Climate of Our Future

Source: Climate Crisis Coalition

By Achim Steiner, UNEP.org, June 5, 2007. ” World Environment Day 2007 focuses on the challenges facing the people and ecosystems of the Arctic and Antarctic as a result of rapid environmental and climatic change. In doing so it also links to the wider world where glaciers are shrinking and an increasing number of extreme weather events are triggering more frequent droughts and floods. In focusing on the polar regions we hold up a mirror to the accelerating impacts sweeping the whole planet from the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. These seemingly remote regions vividly illustrate the interconnectedness of all life on Earth—bringing home to the six billion people alive today how mutually reliant and linked we all are to landscapes and ecosystems both near and far. The Arctic and Antarctica may be the Earth’s climate early warning system—feeling the heat first—but we know it does not end there… The theme for this year’s World Environment Day is Melting Ice: A Hot Topic? Thus it is fitting that the main celebrations are being hosted by Norway on the edge of the Arctic Circle. The logo underlines the global theme by asking a polar bear, an African farmer, a Pacific islander, an insurer and businessman, two indigenous children and ultimately ‘Yourself’ the rhetorical question of whether indeed this is the topic of our time. Perhaps we should have added a further person—namely a politician. World Environment Day has at its heart the empowerment of the individual citizen. UNEP urges everyone to embrace this year’s theme and put the question to their political leaders and democratically elected representatives: just how much hotter does this topic need to become before governments across the globe finally act?” Achim Steiner is UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director.