Live in harmony with nature

 Kathmandu, June 5: World Environment Day is being observed today (Sunday) across the globe calling for action to protect the planet, raise awareness about the environment and biodiversity protection and provide knowledge about the importance of Mother Nature.

This year the day is being marked with the theme “Only One Earth” focusing on living sustainably in harmony with nature.

Since 1972 (Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm), the world is marking the day to raise awareness about the growing environmental concern, toxic chemical pollution, and global warming. Still, the world is getting warmer, and extreme climate events are being observed. Climate change is affecting more in the countries like ours where climate-induced disasters are happening every year, said Pem Narayan Kandel, secretary at the Ministry of Forest and Environment.

“Stockholm+50: a healthy planet for the prosperity of all – our responsibility, our opportunity" was organised five decades after the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment. World leaders got an opportunity to draw attention to 50 years of multilateral environmental action to achieve the bold and urgent action needed to secure a better future on a healthy planet.

Secretary Kandel led the Nepali delegation in the two-day international meeting held in Stockholm, Sweden from June 2 to 3.

Talking to The Rising Nepal over the phone, he said the world is now facing a triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution, biodiversity loss and Nepal is more vulnerable to these effects as these problem have been affecting the Himalayas more than any part of the world.

“Progress remains insufficient, he said, citing continued environmental deterioration, including biodiversity loss. Nepal is home to many of the world’s highest mountains, which provide fresh drinking water. 

But, these mountains are vulnerable to climate change, as glaciers melt and cause huge losses to the ecosystem and human life. For its part, Nepal aims to achieve net-zero emissions by 2045 and seeks to become a leader in green and nature-based solutions. While the knowledge to achieve such aims exists, steps to achieve them are lacking, he said, informing about the urgent need to take action.

Climate change has already caused a widespread impact on nature and people, and limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius is beyond reach. Bio-diversity and ecosystems are degrading worldwide, Kandel added. “Lately, we are facing climate-induced disaster in different forms more often and glaciers are melting due to extreme climate events, he said.

The theme this year is to give a message that we have only one earth and there is no alternative, so we should protect it, Kandel said.

According to Raju Pandit Chhetri, a climate change expert, environment degradation and climate change have impacted the whole earth – from developed to least developed countries. The essential theme of the day is, “Now if we want to have development, we have to take care of the earth as there is no alternative or there is no Earth B,” he said.

With economic and social development, humans have created materials that are now equal to the weight of the Earth, Chhetri said. 

#OnlyOneEarth is the campaign to call for collective, transformative action on a global scale to celebrate, protect and restore the planet.

According to recent research published in Nature, the mass of everything people have built and made, from concrete pavements and glass-and-metal skyscrapers to plastic bottles, clothes, and computers, is now roughly equal to the mass of living things on Earth and could surpass that this year.

It is also said that the face of Earth in the twenty-first century is affected in an unprecedented manner by the 

activities of humanity and the production and accumulation of human-made objects.

Saroj Adhikari, Information Officer at the Department of Environment, said that the department is conducting various programmes to minimise the plastic bags with thickness below 40 microns as plastic pollution is threatening the whole world.

“We are monitoring the plastic factories but it will take time to fully implement. The result will come sooner or later,” she said. 

Everyone should join hands to protect the only living planet. There should be a political commitment at every level and knowledge spread to the local level, she said.

Many companies are violating the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) while constructing the infrastructure. Everyone should take responsibility to protect the environment for us and for the future generations to come, Adhikary said.

According to UNEP, climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste – evidence that Earth is on “code red” is all around us and growing more ominous every day. 

The way out of this dilemma is to transform our economies and societies to make them inclusive, fair, and more connected with nature. We must shift from harming the planet to healing it.