In their messages on World Environment Day, Senior UN officials have called for actions by world leaders to “fulfill the promise of the Earth Summit”, at the Rio + 20 Conference on Sustainable Development next year.
UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon welcomed many of the changes since the 1992 Earth Summit, 20 years ago, such as the hundreds of millions that have risen from poverty. “Yet, evidence is also accumulating of profound and potentially irreversible changes in the ability of the planet to sustain our progress, “says the Secretary-General.
Investing an additional US$40 billion a year in the
forestry sector could halve deforestation rates by 2030, increase rates of tree
planting by around 140 per cent by 2050, and catalyze the creation of millions
of new jobs according to a report by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP),
published on 5 June, World Environment Day 2011.
Nearly 20 years
after the 1992 Earth Summit, the world is once again on the road to Rio – the
site of the June 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development. Much has changed in the past two decades,
geopolitically and environmentally.
Hundreds of millions of people in Asia, Latin America – and,
increasingly, in Africa – have risen from poverty. Yet, evidence is also accumulating of
profound and potentially irreversible changes in the ability of the planet to
sustain our progress.
Let the Environment Day Challenge begin! 
The
United Nations General Assembly declared 2011 as the International Year of
Forests to raise awareness on sustainable management, conservation and
sustainable development of all types of forests.
