Earth in a state of flux: The key to the global green revival and planet health lies in our interaction with the land
In the last two years over the past two years, over the past two years, COVID-19 pandemic has altered the way we live as we know it across the globe. Evidence from research shows that the COVID-19 pandemic results from the zoonotic virus, one that is transmitted between humans as well as animals. The new causes of zoonotic illnesses are all connected to human interactions with natureparticularly the alteration and conversion of ecosystems and land. As we face a growing number of crisis, further amplified by the war in Ukraine We are facing the end of our window to confront the interconnected planetary issues of climate change, biodiversity and degradation of the land. Our responses to these crises should be based on the idea that they are not or require our resources or time. We need to rise up to face anycrises urgently. 2022 is a crucial year in this regard. This week, I am among participants and delegates from 196 nations located in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, to attend the 15th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification with the theme “Land. Life. Legacy from scarcity to prosperity”. This is the beginning of three important sessions on global health this year. It will be then COP15 about biodiversity issues in China and the COP27 on climate change in Egypt. It is essential that the first meeting about land degradation and desertification sets the stage for the remainder of the year and inspires commitments to take decisive actions in order to restore the health of our planet. There is no shortage of issues: 40 percent of land used by humans is being destroyed, affecting more than half of the world’s inhabitants and at risk of affecting fifty percent (US$44 trillion) of the world’s GDP. More than 1.3 billion of people that depend on the land for their livelihoods are forced to live on degraded agricultural land. In addition, an estimation suggests that 5 million worldwide suffer from droughts each year and this is threatening the security of food and the livelihoods of pastoralists, farmers communities of the forest, Indigenous Peoples and local communities across the globe. of the globe. However the act of restoring ecosystems and land can bring huge benefits for all of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The announcement of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030) is an important signal to rally for action in restoration. From now until 2021, estimates suggest that the restoration of 350 million hectares degraded land in the Bonn Challenge, one of the most important global restoration goals, can take up to 26 gigatons greenhouse gases from the atmosphere . That’s nearly half the global emissions in 2019 – and provide 9 trillion dollars in ecosystem benefits. In addition, preventing the degradation of land by implementing sustainable restoration and land management could yield up to 1.4 trillion annually in economic gains. The investment in restoration will help to create jobs and ensure secure living in a time where more than 100 million job opportunities that were lost in 2020 as a result of the pandemic has not yet been reclaimed. Africa is the most important factor in solving many of these issues. The vast landmass of Africa forested land grasslands, rivers and wild […]
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