The solutions to Climate Change and sustainable development

Jun 06, 2017

Human prosperity need not to cost the earth of its paramount/valuable natural resources.

By Dr. Majwala Meaud Major

Every June 5, the world celebrates the World Environment Day. This year's theme is ‘Connecting People to Nature'.

This implies that we are part of nature and how intimately we depend on it. It challenges us to find fun and exciting ways to experience and cherish this vital relationship.

This shows that our daily decisions as consumers of nature can protect and control it with responsibility, because our lifestyles have a colossal impact on the environment - some of them contribute to the farther depletion of natural resources like forests, wetlands, water catchment, wildlife etc, others help to protect fragile ecosystems with all their biological diversity. Every time the choice is ours.

Connecting to nature can involve all the physical senses: why not take off your shoes and get your feet (and hands) dirty; don't just look at the beautiful lake, jump in! Take a hike at night and rely on your ears and nose to experience nature. You can also connect with nature in the city, where major parks can be a green lung and a hub of biodiversity.

Why not do your bit to green the urban environment, by greening your street or a derelict site, or planting a window box? You could put a spade in the soil or lift a paving slab and see what creatures live beneath.

Human prosperity need not to cost the earth of its paramount/valuable natural resources. Living sustainably is about doing more and better with less. It is about knowing that the rising rates of natural resource use and the environment impacts that occur are not a necessary by-product of economic growth. A variety of life on the earth is essential for the welfare of the current and future generations.

The conservation, restoration and sustainable use of biological diversity can help solve a range of societal challenges. Protecting ecosystems and access to ecosystem services by the poor and vulnerable groups are essential to eradicating extreme poverty and hunger.

The theme for 2017 is of relevance in that it shows how the wellbeing of humanity with our marginal propensity to consume, the environment and the economies ultimately depends on the responsibility management of the planet's natural resources.

Billions of rural people around the world spend every working day ‘connected to nature' and appreciate full well their dependence on natural water supplies and how nature provides their livelihoods in the form of fertile soil. They are among the first to suffer when ecosystems are threatened, whether by pollution, climate change or over-exploitation. Nature's gifts are often hard to value in monetary terms.

Like clean air, they are often taken for granted, at least until they become scarce. However, economists are developing ways to measure the multi-trillion-dollar worth of many so-called ‘ecosystem services', from insects pollinating fruit trees in the Namanve forest to the leisure, health and spiritual benefits of relaxing in an hotel or a restaurant in a shopping mall.

We need to recommit to global action to reduce the rate of biodiversity loss in valuable ecosystems like forests and wetlands, for people and for our planet. By 2050, if current consumption and production patterns remain the same and with the rising population expected to reach 9.6 billion, we will need three plants to sustain our way of life.

Living well with planetary boundaries is the most promising strategy for ensuring a health future. Let us all work for a joint vision to set the planet on a sustainable path by investing in climate smart farming, low-external input technologies, clean and renewable energy projects like solar and wind, and forest/wetlands conservation- for a fossil-free, low-carbon world.

Scientific evidence shows that ecosystems are under unprecedented pressure, threatening prospects for sustainable development.

While the challenges are daunting, they also provide opportunities for the local communities, businesses and government to innovate for the benefit of communities, economies and the global environment. However, in order to secure the environmental conditions for prosperity, stability and equity, timely responses that are proportionate to the scale of the environmental challenges will be required.

In creating such responses, governments, the international community, the private sector, civil society and the general public, all have an important role to play in improving our green credentials for the common good to build low-carbon and resilient communities.

The writer is the president of Sustainable World Initiative-East Africa

The solutions to Climate Change and sustainable development

By Dr. Majwala Meaud Major

Every June 5, the world celebrates the World Environment Day. This year's theme is ‘Connecting People to Nature'. This implies that we are part of nature and how intimately we depend on it. It challenges us to find fun and exciting ways to experience and cherish this vital relationship. This shows that our daily decisions as consumers of nature can protect and control it with responsibility, because our lifestyles have a colossal impact on the environment - some of them contribute to the farther depletion of natural resources like forests, wetlands, water catchment, wildlife etc, others help to protect fragile ecosystems with all their biological diversity. Every time the choice is ours. Connecting to nature can involve all the physical senses: why not take off your shoes and get your feet (and hands) dirty; don't just look at the beautiful lake, jump in! Take a hike at night and rely on your ears and nose to experience nature. You can also connect with nature in the city, where major parks can be a green lung and a hub of biodiversity. Why not do your bit to green the urban environment, by greening your street or a derelict site, or planting a window box? You could put a spade in the soil or lift a paving slab and see what creatures live beneath.

Human prosperity need not to cost the earth of its paramount/valuable natural resources. Living sustainably is about doing more and better with less. It is about knowing that the rising rates of natural resource use and the environment impacts that occur are not a necessary by-product of economic growth. A variety of life on the earth is essential for the welfare of the current and future generations. The conservation, restoration and sustainable use of biological diversity can help solve a range of societal challenges. Protecting ecosystems and access to ecosystem services by the poor and vulnerable groups are essential to eradicating extreme poverty and hunger.

The theme for 2017 is of relevance in that it shows how the wellbeing of humanity with our marginal propensity to consume, the environment and the economies ultimately depends on the responsibility management of the planet's natural resources. Billions of rural people around the world spend every working day ‘connected to nature' and appreciate full well their dependence on natural water supplies and how nature provides their livelihoods in the form of fertile soil. They are among the first to suffer when ecosystems are threatened, whether by pollution, climate change or over-exploitation. Nature's gifts are often hard to value in monetary terms. Like clean air, they are often taken for granted, at least until they become scarce. However, economists are developing ways to measure the multi-trillion-dollar worth of many so-called ‘ecosystem services', from insects pollinating fruit trees in the Namanve forest to the leisure, health and spiritual benefits of relaxing in an hotel or a restaurant in a shopping mall.

We need to recommit to global action to reduce the rate of biodiversity loss in valuable ecosystems like forests and wetlands, for people and for our planet. By 2050, if current consumption and production patterns remain the same and with the rising population expected to reach 9.6 billion, we will need three plants to sustain our way of life. Living well with planetary boundaries is the most promising strategy for ensuring a health future. Let us all work for a joint vision to set the planet on a sustainable path by investing in climate smart farming, low-external input technologies, clean and renewable energy projects like solar and wind, and forest/wetlands conservation- for a fossil-free, low-carbon world.

Scientific evidence shows that ecosystems are under unprecedented pressure, threatening prospects for sustainable development. While the challenges are daunting, they also provide opportunities for the local communities, businesses and government to innovate for the benefit of communities, economies and the global environment. However, in order to secure the environmental conditions for prosperity, stability and equity, timely responses that are proportionate to the scale of the environmental challenges will be required. In creating such responses, governments, the international community, the private sector, civil society and the general public, all have an important role to play in improving our green credentials for the common good to build low-carbon and resilient communities.

The writer is the president of Sustainable World Initiative-East Africa