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Action to protect the earth
On April 22nd, the 36th "Earth Day", people turned their attention to protecting the earth's environment-an area where human beings are constantly striving but facing many challenges.

In recent years, great changes have taken place in the global climate and environment, and human activities have caused more and more pressure on the earth. Facing the change of living environment, human beings are not indifferent. The international community and governments around the world are actively responding and putting the protection of the global environment into the mainstream development agenda. In 2004, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded for the first time to an environmentalist, Wangari Maathai, Vice Minister of Environment of Kenya, who led Kenyan women to green the whole country, which proved that the international community had a deeper understanding of the relationship between environment and peaceful development.

In recent years, a series of global environmental conventions have been adopted and implemented. A considerable part of the "Millennium Development Goals" adopted by the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000 are related to environmental protection. At the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002, agreements were also reached on biodiversity and chemicals management. At the International Renewable Energy Conference held in June 2004, the participating countries adopted the international action plan for renewable energy, and more than 20 countries, including China, also made commitments on their respective renewable energy utilization targets. The world-famous Kyoto Protocol, which aims at controlling greenhouse gas emissions, also came into effect on February 6th this year. This series of international conventions is conducive to promoting international cooperation on environmental issues and consolidating and strengthening countries' commitment to environmental protection goals.

In 2005, the United Nations will also complete the 10 review of environmental and sustainable development treaties on disaster reduction and development of small island States. The United Nations Sustainable Development Education Plan 10 led by UNESCO and UNEP will also be launched this year. In addition, the international community will hold a global conference on wetlands, species migration and desertification this year.

Although human beings have made some achievements in protecting the earth, the challenges we face are still severe. In March this year, the United Nations released the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Report, which is the first time to assess the global ecosystem. This report, proposed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and written by 1360 experts from 95 countries for four years, once again sounded the alarm for the deterioration of the earth's environment. In the last 50 years, while human beings get all kinds of resources from nature to the maximum extent, they also destroy the global ecological environment on an unprecedented scale, and the consequences of ecosystem degradation are becoming more and more clear.

The report believes that if the current situation continues to deteriorate, the ecological environment of the earth may suddenly change, thus endangering the survival and development of mankind.

In recent years, human health is being threatened by new threats. Some new diseases such as SARS appeared one after another, while old diseases such as influenza and malaria began to show new forms of drug resistance. In addition, diseases that have been contained, such as tuberculosis, have started a new round of counterattack. Recently, the emergence of avian influenza in Asian countries and Marburg hemorrhagic fever in Angola have also aroused people's concern and panic all over the world.

The destruction of the natural environment by human activities is one of the reasons why these diseases are rampant. Although we don't know much about the way and degree of environmental factors, correct environmental policies and management will undoubtedly play a key role in controlling these old and new infectious diseases.

In addition, global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions has become more and more obvious in recent years, and one of its serious consequences is the change of ocean circulation. Although the Kyoto Protocol to control greenhouse gas emissions has come into effect, developed countries such as the United States refuse to ratify the Kyoto Protocol for the sake of their own economic development. Tepfer, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, once said that without the participation of the United States, the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, it is impossible for the international community to formulate effective climate change policies.

Human efforts to protect the earth and maintain sustainable development will be an endless battle, because the continuous development of production activities and the emergence of new technologies will bring us one new challenge after another. In order to win this battle, individuals, social groups, the government and the international community must take action and work together to protect our homeland.