World Volunteer Day
“If everyone would…”:
the UN calls on everyone to volunteer
to protect the Planet threatened by climate change
The theme chosen by the United Nations for the 2023 edition of the Day is “If everyone did…”. (“If everyone did…”) and is intended as an invitation to become aware that voluntary actions, on the part of each and every one, would bring extraordinary benefits to all humanity and to the Earth battered by the neglect and greed of the men of our times.
Il tema scelto dalle Nazioni Unite per l’edizione 2023 della Giornata è “Se tutti lo facessero…” (“If everyone did…”) e vuole essere un invito a prendere coscienza che azioni volontarie, da parte di tutti e ciascuno, porterebbero benefici straordinari all’umanità intera e alla Terra martoriata dall’incuria e dall’avidità degli uomini dei nostri tempi.
Image: www.asp.rg.it
We are not surprised by the choice of UN Secretary Antonio Guterres because concern about global warming is always in his heart. “This year communities around the world have been hit by fires, floods and scorching temperatures… Record global warming should send shivers down the spines of world leaders. And it should spur them into action. This year will be the hottest year in human history,” he said at the start of the ongoing Cop28 climate summit in Dubai, calling global leaders to responsibility (Source: askanews.co.uk).
Photo: www.askanews.it
“We can – you can – avoid the
planetary crash and burn.
Only a few days ago, I was on the melting ice of Antarctica.
Not long before, I was on the melting glaciers of Nepal.
These two places are far apart, but united by crisis.
The polar ice and glaciers are disappearing before our eyes,
causing disasters all over the world…But this is only a symptom of the disease that is bringing our climate to its knees…The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has charted a clear path towards a 1.5-degree world…”
Photo: apnews.com
Antonio Guterres was not wrong in simultaneously addressing a worldwide appeal to the voluntary world. Indeed, this COP28 in the UAE looks like another parade of contradictory blah-blah-blah: “Cop28 will be a failure. So say the young activists, many of whom have given up going to Dubai. So say many scientists who have seen years of appeals based on indisputable and increasingly alarming research fall on deaf ears.” (Source: repubblica.it).
Photo: www.iconaclima.it
Incredible and resounding are the statements made by the COP28 president, Sultan Al Jaber, who stated a few days before the event that “there is no evidence from science that points to the need to phase out fossil fuels to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.” (Source: the British newspaper The Guardian). Al Jaber also stated that phasing out fossil fuels would not allow sustainable development ‘unless you want to take the world back to the caves’.
WE AT THE GOOD SHEPHERD GRATEFUL FOR THE PASSION AND EXPERTISE PUT FORTH BY OUR VOLUNTEERS
WE ADHERE TO THE UN APPEAL
“IF EVERYONE DID IT…”
THE ALLIANCE WITH VOLUNTEERS
CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE:
WE URGENTLY NEED TO SPREAD THE REVOLUTION OF CARE TOGETHER
Volunteering is a reservoir of renewable “resources” that makes a significant impact (at almost zero cost) on situations of crisis, vulnerability and pain that affect the existence of people and the contexts in which we live.
