UN to mark world environment day tomorrow

The links among human development, ultimate survival and ecosystem sustainability will be the focus of this year’s celebration of World Environment Day in June, which carries the theme "Connect with the World Wide Web of Life."

Terence Jones, United Nations Development Program (UNDP) resident representative in the Philippines and UN System resident coordinator, said the theme reflects the need to make a connection between people and all forms of life on earth.

That connection, he explained, can be through modern technology, traditional means, or by joining hands with other individuals and organizations with the end view of giving environmental issues "a human face."

Jones said the UNDP’s environment program is geared towards helping the Philippines achieve the objective of enhancing the environment’s carrying capacity to support the country’s sustained economic growth, thereby alleviating poverty in the process.

"Our multifaceted approach involves support for the evolution and refinement of legislative and regulatory frameworks, the use of market-based mechanisms to encourage private sector participation, greater reliance on communities in the formulation and implementation of local initiatives, and the establishment of a more effective system of environmental governance," Jones said.

As part of World Environment Day celebrations, certificates of volunteer service will be given to national steering committee members of the Global Environment Facility-Small Grants Program (GEF-SGP) to recognize the importance of voluntary service in development and environment work.

Jones, along with Environment Secretary Heherson Alvarez and UNV program specialist Jens Behrendt, will hand out the certificates during a ceremony at the NEDA Makati Bldg. at 5 p.m. tomorrow.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, meanwhile, announced the launch on World Environment Day of the millennium ecosystem assessment, an international collaborative effort to fill important knowledge gaps and to map the health of the planet.

In his World Environment Day message, Annan stressed the need for people to recognize their role in preserving the planet and ecosystems, resources and natural processes that bind them all together since "sustainability is everybody’s interest, rich and poor alike."

"This year’s theme sends an important message," said Klaus Toepfer, executive director of the UN Environment Program (UNEP).

"It reminds all of the Earth’s inhabitants that mankind’s future is inextricably woven with the plants, animals and ecosystems of the planet which provide us with food, water, air, medicine, building materials, and not least, beauty which is vital for nourishing the human spirit," Toepfer added.