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05 June 2009 World Environment Day: Your planet needs you
Indonesia:
Bali Fishermen | watch larger version As the international community charts its way forward through
these uncertain times, it is crucial to remember that climate change and ongoing environmental degradation represent a crisis
that will not go away. In fact, it will only exacerbate the threats to human development. At the same time, we have a real
opportunity to address climate change in a way that promotes economic recovery for countries and their people, including the
poorest and most vulnerable. The time has come for a new way to think about how we, as a global community, approach and plan
for economic growth and poverty eradication in the face of far-reaching environmental and climatic change. “The economic
and financial turmoil sweeping the globe is a true wake-up call sounding an alarm about the need to improve upon old patterns
of growth and make a transition to a new era of greener, cleaner development,” said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. UNDP
estimates that due to climate change effects an additional 600 million people will face food shortages and malnourishment
in the coming years, 1.8 billion will struggle to find water and 330 million will be displaced. UNDP is on the ground in developing
countries across the world, providing policy and technical assistance to governments and people as they work to mitigate or
prevent the rapidly intensifying effects of climate change. For example, in Croatia,
UNDP is working with the Government to limit the amount of carbon produced by the building sector, its most energy-intensive.
In Chile, UNDP
used solar ovens to help prevent deforestation. UNDP takes seriously its role to find and implement solutions that reduce
poverty and sustain biodiversity in an environment degraded by climate change. In Indonesia,
for instance, UNDP and its partners convinced local fishermen in Les to abandon fishing practices that were devastating a
coral reef. As a result, the coral reef came back to life. In Africa,
UNDP and the Global Environment Facility are getting people in remote areas onto the electrical grid by harnessing green sources
of energy like hydropower and solar energy. One fact can no longer be ignored: climate change effects will be increasingly
felt by people from all walks of life. We will all be affected by food and water shortages, by the disappearance of species,
by the expansion of warm weather killer diseases into new territories and by rising sea levels. This December, leaders from
around the world will meet in Copenhagen for high-level climate change talks. But we cannot simply wait for decision-makers
– our planet needs us now. The time for action is now. As the Secretary-General said: "Although individual decisions
may seem small in the face of global threats and trends, when billions of people join forces in common purpose we can make
a tremendous difference." The United Nations' Seal
the Deal! campaign brings attention to world leaders ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference in December 2009. A UNDP-supported
initiative starting on the World Environment Day will replace millions
of incandescent light bulbs with low energy-consumption bulbs in
Tunisia. Between 2009 and 2011, five million low consumption bulbs will be distributed by the Tunisian Company for Electricity
and Gas.One million low consumption bulbs will be given free of charge to people who cannot otherwise afford them. The government
has already established an increasing sales tax on
incandescent bulbs sales: from 10 per cent in 2000 to 30 per cent in
2008 to 50 per cent in 2011. The tax revenues will support the National
Fund for Energy Conservation. In addition to reducing Tunisia’s carbon footprint, the country will save annually 290 GWh and
USD 10 million.
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