Green thoughts from Mongolia on World Environment Day

Alarming environmental changes and disasters, unprecedented and unheard of before, occur at a greater rate. Climate change with ensuing water shortage, desertification, soil and vegetation degradation lead not only to depletion of natural resources, but also threaten the social and economic development of the entire world.

These are the words of Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, President of Mongolia as his country hosts the 2013 World Environment Day.

“Our blue planet is only one for all of us. Yet, our home Earth is visibly losing its vitality and pristineness due to the reckless policies and ruinous acts of its children, the human beings. Its resources are being exhausted and the safe livelihood of the humankind is gravely endangered”, said the President.

Mongolia is one of the fastest growing economies in the world and aiming for a transition to a low-carbon, resource-efficient economy and a green civilization.

Since millennia ago, Mongolians have lived in a genuine harmony with nature, just like a mother and child, especially their culture of treating water, the source of life on earth, is truly unique.

“The simplest but a very telling example is that the herders never use the same ladle for water and milk” said the President.

But like many low-income countries, climate change has led to drying up of many rivers and lakes in Mongolia, thus necessitating the country to draw concerted attention on water resources.

As one of the most-threatened by climate change countries, Mongolia has already suspended new mining concessions pending environmental safeguards and is working with partners in the UN and beyond to bring Green Development across the economy.

The country has also established Natural Resources National Parks to curb desertification.

“Our national parks and specially protected areas can be the backbone of ecotourism that would generate conservation income and green jobs”, said President Elbegdori. “Our vision includes targets for the uptake of solar and wind power that can fuel our economic growth, while exporting surpluses via an Asian super-grid”.

President Elbegdori, who was honored with the 2012 Champion of the Earth Award by the United Nations, has observed that environmental protection is not a single-day campaign but a life-long cause of day-to-day efforts of every citizen of the world.

He has proposed the establishment of a special UN body on Water, an initiative he believes will be supported by the global community.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

World anti-food waste campaign activated

The 2013 World Environment Day is being commemorated today, June 5, under the theme “Think-Eat-Save: Reduce Your Foodprint”, to draw the attention of the global public to food security, supply and conservation.

The United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the UN are using the day to both raise awareness and to take practical actions whether in homes, farms, supermarkets, canteens, hotels or anywhere else where food is prepared and consumed.

“It is an ethical, economic and environmental issue given the enormous waste of energy, water, fertilizers and other inputs as a result of food that is produced but never eaten”, said the UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director, Achim Steiner.

 

Think.Eat.Save is an anti-food waste and food loss campaign that encourages you to reduce your foodprint.

According to the FAO, a third of global food production is wasted or lost. This is equivalent to the 1.3 billion tonnes of food produced in the whole of sub-Saharan Africa every year. At the same time, 1 in every 7 people in the world go to bed hungry and more than 20,000 children under the age of 5 die daily from hunger.  

Making informed decision therefore means, for example, that you purposefully select foods that have less of an environmental impact, such as organic foods that do not use chemicals in the production process. Choosing to buy locally can also mean that foods are not flown halfway across the world and therefore limit emissions, said the UNEP Executive Director.

According to United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, pests, inadequate storage facilities and inefficient supply chains are major contributors to food loss in developing countries. 

“In developed nations, food thrown away by households and the retail and catering industries rots in landfills, releasing significant quantities of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas”, he stated. 

He noted that developing country governments can work to improve essential infrastructure and maximize trade opportunities with neighbours, whilst developed nations can support fair trade and rationalize sell-by dates and other labelling systems.

Businesses can also revise their criteria for rejecting produce; and consumers can minimize waste by buying only what they need and re-using left-over food.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh