TEPIC, Mexico: Turning the planet’s environmental fortunes around is achievable if businesses, politicians and citizens work toward a common goal, with the biggest polluters picking up the bill, said the United Nations’ environment chief.
Highlighting the dramatic progress made by China and India, Erik Solheim, executive director of UN Environment, urged governments to take a joined-up approach to going green.
“The profit of destroying nature or polluting the planet is nearly always privatised, while the costs of polluting the planet or the cost of destroying ecosystems is nearly always socialized,” he told an international conference on sustainable development at New York’s Columbia University on Monday.
“That cannot continue,” he said. “Anyone who pollutes, anyone who destroys nature must pay the cost for that destruction or that pollution.”
There has been a “decoupling” of economic development and environmental degradation in many countries, but the World Health Organization now links a quarter of all deaths to pollution which contributes to cancer, heart attacks and respiratory problems, said Solheim.
Emphasising the role of businesses in developing new technologies to address the most pressing needs, Solheim pointed to the explosive growth of companies such as bike-sharing firm Mobike in China.
Meanwhile, the country is rapidly rolling out urban metro systems and a vast high-speed rail network to solve its transport challenge.
The dramatic slide in the cost of solar power is bringing health as well as environmental benefits around the world, Solheim added, while clean energy and technology are helping generate jobs and economic growth in countries like India.
“Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi realized he can electrify the villages and provide any number of green jobs — he can provide high economic growth, he can take care of his people, and take care of the planet by the same policies,” said Solheim.
While reaching the UN environment agency’s target of a “pollution-free planet” is achievable, action must be stepped up toward meeting that goal, said Solheim.
“Change is happening,” he said. “Economic-wise, we are on the right track, but we need to speed up because the challenge is so big.”
Polluters must pick up tab for damage to planet: UN environment chief
Polluters must pick up tab for damage to planet: UN environment chief
Ukraine’s Zelensky says allies to provide new energy and military aid within 10 days
- Kyiv is aiming to rally support among partners as it struggles to fend off Russian battlefield advances and air attacks
KYIV: Ukraine has agreed new energy and military support packages with European allies ahead of the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion on February 24, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday.
Kyiv is aiming to rally support among partners as it struggles to fend off Russian battlefield advances and air attacks on its energy system while under US pressure to negotiate peace.
“In Munich, we agreed with the leaders of the Berlin Format on specific packages of energy and military aid for Ukraine by February 24,” Zelensky wrote on X.
Zelensky said on Friday after a meeting of the so-called Berlin Format of about a dozen European leaders in Munich that he had hoped for new support, including air-defense missiles.
“I am grateful to our partners for their readiness to help, and we count on all deliveries arriving promptly,” he added.
Russian attacks on major cities such as Kyiv have battered Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, plunging millions of residents into power outages of varying periods in freezing cold weather.
Zelensky added that Russia had launched around 1,300 attack drones, 1,200 guided aerial bombs and dozens of ballistic missiles at Ukraine over the past week alone.
