WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY JUNE 5
No action is too small. Every step towards safeguarding our environment counts! This year’s event recognizes that we are all connected and that the challenges that face islands are global challenges that affect us all – so make every action counts.
World Environment Day is celebrated annually on 5 June and this year, in support of the UN designation of 2014 as the International Year of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Cameroon will be joining her counterparts worldwide to commemorate the day under the theme “Raise your voice, not the level of the sea”
Reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have shown that global sea levels are rising at an increased rate, which may have effects such as increased global temperatures, expansion of seawater and sea level rise when polar ice melts. Small islands happen to be the most vulnerable to sea level rise and the effects of climate change, they are also places that have been successful at implementing environmental initiatives that increase resilience and show real innovation, for example, by transitioning to renewable sources of energy and restoring mangrove ecosystems which protect against severe floods and storms.
World Environment Day (WED) is the United Nations’ principal vehicle for encouraging worldwide awareness and action for the environment. Over the years it has grown to be a broad, global platform for public outreach that is widely celebrated by stakeholders in over 100 countries. It also serves as the ‘people’s day’ for doing something positive for the environment, galvanizing individual actions into a collective power that generates an exponential positive impact on the planet.
In Cameroon, the day is usually celebrated in grand style under the auspices of the Ministry of Environment, Protection of Nature and Sustainable Development (MINEPDED). Civil societies always join voices and involve themselves in awareness raising activities. This year, stakeholders called on Cameroonians to speak out and save the planet rather than stay quiet. They warned that any one who is aware and does not raise his voice especially against rising sea levels is guilty of any environmental hazard that befalls Cameroon in particular and the world at large.
Regina Leke
