#StopTheMelt: need for ecosystem restoration

‘Ecosystem Restoration’ was this year’s United Nations World Environment Day theme.

Marking the day, a campaign titled #StopTheMelt, raising awareness about the need of a greener and healthier Earth, was launched on Saturday by Discovery India in partnership with United Nations India and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) India. As part of the campaign, a special film was released to ignite hope for a better tomorrow with the help of simple yet impactful call to action like tree plantation and avoiding plastics usage.

The campaign is backed by captivating creatives across Discovery Network social media platforms which symbolises the harsh effects of global warming and leaves an alarming question for all the human beings. Leading Indian influencer names have lent their support to champion the cause of self-reflection to re-analyze habits and save the environment.

A special soul stirring film is released in partnership with UN India and WWF India to raise awareness and rekindle hope within every individual with simple yet impactful call to action like tree plantation, avoiding plastics usage and other urgent environmental issues.

As reported in a UN press release, heads of government, religious leaders, activists and artists joined the UN in a rallying cry to heal the planet, launching the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. It calls for stepping up efforts to prevent, halt and reverse degradation of areas such as grasslands, forests, oceans and mountains, essential to all life on Earth. The UN Decade runs through 2030, which is the timeline scientists have identified as humanity’s last chance to prevent catastrophic climate change.

The UN stresses that there is a role for everyone. UNEP and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) are co-leading this global movement to re-imagine, recreate and restore ecosystems, which is crucial particularly as countries strive to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. Recent research from the UN agency and partners revealed that investments in nature-based solutions will have to triple by 2030 to counter the climate, biodiversity and land degradation crises. There has never been a more urgent need to revive damaged ecosystems than now.

Ecosystems support all life on Earth. The healthier our ecosystems are, the healthier the planet — and its people. The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration aims to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems on every continent and in every ocean. It can help to end poverty, combat climate change and prevent a mass extinction. It will only succeed if everyone plays a part.

With humanity facing a “triple environmental emergency” of biodiversity loss, climate disruption and escalating pollution, now is the time to act, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a video message for the online virtual gala.  “We are reaching the point of no return for the planet,” he warned, adding, “We are ravaging the very ecosystems that underpin our societies, and in doing so, we risk depriving ourselves of the food, water and resources we need to survive.”

Inger Andersen, the UNEP Executive Director, said governments must ensure their stimulus packages contribute to recovery that is sustainable and equitable.

“Businesses and the financial sector must reform operations and financial flows so that they restore and not destroy the natural world”, she added.  Ms. Andersen also highlighted a to-do list for individuals and consumers: “Re-think your choices, demand deforestation-free products, vote for sustainability in the polling booth, and raise your voice loud and clear.”

As the UN explains, ecosystem restoration means assisting in the recovery of ecosystems that have been degraded or destroyed, as well as conserving the ecosystems that are still intact. Healthier ecosystems, with richer biodiversity, yield greater benefits such as more fertile soils, bigger yields of timber and fish, and larger stores of greenhouse gases.

Restoration can happen in many ways — for example through actively planting or by removing pressures so that nature can recover on its own. It is not always possible — or desirable — to return an ecosystem to its original state. We still need farmland and infrastructure on land that was once forest, for instance, and ecosystems, like societies, need to adapt to a changing climate.

Between now and 2030, the restoration of 350 million hectares of degraded terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems could generate $9 trillion in ecosystem services. Restoration could also remove 13 to 26 gigatons of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. The economic benefits of such interventions exceed nine times the cost of investment, whereas inaction is at least three times more costly than ecosystem restoration.