Message on World Environment Day 2022
Inger Anderson, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme
2022年世界环境日致辞
联合国环境规划署执行主任 英格尔·安德森
The idea of World Environment Day was born 50 years ago at the 1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm. It was born out of the understanding that we need to stand out to protect the air, land and water on which we all depend. It was born out of an understanding that the power of people matters and matters greatly.
Today, as we look to a present and a future of heat waves, droughts, floods, wildfires, pandemic, dirty air and plastic ridden oceans and yes, wars, action is more important than ever and we are running against the clock.
And this is on all of us. This means politicians who see beyond the election cycle to intergenerational wins. This means financial institutions that finance the planet. This means businesses that account for nature. This means a just and clean energy transition. This means people making smarter choices on what we eat, what we wear and how we live. And this means cities where we can breathe. And this means legislators who protect the human right to a healthy environment.
This movement that began in 1972 stands at a critical juncture today. It's now or never. Because we are one people and we have only one Earth. We have only one home and that is worth standing up for.