World Environment Day 2021: Restoring ecosystem and raising awareness
Prime Minister Narendra Modi to release report on ethanol blending in India as part of an event marking environment day.
Every year on 5 June, nature sympathizes around the world, celebrates World Environment Day, encourages awareness and observes its conservation. Since 1974, World Environment Day has been celebrated, involving governments, businesses and citizens in an effort to address pressing environmental issues, with participation from more than 143 countries annually.
History
World Environment Day came into existence on the first day of the Stockholm Conference on Human Environment organized by the United Nations Assembly in 1972 and later in 1974 with the theme "Only One Earth".
The idea of rotating the center of these activities by selecting different host countries began in 1987. In 2013, the anthem was launched on the occasion of World Environment Day in New Delhi.
Over the years, the day became a global platform to raise awareness and take action on urgent issues ranging from marine pollution and global warming to sustainable consumption and wildlife crime.
Theme
This year the theme of World Environment Day is "Reimagine. Recreate. Restore". The global host for the day in 2021 is Pakistan to highlight the importance of ecosystem restoration.
According to the WED website, every three seconds, the world loses enough forest to cover a football pitch, and over the past century, humans have destroyed half of the wetlands. Up to 50 percent of coral reefs have already been lost and up to 90 percent of coral reefs could be lost by 2050, even if global warming is limited to an increase of 1.5 °C.
The subject means to stop, prevent and reverse this damage - to go by harnessing nature to heal it. This World Environment Day will mark the beginning of a global mission to revive these billions of hectares.
The theme focuses on how healthy ecosystems can enhance people's livelihoods, counteract climate change and prevent biodiversity loss.
India on World Environment Day
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in the World Environment Day event at 11 am via video conferencing, according to his office.
Modi will release the report of the Expert Committee on the Road Map for Ethanol Blending in India in 2020-2025.
To commemorate this day, the government is issuing an E-20 notification directing oil companies to sell ethanol-blended petrol up to 20 percent of ethanol with effect from April 1, 2023; and the BIS specification for higher ethanol blends E12 and E15.
According to a report by market research firm UnearthInsight, carbon emissions by the Indian IT outsourcing industry have fallen by nearly 85 per cent to around 0.3 million tonnes due to reduced travel, work from home and online hiring process during the Covid-19 lockdown.
In Uttarakhand, the state forest department on the eve of World Environment Day released a list of 1,576 protected plant species, including those unique to the Himalayan region. In addition to plant species that are unique or endemic to the Himalayan region, the list also includes species that have been declared threatened' in the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species.
Apart from these, several Members of Parliament from various parties have pledged to be vegetarian for the day by giving up meat, dairy and other animal-derived food to raise awareness.
In a study in the journal Nature, it has been found that greenhouse gas emissions from food systems would be reduced by half if the world switched to a predominantly plant-based diet. Researchers from the University of Oxford also found that every person who becomes vegetarian reduces their carbon footprint by 73 percent and saves about 200 animals per year.
Impact of Covid on Environment
Even though the lockdown helped the environment breathe better air quality for some time, according to the Central Pollution Control Board, India produced 45,308 tonnes of biomedical waste between June 2020 and May 10, 2021, an average of 45,308 tonnes. The daily production is 132 tonnes. Covid-19 related waste.
This is in addition to the 615 tonnes of biomedical waste generated in a day before Covid-19, which is a 17 per cent increase in biomedical waste production due to the pandemic alone.
Despite the unprecedented health and environmental crisis, experts said there are ways to minimize the damage.
Firstly, Singh said that people need to consciously reduce their plastic footprint with the help of a comprehensive strategy and comprehensive roadmap.