World Environment Day
CO2 – Kick The Habit! (Towards A Low Carbon Economy)

World Environment Day is a concept that should interest us all. The prognosis for the planet is dire in terms of our ability to maintain a standard of livability conducive to our communal enjoyment and utility of ever-dwindling resources. The time has come for remedial action on a global as well as a local level. The old adage “Think Global, Act Local” never rang as true as it does with World Environment Day 2008 so close at hand.

No better time than the present to begin improving our overall stewardship of the gifts nature has bequeathed us. This is a moment in world history that future generations will point to and ask “Where were you when this crisis evolved?” We can but hope our response will be sufficient to the potential enormity of that query.

“Addiction is a terrible thing,” UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon ominously intones at the opening of his official statement announcing this year’s WED celebration, set to open in Wellington, New Zealand on 5 June, 2008, comprising the theme “CO2 – Kick the Habit! (Towards a Low Carbon Economy).”

World Environment Day was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972 to mark the opening of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. Another resolution, adopted by the General Assembly the same day, led to the creation of UNEP (i.e., United Nations Environment Programme).

Later in this same statement, Ban Ki-moon puts it succinctly and well, saying “The cost will be borne by all.” Moreover, he urges individuals, cities, nations, organizations and businesses to reduce our collective carbon footprint. As the new Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon has demonstrated he will take environmental issues seriously and already has made significant progress in the area of educating others as to the challenges we as a world face.

Ban Ki-moon goes on to lament the reduction of valuable forestlands throughout the tropics, a diminution that not only releases vast amounts of CO2 but also destroys a valuable resource for absorbing atmospheric carbon, further contributing to climate change.

In the past few decades WED has progressively attained world-wide recognition and status.

Sites of WED celebrations in the recent past include: 2007 - Tromsø, Norway, 2006 - Algiers, Algeria , 2005 - San Francisco, USA , 2004 - Barcelona, Spain, 2003 - Beirut, Lebanon , 2002 - Shenzhen, People's Republic of China , 2001 - Torino, Italy and Havana, Cuba and 2000 - Adelaide, Australia . This year’s WED celebration promises to be one of the best in recent memory with events planned across the globe in support of UNEP.

In her media statement, Environment Minister Trevor Mallard announced that Dr Rajendra Pachauri (UN Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change Nobel laureate), President Tong of Kiribati and Achim Steiner (UNEP Executive Director) will be coming to New Zealand to help celebrate the internationally recognized World Environment Day. These and many other celebrated participants should make WED 2008 memorable indeed.

New Zealand, for its part, has been in the forefront of tackling global environmental concerns, making a pledge of a carbon-neutral future one of the hallmarks of its efforts as host of WED 2008. In a press release welcoming UNEP, Prime Minister Helen Clark said, "As part of New Zealand's drive for greater environmental sustainability, we've made a commitment to reduce our emissions. But to overcome the challenge of climate change, kicking the carbon habit must be a truly global goal.”

This declaration seems to get at the heart of this issue. Global problems demand global solutions as well as determined individual and national action. New Zealand appears to be committed on a national basis to doing its utmost in the fight against global warming in the form of a significant reduction of its national carbon footprint. It is time for others in the international community to follow suit and do their part as well. This may take some considerable effort but it is not beyond us by any means. All that is required is a concerted commitment to act.

From Austria to Zambia, numerous events are slated in commemoration of WED. Even the tiny island nations of Trinidad and Tobago are planning a beach clean-up to commemorate WED 2008. More ambitious events are planned in locales as diverse as Perth, Australia to Shrewsbury, United Kingdom.

While most of these events focus on raising public awareness as to the importance of identifying ways to reduce individual as well as community carbon footprints, some are decidedly more ambitious such as The Future Farmer Award, an initiative funded by the Elizabeth Murray Trust, which aims to promote practical ideas for improving sustainability of farming in Scotland.

Sustainability should be something we all aspire to in our work and home environment. We should all see WED as an opportunity to advance our individual home-life as well as our workplace efforts toward limiting our carbon footprints. WED 2008 affords these as well as other occasions throughout the year. We all should look to our own communities for ways in which we may play even a small part in larger efforts at reducing CO2 producing activities.

To illustrate the importance of individual effort, in another release, Ban Ki-moon states unequivocally:

"We will have time to reach the Millennium Development Goals – worldwide and in most, or even all, individual countries – but only if we break with business as usual.
We cannot win overnight. Success will require sustained action across the entire decade between now and the deadline. It takes time to train the teachers, nurses and engineers; to build the roads, schools and hospitals; to grow the small and large businesses able to create the jobs and income needed. So we must start now. And we must more than double global development assistance over the next few years. Nothing less will help to achieve
the goals."

It is just this type of forward-thinking that will propel world opinion over the next decade if, in fact, we are to reach and sustain UNEP goals for the coming decades. As previously mentioned, Ban Ki-moon has exhibited the crucial leadership skills and foresight to lead the world community in these and other related endeavors.

© Stephen Alexander 2008

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