United Nations Environment Program
The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) was established in 1972 and is headquartered in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. According to the "Nairobi Declaration on the Role and Mission of the United Nations Environment Program" adopted by the 19th Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Program in December 1997, the main tasks of the United Nations Environment Program are:
1. Utilize existing resources Have the best scientific and technological capabilities to analyze global environmental conditions and evaluate global and regional environmental trends, provide policy advice and early warning on various environmental threats, and promote and promote international cooperation and action;
2. Promote and the development of international environmental law aimed at achieving sustainable development, including the establishment of coherent links between existing international conventions;
3. Promote the adoption of agreed actions to address emerging Environmental challenges;
4. Use UNEP’s comparative advantages and scientific and technological expertise to strengthen the coordination of environmental activities in the United Nations system and strengthen its role as the implementing agency of the Global Environment Facility;
5. Promote people’s environmental awareness, facilitate effective cooperation among actors at all levels involved in the implementation of the international environmental agenda, and serve as an effective liaison between decision-makers in the national and international scientific communities;
6. Provide policy and advisory services to governments and other relevant institutions in important areas of environmental system construction.
The members of the United Nations Environment Program Governing Council are composed of 58 countries elected by the United Nations General Assembly for a three-year term. Among them, 16 are from Africa, 13 from Asia, 6 from Eastern Europe, 10 from Latin America and the Caribbean, and 13 from Western Europe and other countries. China has been a member of the Board of Directors of the United Nations Environment Program since its establishment.
World Environment Day: The consequences of melting glaciers are worrying
June 5 is World Environment Day. The United Nations Environment Program has designated the theme of World Environment Day as "Glacier melting, with dire consequences."
The earth is the home for human beings to survive. In order to raise people's awareness of environmental protection, the United Nations held the first Human Environment Conference in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, on June 5, 1972, and adopted the famous "Declaration on the Human Environment" and the "Action Plan" to protect the global environment. In the same October, the 27th United Nations General Assembly decided to establish the United Nations Environment Program based on the recommendations of the Stockholm Conference and officially designated June 5 as "World Environment Day". Since 1974, the United Nations Environment Program has established a theme for World Environment Day and launched related publicity activities.
With the intensification of human activities, large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions have caused the earth’s temperature to continue to rise. According to information provided by the United Nations Environment Program, from the Industrial Revolution in the mid-18th century to the present, the global average temperature has increased by 0.75 degrees Celsius.
Global warming has caused glaciers to melt, ice caps to shrink, and ice shelves to break. German researchers have pointed out that there are currently about 160,000 glaciers in the world, and they are melting rapidly. For example, the area of ??glaciers in the European Alps has shrunk by one-third and its volume by half compared to the mid-19th century; the glaciers of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, have seen their ice caps shrink by 80% since 1912. The melting of glaciers has caused the permafrost in the above areas to lose its "binding" function, resulting in frequent landslides and mudslides.
In addition, meteorological observations have found that in the past few decades, the permanent sea ice in the Arctic has been decreasing, and glaciers and permafrost have been melting. Experts from the European Space Agency found based on analysis of satellite images that in summer, about 5% to 10% of the permanently frozen ice from northern Europe to the Arctic Ocean begins to loosen and melt. In addition, three major ice shelves in Antarctica have collapsed in the past ten years. Glacier activity without ice shelf support has accelerated significantly, and the ice has also become thinner.
Melting glaciers will cause sea levels to rise, and lower-lying islands and coastal cities will be in danger of being submerged. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued a climate assessment report stating that if the increase in global average temperature continues at the current level, it will eventually lead to the complete melting of the Greenland ice sheet, which will lead to a rise in sea level of about 7 meters. What’s even more frightening is that if all the Antarctic ice caps melt, the global sea level will rise by 60 meters, and the disaster caused to the earth will be devastating.
Global warming is an important factor causing the melting of glaciers. All countries in the world have the same obligation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but developed countries should play a greater role and take the lead in committing to emission reduction obligations to help development China's national ability to cope with climate change can fundamentally reverse the trend of global warming and protect the common home of mankind.
In response to this theme, combined with the central tasks and key tasks of my country's environmental protection, it demonstrates the determination and actions of the Chinese government and people to reduce pollutant emissions and build an environment-friendly society.
In the economic and social "Eleventh Five-Year Plan" development plan, the Chinese government proposed to achieve the goal of reducing the total discharge of major pollutants by 10%, and decomposed this binding indicator layer by layer and implemented it at all levels. Government related industries. At present, governments at all levels attach great importance to it, their work intensity has been significantly increased, and the guiding role of binding indicators has begun to appear.
Promoting pollution reduction and building an environment-friendly society is the common responsibility of the whole society. It not only requires governments at all levels and relevant departments to increase their efforts, but also requires the active support of the broadest masses of the people and the mobilization of the broadest social forces. participate. "Pollution emission reduction and environmentally friendly society" has been determined as the Chinese theme of today's World Environment Day, aiming to increase publicity, encourage public participation, and give full play to the enthusiasm, initiative and creativity of all sectors of society, so as to reduce pollutant emissions and Environmentally friendly coexistence has become a conscious action of every unit, every enterprise and every member of society.
World Environment Day: What can I do to save you, my earth?
On April 2, in order to promote the use of bicycles in Mexico City, Marcelo Efe, Mayor of Mexico City, the capital of Mexico, Ladd takes the lead in riding his bike to work. The widespread use of automobiles is an important cause of large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions.
On the evening of March 31, Australia’s Sydney Opera House turned off its main lights. Starting at 19:30 that night, tens of thousands of businesses and residents in Sydney collectively cut off power for one hour to draw attention to global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions.
On February 27, Dave Errett, an electrical appliance salesman in Sydney, Australia, held up an old incandescent light bulb and a new energy-saving light bulb. Because new energy-saving lamps can save more resources, the government advocates using them to replace old incandescent light bulbs.
On January 12, a row of wind turbines stood in a valley 407 kilometers northeast of Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. Wind energy is a renewable, non-polluting clean energy. Currently, many countries in the world have commercialized it as a mature clean energy source and is known as "green power".
On June 15, in the waters near Spain’s Balearic Islands, two Greenpeace members held a banner that read “Where have all the tuna gone?” and dived underwater to call for people’s attention and protection. Increasingly scarce tuna.
On February 14, in Puerto Princesa, Philippines, newlyweds who had just attended a mass wedding walked past the saplings they planted on the beach. It was Valentine's Day, and an environmentally friendly collective wedding attended by hundreds of couples was held here. New people planted mangroves on the beach.
On May 30, the new “Noah’s Ark” built by volunteers stood on Mount Ararat in Turkey. It causes people to think deeply: If we continue to destroy the earth, when the final disaster comes, who else can save mankind?
Environmental degradation, climate change, melting glaciers, rising sea levels... these are not just An issue that only a few people should worry about, our home planet is closely related to each of us.
Today, when environmental problems are becoming increasingly severe, should we stop and think about what else we can do to save the earth and ourselves?
Top 10 global environmental problems 1. Climate warming 2. Ozone layer Destruction 3. Biodiversity reduction 4. Spread of acid rain 5. Forest loss 6. Land desertification 7. Air pollution 8. Water pollution 9. Ocean pollution 10. Solid waste pollution.