By Anu Nkeze Paul
The Minister of Environment, Nature Protection and Sustainable Development (MINEPDED), Hele Pierre, June 1, 2015, launched several activities for the commemoration of World Environment Day on June 5, 2015.
Hele Piere launched the activities at the esplanade of the MINEPDED building in Yaounde.
Several activities like educative talks at media organs, quizzes for primary and secondary schools, roundtable debates by environmentalists on the theme of the year were programmed for the week leading up to the June 5 ceremony scheduled at the Yaounde Conference Centre.
The launching ceremony saw a huge turnout of MINEPDED officials, international organizations involved in environmental activities like the International Union for Nature Conservation (IUCN), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) NGOs, and school children from some selected schools in Yaounde.
This year’s theme, “Sustainable Lifestyles” urges the public to reflect on ways to better manage environmental resources.
The topic is a particularly powerful one because there is room for everyone to take a moment to question how we live and how it impacts the planet.
The theme asks everyone to evaluate our consumer habits: how we shop, eat and travel.
In his keynote address, Hele Pierre stressed the importance of biodiversity to the existence of mankind.
“The environment and its resources are there to support livelihood but it must be exploited in a sustainable manner. We must avoid wasteful production of natural resources and be rational in extraction,” said the Minister.
He added, “Environmental resources are there to serve the present and future generations, so we must act today while thinking of tomorrow. A good environment is where human beings interact with nature. There is need for everyone to protect the environment to prevent adverse effects like climate change, desertification, water scarcity, land degradation, flora and fauna extinction and global warming threats.”
Experts say by 2050 if current consumption and production patterns remain the same and with a rising population expected to reach 9.6 billion, we will need three planets to sustain our way of life.
Living well within planetary boundaries is the most promising strategy for ensuring a healthy future. Switching to renewable, sustainable clean energy will stimulate our economy, create jobs, save us some money, improve our health, reduce our carbon footprint and clean up our environment.
Carbon dioxide has increased about 40 percent in the atmosphere since the 1950s, due to pollution from dirty energy like coal, oil, and gas. The result is a warming climate.
