On, 12^th of December Paris agreement completed five years of success. The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties at COP 21 in Paris on 12 December 2015 and entered into force on 4 November 2016. The main theme of this treaty is to limit global warming to below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, and to achieve this long-term temperature goal, countries aim to minimize the greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible and to achieve climate stability worldwide.

Our Union Minister of Environment and climate change Prakash Javadekar concluded in a press conference held on 11th December that climate change is not a one-day phenomenon. It has taken several years leading to irregular patterns of climate. On comparing the percentile, USA contributes 25% of emission, Europe 22%, China 13%, and India 3%. We are in no way responsible for this climate change but as a responsible nation, we are trying to eradicate disturbances caused by humans for this muddle. The Climate Ambition Summit 2020 held on 12^th December through virtual conferencing.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing the summit said, the Paris Agreement is the most ambitious step in our fight against climate change. India is continuously on its path to fulfilling the targets of the Paris agreement. The country has reduced the emissions to 21 % as compared to 2005 levels. India’s solar capacity has grown from 2.63 gigawatts in 2014 to 36 gigawatts in 2020.

The countries established an enhanced transparency framework (ETF) with the Paris Agreement. Under ETF, starting in 2024, countries will report transparently on actions taken and progress in climate change mitigation, adaptation measures, and support provided or received. It also provides for international procedures for the review of the submitted reports. The information collected through this way will assess the collective progress towards the long-term climate goals.

World Environment Day 2020 theme: Biodiversity

This year’s theme for world environment day 2020 is Biodiversity– a concern that is both urgent and existential.  Everything from the food we eat, to air we breathe, comes from nature. Despite all the benefits that our nature gives us, we still destroy it. 

Importance of Biodiversity

Biodiversity is an urgent matter of concern. Recent events, such as bushfires in Brazil, locust infestations across East Africa, and a global disease COVID-19 pandemic demonstrate the interdependence of humans and other life forms. Biodiversity is commonly referred to as the diversity of life on earth. The loss to biodiversity affects every aspect of human needs like health, food, clean air, water, soil, and wildlife. Human intervention in the environment can change, or remove elements of this life web and affects the entire life system which produces negative results. Human actions, such as deforestation, intensified agriculture, invasion of wildlife habitats has a severe impact on biodiversity. Thus, it’s a time for nature to protect and conserve otherwise it will deplete and harm us all along.

Healthy biodiversity offers many natural services:

• Food and medicinal plants
• Protection of water resources
• Pollution breakdown
• Water resources and soils formation

The emergence of COVID-19 has emphasizes the fact that, when we destroy biodiversity, we destroy the system that supports human life. This time is a  global call #for nature.

Also Read International day for Biodiversity 2020.

This year Colombia is hosting the world environment day in partnership with Germany. Colombia is rich in having diverse orchid species, birds, plants, butterflies, and freshwater fish. Colombia holds 10% of the planet’s biodiversity and is also a part of the Amazon rainforest.

So, on this world environment day let’s take a pledge to protect our environment.

Also Read International Forests Day 2020: Forest and Biodiversity

INFORMATION SOURCE: https://www.un.org/en/observances/environment-day

INFORMATION SOURCE: https://www.worldenvironmentday.global/