2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity. And we all have a rendezvous with Planet Earth this year. In order that as many of us as possible feel encouraged to make it to the venue at the right point in time, the United Nations has launched some of the most innovative initiatives.
It is gathering facts and figures to underscore what Mother Earth is worth to its inhabitants, particularly us -- the homo sapiens. The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB), hosted by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), and a myriad of other reports and initiatives are under way to provide a glimpse of the value of the Earths natural assets and their role in development.
One such report, the third Global Biodiversity Outlook, was presented at the UN headquarters in New York in May this year. Explaining the main thrust of the study, a senior UN development official warned that, without swift action and renewed political will, current alarming biodiversity declines would continue, and some life-giving ocean and rainforest ecosystems would spiral towards collapse, threatening sustainable development and human well-being.
The projections are dire, Delfin Ganapin, Global Manager of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme, said on May 10 at a press conference on the results of the GBO-3, which was also launched in a number of other cities around the world, including Alexandria, Bonn, Brasilia, Chamonix, London, Manama, Montreal, Nairobi, Panama and Tokyo.
Ganapin informed that the Outlook, based on more than 110 national reports submitted by governments to the Secretariat of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and compiled in close cooperation with the UN Environment Programme, is advising humankind to halt a massive biodiversity loss with consequences that would be much worse than previously thought.
In yet another attempt to lure the inhabitants of Planet Earth to the rendezvous, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on July 8 appointed acclaimed actor and conservation activist
Edward Norton as United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for Biodiversity. Norton said the issues of community development and conservation were close to his heart, and he hoped to channel the attention he receives for his work in Hollywood towards raising awareness of the UNs ideals and activities.
I think that [Goodwill] Ambassadors in many ways can play a role in highlighting the models of success that the UN is promoting around the world, he said. We have it from the UN that Nortons family has long been involved in sustainable development issues: his father is a conservation advocate and his maternal grandparents founded an organization to help provide affordable housing in the United States.
For his part, the new Goodwill Ambassador is very active in garnering support for conservation efforts, serving as a board member of the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust and taking part in launching an innovative social networking platform called Crowdrise to boost participation in charitable work.
Last year, Norton ran in the New York City Marathon, helping to raise more than $1 million for local communities in Kenya. In his new role, Norton has vowed to work with the UN Convention on Biological Diversity to put a spotlight on the crisis of biodiversity and ensure that world leaders take appropriate measures to protect the environment.
One of his top priorities as Goodwill Ambassador will be to increase peoples focus on the fact that human well-being is intertwined fundamentally with biodiversity. It is vital that people realize that they are not separate from the web of life, he added. Our ability to thrive as a species and as a civilization totally depends on that web of life.
As the UN News Centre points out, Nortons appointment comes as the heads of government and State are set to discuss the issue (of biodiversity) at a high-level meeting at UN Headquarters in New York at the start of the General Assembly’s 65th annual General Debate in September.
Global Perspectives and IDN-InDepthNews are here not to miss the Rendezvous with Planet Earth. In fact our regular readers know that biodiversity, climate change, environment – yes, the Planet Earth -- are an integral part of our news analysis.
- Ramesh Jaura
Chief Editor
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