World Environment Day 2020

The theme for World Environment Day, 5 June 2020 is biodiversity — a call to action to combat the accelerating species loss and degradation of the natural world. One million plant and animal species risk extinction, largely due to human activities. Hosted by Colombia, in partnership with Germany, World Environment Day urges us to rethink how our economic systems have evolved and the impact they have on the environment. These are issues the world cannot lose sight of even as we tackle the coronavirus pandemic and the ongoing climate crisis. Colombia has one of the highest diversities of species in the world, boasting among many others, 3500 types of orchids and 19 per cent of the world’s bird types. The government has made biodiversity preservation a national priority.

WHAT IS BIODIVERSITY AND WHY DOES IT MATTER?

Biodiversity, or biological diversity, is the variability of living things that makes up life on Earth. It encompasses the 8 million or so species on the planet – from plants and animals to fungi and bacteria – the ecosystems that house them – such as oceans, forests, mountain environments and coral reefs – as well as the genetic diversity found among them. Healthy ecosystems, rich with biodiversity, are fundamental to human existence. Ecosystems sustain human life in a myriad of ways, cleaning our air, purifying our water, ensuring the availability of nutritious foods, nature-based medicines and raw materials, and reducing the occurrence of disasters.

But we have not taken care of nature. We are witnessing unparalleled bush fires in Brazil, United States and Australia, locust invasions in the Horn of Africa, and the death of coral reefs. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic –  the latest in a string of zoonotic disease outbreaks – shows that the planet’s health is linked to our health.