New Delhi, June 05: New Delhi: On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ campaign in celebration of World Environment Day. This global event, held annually since 1973, has become the largest platform for environmental outreach worldwide. This year’s theme focuses on “Land Restoration, Desertification, and Drought Resilience,” highlighting the urgent need to restore and conserve land resources.
To mark the occasion, PM Modi planted a peepal tree sapling at Buddha Jayanti Park in Delhi, accompanied by Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav and Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena.
Global Celebrations and Commitments
World Environment Day, celebrated on June 5, commemorates the opening day of the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. The theme for this year’s celebration emphasizes the critical need for land restoration and resilience against desertification and drought.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres, in his message for the day, urged countries to fulfil their commitments to restore degraded ecosystems and adhere to the Kunming-Montreal Biodiversity Framework. “They must use their new national climate action plans to set out how they will halt and reverse deforestation by 2030,” Guterres said. He also stressed the importance of significantly increasing financial support for developing countries to adapt to extreme weather, protect nature, and promote sustainable development.
Highlighting the economic benefits of environmental actions, Guterres noted, “Every dollar invested in ecosystem restoration creates up to thirty dollars in economic benefits.” He pointed out the severe consequences of failing to address pollution, climate change, and biodiversity loss, including the transformation of fertile lands into deserts and the destruction of thriving ecosystems. “We are Generation Restoration. Together, let us build a sustainable future for land and for humanity,” Guterres added.
Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), called for collective global action to address the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. By restoring ecosystems, she emphasized, the world can make significant progress toward limiting global temperature rise, as outlined in the 2015 Paris Agreement, and work toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). “Land restoration can be a golden thread that ties these together, ties together action and ambition across all these three important gatherings,” Andersen said.
Future Global Efforts
Saudi Arabia will host the 2024 global commemoration of World Environment Day. Additionally, the country will host the sixteenth session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP16) in December, focusing on global frameworks to address land degradation and desertification.
The ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ campaign launched by PM Modi symbolizes a significant step in India’s commitment to environmental conservation and underscores the broader global effort to protect and restore our planet for future generations.