Kigali (Rwanda)/Nairobi
(Kenya), 17 February 2010 - Rwanda, the
East African country that is embracing a
transition to a Green Economy,
will be the global host of World Environment
Day 2010, the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) announced today.
World Environment Day
(WED), which aims to be the biggest global
celebration for positive environmental action,
is coordinated by UNEP every year on 5 June.
This year's theme is
'Many Species. One Planet. One Future.'
- a message focusing on the central importance
to humanity of the globe's wealth of species
and ecosystems. The WED theme also supports
this year's UN International Year of Biodiversity.
Rwanda's combination
of environmental richness, including rare
and economically-important species such
as the mountain gorilla, allied to newly
evolving and pioneering green policies is
among the reasons why UNEP welcomed its
offer to be the global 2010 host.
While the country faces
many challenges ranging from overcoming
poverty and developing sustainable energy
resources to land degradation, this 'land
of a thousand hills' is developing forward-looking
strategies including the development of
renewable energies such as solar power and
biogas generation.
It is already internationally-renowned
for introducing a ban on plastic bags, nationwide
environmental clean-up campaigns and the
development of a conservation corridor for
chimpanzees.
Paul Kagame, the President
of the Republic of Rwanda, said: "The
environment, from the country's biological
diversity to developing modern and sustainable
businesses, is at the heart of our vision
for the future of Rwanda. We are honoured
to host World Environment Day on behalf
of both the African and the whole international
community, and we look forward to organizing
a truly global celebration of the diversity
of life on our planet."
Achim Steiner, UNEP
Executive Director and UN Under-Secretary-General,
said: "WED has become a dynamic and
global grass roots expression of humanity's
desire to realize meaningful and positive
environmental change. And Rwanda is an African
nation that, despite big challenges, is
seizing the multiple opportunities possible
from Green Economic policies."
"The pairing of
Rwanda with WED in 2010 is thus a compelling
and inspiring alliance-underlining that
all economies, rich and poor and North and
South have real and tangible opportunities
to shape a more sustainable development
path: One that develops new business models
based on intelligent management of the natural
world and high tech clean and renewable
businesses," he added.
WED is a day for everyone
on the planet to get involved and go green
- from schoolchildren to presidents and
from community groups to multinationals.
Rwanda's capital Kigali
will be the venue for this global celebration
of the environment, with a myriad of activities
over several days to inspire Rwandans, East
Africans and people around the world to
take action for the environment.
The celebrations in
Kigali will be just one of thousands of
events taking place around the globe on
5 June. UNEP plans to make WED 2010 into
a bigger celebration than ever before, building
on the unprecedented success of WED 2009
- when people in more than 80 countries
registered activities on the WED website,
hundreds of people posted Daily Do Something
Tips and more than 10,000 people joined
the 'twitter for trees' campaign, among
other achievements.
Under the rallying cry
of 'Many Species, One Planet, One Future',
WED 2010 will aim to mobilize more people
than ever for the environment on 5 June,
with a huge variety of activities ranging
from school tree-planting drives to community
clean-ups, car-free days, photo competitions
on biodiversity, bird-watching trips, city
park clean-up initiatives, exhibits, green
petitions, nationwide green campaigns and
much more.
The WED 2010 website
will inspire, inform and involve people
through unprecedented interactivity, offering
daily tips, information and statistics on
biodiversity, a platform where people around
the world can register their activities,
social networking campaigns and competitions
to get people on every continent involved.
Anyone can organize an event and register
it on the WED website - the most important
thing is to give a helping hand to the amazing
variety of life on our planet.
Notes to Editors:
About WED 2010
A total of 17,291 species
are known to be threatened with extinction
- from obscure plants and insects to well-known
birds and mammals. This is just the tip
of the iceberg; many species disappear before
they are even discovered.
The reason? Human activities.
With our present approach to development,
we have caused the clearing of much of the
original forest, drained half of the world's
wetlands, depleted three quarters of all
fish stocks, and emitted enough heat-trapping
gases to keep our planet warming for centuries
to come. We have put our foot on the accelerator,
making species extinctions occur at up to
1,000 times the natural rate.
As a result, we are
increasingly risking the loss of the very
foundation of our own survival. The variety
of life on our planet - known as 'biodiversity'
- gives us our food, clothes, fuel, medicine
and much, much more. You may not think that
a beetle in your backyard or grass growing
by the roadside has a fundamental connection
to you - but it does. When even one species
is taken out of the intricate web of life,
the results can be catastrophic.
At the same time, humans
have the power to stem the tide of extinction.
Through concerted conservation action, we
have brought some species back from the
brink, and have restored some vital natural
habitats around the world. But we need to
do much more, and much faster, to win the
race against extinction.
For this reason, the
United Nations has declared 2010 the International
Year of Biodiversity. It is an opportunity
to stress the importance of biodiversity
for human well-being, reflect on our achievements
to safeguard it and encourage a redoubling
of our efforts to reduce the rate of biodiversity
loss.
The theme of WED 2010
(World Environment Day) is 'Many Species.
One Planet. One Future.' It echoes the urgent
call to conserve the diversity of life on
our planet. A world without biodiversity
is a very bleak prospect. Millions of people
and millions of species all share the same
planet, and only together can we enjoy a
safer and more prosperous future.
As we celebrate WED,
let us consider carefully the actions each
of us must take, and then address ourselves
to our common task of preserving all life
on Earth.
Through WED, we can
employ our individual and collective power
to stem the tide of extinction. Our conservation
action has brought some species back from
the brink, and has restored some vital natural
habitats around the world. On WED, let us
resolve to do much more, and much faster,
to win the race against extinction!
For more information on the International
Year of Biodiversity, visit: http://www.unep.org/iyb/
Details about WED campaigns and special
initiatives will be announced at www.unep.org/WED
in the run-up to 5 June.
