With the successful launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration on World Environment Day, it is now up to each of us to act in order to conserve and restore the nature around us. The next 10 years are critical in combating climate change and saving 1 million species from extinction. Check out the “Ecosystem Restoration Playbook” which has practical guidance for everyone, everywhere, on how to restore ecosystems – including forests, trees on farms and urban forests.
There are many ways to go about it: from the urgent need to transform our food systems to using innovative technologies, such as Open Foris, a system for monitoring forests and other land uses, which will also be deployed to monitor the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.
The landmark ruling in The Hague ordering Royal Dutch Shell to cut emissions by 45 per cent by 2030 is an important development that demonstrates that climate action is a human rights issue. As several articles in this Resource show, UN-REDD has been successfully mainstreaming the human rights dimension since its inception through its safeguards workstream, the full and early involvement of IPLCs in decision-making and, more recently, by integrating a OneHealth approach in its work.
An all-inclusive approach is urgently needed for a sound future. His Holiness Pope Frances said during the launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration: “The current environmental situation calls us to act now with urgency to become ever more responsible stewards of creation and to restore the nature that we have been damaging and exploiting for too long. Otherwise, we risk destroying the very basis on which we depend. We risk floods and hunger and severe consequences for ourselves and for future generations.”
And regarding more ‘classic’ UN-REDD work, we would also like to draw your attention to the inception report of our Norad-funded “Sustainable Forest Trade in the Lower Mekong Region” project.
Happy belated World Environment Day – a day to celebrate each and every day!
