World Environment Day Breaks Records, Focuses on Land Restoration, Desertification, and Drought Resilience
By CCN News | Published: June 05, 2024
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On World Environment Day 2024, nations worldwide united under the theme 'Our Land. Our Future.
Nations worldwide united under the theme 'Our Land. Our Future. We are 'Generation Restoration' to highlight efforts in restoring degraded lands, combating desertification, and bolstering drought resilience.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia hosted the official celebrations, marking a significant occasion as only the second time in over 50 years that the event has been held in the West Asia region. Facing escalating challenges such as prolonged droughts, sandstorms, and rising temperatures, the region witnesses expanding deserts, depletion of freshwater sources, and erosion of fertile soils.
This year's World Environment Day saw an unprecedented number of events—3657 and growing at launch- spanning governments, cities, civil society, universities, schools, and businesses globally. Activities ranged widely, from high-profile events in Riyadh to week-long festivities in South America, zoo celebrations across Europe and Asia, soil restoration labs in Africa for children, vibrant posters in transport hubs, to the unveiling of North America's largest mural. These events collectively amplified the global call to restore the critical land on which humanity and countless species depend for survival.
In a special address on climate action at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, UN Secretary-General António Guterres emphasized the urgent need to address planetary boundaries pushed to their limits, highlighting the disproportionate impact on the world's most vulnerable populations, including Indigenous Peoples, women, and girls.
Currently, up to 40 percent of the world's land is degraded, directly affecting half of humanity, and an estimated 3.2 billion people are negatively impacted by desertification. By 2050, over three-quarters of the global population is projected to face the effects of droughts. This year's World Environment Day aimed to accelerate progress on global commitments, including protecting 30 percent of land and sea for nature and restoring 30 percent of the planet's degraded ecosystems. While nations have pledged to restore one billion hectares of land by 2030, current trends suggest that 1.5 billion hectares are required to achieve the 2030 goal of land degradation neutrality.
Saudi Arabia announced ambitious environmental sustainability goals to tackle drought, desertification, and land degradation, including plans to plant 50 billion trees across the region through the Saudi Green Initiative and the Middle East Green Initiative. The government celebrated its achievements in land restoration on World Environment Day and committed additional support and funding for private and philanthropic organizations working on environmental issues. Saudi Arabia affirmed its commitment to achieving the global land degradation neutrality target by 2030.
Speaking at the Riyadh event, UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen stressed the imperative for immediate action to realize the goals of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration by 2030. She emphasized that restoration not only addresses the triple planetary crisis but also generates new jobs, reduces poverty, and enhances resilience to extreme weather events. Andersen called upon the global community to join the movement to restore lands and increase resilience against drought and desertification.
On this occasion, six new cities from Africa to Latin America joined UNEP's Generation Restoration Cities initiative. Together, these urban areas, representing 45 million inhabitants, 2.1 million hectares of land, and 600 kilometers of waterways, are committed to scaling up ecosystem restoration projects using nature-based solutions.
World Environment Day 2024 also served as a platform for countries to announce significant environmental commitments:
· The Maldives launched the 5 Million Tree Project.
· Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reaffirmed commitments to conserve 30 percent of land and ocean by 2030 and to boost clean energy industries.
· Brazil's President Lula da Silva and Environment Minister Marina Silva highlighted government actions and announced new environmental protection measures.
· Oman initiated the planting of over 16 million indigenous seeds under a program to plant 10 million trees.
· Bangladesh pledged to expand tree cover to 25 percent of its land area by 2030.
· Sweden announced plans to ban bottom trawling in marine protected areas and all Swedish territorial waters.
· A new observatory to monitor Africa's Great Green Wall progress was unveiled.
· Rainforest Trust celebrated protecting 50 million acres of habitat to date.
· Kazakhstan welcomed Przewalski's horses in a biodiversity conservation effort.
· The Prince Talal International Prize for Human Development awarded $1,000,000 to initiatives promoting Life on Land.
· Liberia declared World Environment Day as a Working Holiday nationwide.
These commitments and initiatives underscored global solidarity and action to move towards a sustainable and resilient future, emphasizing the critical importance of ecosystem restoration in safeguarding both people and the planet.
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