TODAY IS WORLD ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION DAY – OUR EARTH, OUR FUTURE

SARAJEVO, JUNE 5 (ONASA) – Today, World Environment Day is celebrated around the world to raise awareness of the importance of environmental protection and encourage action for nature protection.
Led by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), Environment Day has been held every June 5 since 1973, and the host country for 2024 is Saudi Arabia.
This year’s theme and campaign for World Environment Day is focused on land restoration, desertification and drought resistance under the slogan “Our Earth. Our future. We are #GenerationRestoration.”
Urgent action and leadership are vital as we face the worrying intensification of a triple planetary crisis: the crisis of climate change, the crisis of nature and biodiversity loss, and the crisis of pollution and waste.
– This crisis puts the world’s ecosystems under attack. Billions of hectares of land have been degraded, affecting nearly half of the world’s population and threatening half of global GDP. The most affected are rural communities, small farmers and the extremely poor, the Institute for Health and Food Safety Zenica (INZ) announced.
They note that land restoration can reverse the direction of land degradation, drought and desertification. Restoration increases livelihoods, reduces poverty and builds resilience to extreme weather events. Restoration increases carbon storage and slows climate change.
INZ states that by restoring only 15 percent of the land and stopping further conversion, up to 60 percent of expected species extinction could be avoided. “But we also need to stop the drivers of land degradation, drought and desertification, such as climate change.”
The theme of land restoration, desertification and drought resilience is crucial for 2024 for several reasons.
– World Environment Day is increasingly becoming a platform for raising awareness of the environmental challenges facing our planet. In 2024, land restoration, the fight against desertification and the building of drought resistance become increasingly important due to the increasing impact of climate change and environmental degradation – INZ said.
Increasingly pronounced climate changes, including an increase in extreme weather conditions such as droughts, make the topic of land restoration and drought resilience a key priority. The year 2024 can be crucial in making decisions and taking actions that will help to combat the negative consequences of climate change.
According to experts, it is therefore important to invest in land restoration and build resilience to drought in order to preserve the stability and prosperity of communities. In 2024, focusing on land restoration, combating desertification and building drought resilience becomes critical to the sustainable future of our planet and the well-being of all its inhabitants.
Public health and environmental sustainability are intrinsically linked. The state of the environment directly affects the health of the population. Poor air quality, contaminated water and exposure to hazardous waste contribute to a range of health problems, including respiratory disease, cardiovascular conditions and cancer.
– As healthcare systems strive to improve the final outcomes of patients’ health and life, it is increasingly recognized that a healthier environment is a fundamental component of overall health – they point out from INZ. (end)