Our Planet Is Also Struggling to Make Ends Meet

Our Planet is Struggling to Sustain Itself

22 April World Day is celebrated with the call to invest in our planet. Prof. Dr. Filiz Karaosmanoğlu, Faculty Member at Istanbul Technical University and Chair of the Sustainable Production and Consumption Association, made statements for 2022 World Day with the message that our planet is struggling to sustain itself, and calling on us all to take action together to protect our environment, climate, nature, biodiversity, families, livelihoods and future by living healthily on a healthy planet.

As our planet, air, water and soil are being polluted, our climate has changed and our resources are depleting. We have damaged aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Biodiversity is under threat. While human and natural health are in danger, economic development and agricultural difficulties are making our survival harder. Our planet is struggling to sustain itself. Prof. Dr. Filiz Karaosmanoğlu, Faculty Member at Istanbul Technical University and Chair of the Sustainable Production and Consumption Association (SÜT-D), who states that we all bear responsibility in the gradual destruction of our planet, said: "Let us take action, find innovative solutions, and make investments to protect our health and our planet."

22 April World Day is Based on the First Major Environmental Initiative

The United Nations (UN) World Day is based on the environmental stewardship movement triggered by the oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara in the United States on 28 January 1968, which caused the destruction of wildlife and ocean pollution. The day was proposed in 1969 by activist John McConnell. On 22 April 1970, more than 20 million people, mostly university students, marched for the first environmental initiative action, creating an international agenda. This date became a UN day in 1990. Prof. Dr. Filiz Karaosmanoğlu, stating that today, celebrated through World Day Network activities, continues efforts to create widespread impact to stop the destruction of our planet and protect it by focusing primarily on environmental pollution, climate change and biodiversity issues, emphasised that we all have things to do.

Prof. Karaosmanoğlu: "This year is significant as it is the first World Day celebrated within the framework of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration announced in 2021. The healthier our ecosystems are, the healthier our planet and we can advance our lives with a sustainable economy. Through environmental pollution, climate change, deforestation, changes in land use, increasing agricultural production and the rapidly growing wildlife trade, we have damaged nature and caused biodiversity loss. Our planet is suffering. If we repair, restore and protect our ecosystems, we can help end climate change, reduce poverty and hunger, prevent migration and promote sustainable economic growth, reduce inequalities and prevent mass extinction," providing this information, he called for us all to take action together.

Make Peace with Nature on Three Urgent Issues

Dr. Karaosmanoğlu said: "As stated in the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report titled 'Making Peace with Nature: A Scientific Plan to Tackle Climate, Biodiversity and Pollution Crises' announced in February 2021, it tells us what we need to do on three urgent issues. We are in a situation we cannot ignore, where concern is an insufficient word, and we should be afraid. To secure our future and prevent new pandemics, we must find political, economic and technical solutions to our climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution problems, and make peace with nature by practicing more sustainable production and consumption without wasting our planet's natural resources."

We are in times when survival is very difficult. Let us not forget that our planet is also struggling to sustain itself. Life at home and life in nature are harder than ever. Prof. Karaosmanoğlu, saying that as the economy recovers, we must also recover our nature, drew attention to the fact that the resources, lands, forests and food chain that our planet will provide us in the near future are in danger, and stated that by destroying the green and the blue, we can neither survive today nor tomorrow.