UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterated that recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic is a chance to set the world on a cleaner, greener, and more sustainable path.
“Let us all commit to the hard work of restoring our planet and making peace with nature,” he said in a message marking International Mother Earth Day on April 22.
The UN chief said as they mark International Mother Earth Day, the planet is at a tipping point. “Humanity continues to abuse the natural world.”
He said humans heedlessly plunder the Earth’s resources, deplete its wildlife and treat air, land and seas as dumping grounds.
“Crucial ecosystems and food chains are being pushed to the brink of collapse. This is suicidal. We must end our war on nature and nurse it back to health,” Guterres said.
That means, he said, bold climate action to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degree Celsius and adapt to the changes to come.
“It means stronger steps to protect biodiversity. And it means reducing pollution by building circular economies that drive down waste,” he said adding that these steps will safeguard only home and create millions of new jobs.
