World Biodiversity Day

We are part of the solution. Safeguarding diversity concerns us!

“Be part of the Plan” -which we have translated into “We are part of the solution” to call for personal and collective responsibilities with respect to safeguarding biodiversity– is the theme chosen in 2024 to mark this Day. It is like a call to action addressed to all stakeholders to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by supporting the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework agreed at the 15th United Nations Conference on Biodiversity in 2022.

This year’s celebration of the International Day for Biodiversity will coincide with two meetings of the Subsidiary Bodies of the Convention on Biological Diversity, both of which will take place in Nairobi, Kenya: the 26th meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA, 13-18 May) and the fourth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation established in Montreal in 2021 (SBI, 21-29 May). On this day, we are also in the midst of Laudato sì Week (19-26 May) inspired this year by the symbol of Creation Time 2024, “first fruits”. Let us be seeds of hope in our lives and in our world, rooted in faith and love. (Source: www.laudatosimouvement.org)

Image: www.cgfmanet.org

The ‘call to action’ for the preservation of biodiversity therefore concerns us very closely: this Day, in fact, was preceded by Overshoot day 2024 for Italy (Sunday 19 May), which confirms the senseless use of natural resources. Ecological overexploitation.

Image: www.hdblog.it

ARE WE AWARE THAT IF ALL HUMANITY CONSUMED LIKE THE ITALIANS
THE PLANET WOULD ALREADY HAVE ‘EXHAUSTED’
THE NATURAL RESOURCES AVAILABLE BY 2024?
IN ITALY WE HAVE ALREADY STARTED CONSUMING THOSE BY 2025
IF EVERYONE HAD THE SAME LIFESTYLE AS US,
WE WOULD NEED 2.7 PLANETS!

Once again this year, Italy finds itself in an ecological deficit situation. In practice, we are consuming more resources than we have and releasing more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than ecosystems can absorb. Of course, in Italy we do not reach the consumption levels of Qatar and Luxembourg, which had already exhausted the planet’s resources in February, nor those of the United Arab Emirates, the United States and Canada (followed by European countries such as Denmark and Belgium), which reached their Overshoot Day in March. However, we are still among the least virtuous countries. (Source wwf.it)

Image: winenews.it

Waste Watcher’ data confirm that 1.5 billion kilos of food are wasted every year in Italy, with disruptive effects on the economy, sustainability and the environment due to the negative impact on energy expenditure and waste disposal. Coldiretti points out that fruit is the most wasted food in Italy, with 1.3 kilos per person ending up in the dustbin in a year, followed by bread with over 1 kilo per capita, as well as garlic, onions and tubers, while a little further down are salad and vegetables, with economic losses in the budgets of Italian families amounting to almost 7.5 billion euros… and serious damage to our Mother Earth.

EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED AND URGENT!
BIODIVERSITY DAY
CALLS US TO RESPONSIBLE ACTION
ON TRANSFORMING OUR LIFESTYLES

Immagine: www.ciriesco.it