Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta while co-chairing the 2-days (2-3 June) ‘Stockholm+50’ with his Swedish counterpart Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson of Sweden urged the international community to accelerate actions to avert environmental threats facing the world.
At the 2-days meeting code-named ‘Stockholm+50’ which aims to drive action toward a healthy planet for the prosperity of all and to also commemorate the 50th anniversary of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, Keyan’s Kenyatta noted that while over the last 50 years there had been a growing understanding of the grave environmental threats, added that less progress has been made in designing and implementing bold actions to address the challenge.
Reiterating to the participants at the international environment meeting, President Kenyatta said that the essence of the meeting is to seek to, accelerate action to avert the environmental crisis and define a pathway towards an environmentally sustainable future,” that would lead to a new era of global cooperation, he said.
Kenyan’s President asked all participants to seize the opportunity presented by the Stockholm+50 meeting to hasten the pace and quality of action and that “By the time we go to COP27 (the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference) in November, we should aim to have developed a comprehensive, holistic and transformative package of environmental actions.
In her opening remarks, Swedish Prime Minister Ms. Andersson noted that while the developed countries were the ones causing the most environmental pollution, the poorest ones were hit the most by the devastating effects of environmental degradation.
In this regard, the Swedish PM said no country or person should be left behind in the green transition. “The transition can only be done if it is made in a social and inclusive way. And this is not just an option, it is our moral obligation. We must all live up to our commitments. We must start delivering on the declarations we have signed and on the pledges, we have made. We have already talked about the talk. Now it’s time to walk the walk,” the Prime Minister emphasized.
The ‘Stockholm+50’ put together to mark a new era of global cooperation was first held in Stockholm in 1972, placing on its forefront the global agenda on environmental action that had since started a dialogue between industrialized and developing countries on the links between the environment, economic growth, and human well-being.
Also sounding a note of warning, the United Nations – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the “Earth’s natural systems cannot keep up with our demands” as he pleaded with delegates at the Swedish summit to “Lead us out of this mess”.
Calling for action against what he classified as a “triple planetary crisis” that’s been caused by the climate emergency – “that is killing and displacing ever more people each year” – biodiversity loss – which threatens “more than three billion people” – and pollution and waste, “that is costing some nine million lives a year”.
Mr. Guterres while insisting, on focusing in particular on “poor communities, women and girls, indigenous peoples and the generations to come”, implored all nations to do more to protect the basic human right to a clean, healthy environment for everyone,
President of the United Nations General Assembly -UNGA, 76th session H.E. Mr. Abdulla Shahid, at the Stockholm+50 meeting commended Kenya’s and the Swedish leadership’s role in hosting the conference and for providing the space to reflect, review, and recommit to bolder action.
Shahid mentioned that today, we confront many interlinked global crises – from geopolitical, to environmental – which have once again illustrated the deep correlation between human progress and prosperity, with a healthy environment.
He however said our ability to resolve these crises and to meet the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, is directly linked to our ability to address the planetary challenges we face.
The UNGA President also disclosed in his address that our food systems worldwide are struggling under the strain of climate-induced consequences and the destruction of ecosystems. Drought, soil erosion, desertification, the loss of biodiversity, including marine life, and the depletion of crucial natural resources, are only some of the issues we confront. We owe it to our own children and grandchildren, to do much better he said.
He also warned that human progress cannot occur on an earth that is starved of its resources, marred by pollution, and is under relentless assault from a climate crisis of our own making,
Other speakers included Presidents Mokgweetsi Masisi (Botswana), Azali Assoumani (Comoros), Mohamed al-Menfi (Libya), and Collen Kelapile (UN Economic and Social Council) as well as UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen who was also the Secretary-General for the Stockholm+50 meeting.
