Written by: Daniela Miranda
Ten years. That is all we have. The next ten years are critical to confronting climate change and saving millions of species. 2030 is the deadline to meet the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and to prevent irreversible damage to our planet. The UN has rallied behind the restoration and protection of healthy ecosystems to meet these objectives and improve human lives. The UN Environment Program and the Food and Agriculture Organization are launching the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration to do just this: heal the planet.
The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration calls political, scientific and environmental sources together to support mass scale restoration of the earth’s natural ecosystems. We cannot solve climate change with a one-size-fits-all approach. However, through a myriad of different approaches we can stop environmental degradation. How do we do this?
We need your help. Currently, the world does not have sufficient support for the hundreds of thousands of global initiatives tackling restoration. The Decade for Ecosystem Restoration is a global movement focused on building momentum to restoration and initiatives. It acts as a platform for governments, nonprofits, private sector companies, and communities (with a focus on indigenous communities) to “engage globally and scale up restoration initiatives.” The plan aims to improve the relationship between humans and nature while stopping climate change, restoring biodiversity, and enhancing quality of life.
On average, for every dollar spent on restoration nine dollars of economic benefits are generated. Restoration will help offset the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic by supplying jobs. Likewise, it will drastically improve air and water quality, cool cities, and reduce congestion and pollution.
#RestorationGeneration officially launches in 2021. We’ve also outlined some other ways you can get involved today!
Ways to Get Involved Today!
Use the UN Decade’s visual on your website and social media accounts, print t-shirts and flyers. You can find the visual itself, the UN Decade Video, as well as relevant hashtags here!
Post on social media. Share the UN Decade video with friends and family.
For information on restoring specific ecosystems, I invite you to check out the Decade on Restoration’s website here!