine million premature deaths each year, and more than one million plant and animal species risk extinction – many within decades, according to the UN chief.
“Close to half of humanity is already in the climate danger zone – 15 times more likely to die from climate impacts such as extreme heat, floods and drought,” he said, adding that there is a 50:50 chance that global temperatures will breach the Paris Agreement limit of 1.5℃ in the next five years.
And by 2050, more than 200 million people each year risk displacement through climate disruption.
Stockholm+50 conference
Meanwhile, the Stockholm+50 environment conference came to a close on Friday with a call for real commitments to urgently address global environmental concerns, and for a just transition to sustainable economies that work for all.
“We came to Stockholm 50 years after the UN Conference on the Human Environment knowing that something must change. Knowing that, if we do not change, the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste, will only accelerate,” said Inger Andersen, Secretary-General of Stockholm+50, and Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
Andersen urged the participants to “take forward this energy, this commitment to action, to shape our world.”
It is vital we safeguard the health of its atmosphere, the richness and diversity of life on Earth, its ecosystems and its finite resources. But we are failing to do so.
Healthy planet
The two-day international meeting concluded with a statement from co-hosts Sweden and Kenya.
Participants recommended placing human well-being at the centre of a healthy planet and prosperity for all; recognizing and implementing the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment; adopting system-wide changes in the way our current economic system works, and to accelerate transformations of high impact sectors.
“We believe that we have – collectively – mobilized and used the potential of this meeting. We now have a blueprint of acceleration to take further,” said Strandhäll.
“Stockholm+50 has been a milestone on our path towards a healthy planet for all, leaving no one behind.”
Rebuild for future generations
Stockholm+50 featured four plenary sessions in which leaders made calls for bold environmental action to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Three Leadership Dialogues, hundreds of side events, associated events and webinars and a series of regional multi-stakeholder consultations in the run-up to the meeting, enabled thousands of people around the world to engage in discussions and put forward their views.
“The variety of voices and bold messages that have emerged from these two days demonstrate a genuine wish to live up to the potential of this meeting and build a future for our children and grandchildren on this, our only planet,” said Keriako Tobiko, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for the Environment.
“We didn’t just come here to commemorate, but to build forward and better, based on the steps taken since 1972.”
