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International Mother Earth Day

Special Event22 April 2009

Address by Juanita Castao

Director, UNEP/NYO

Today we are celebrating the General Assemblys proclamation of 22 April as

International Mother Earth Day, the same date as the traditional observance of Earth Day in

many countries. For the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) this is a very special

date since, during the first celebration of Earth Day in 1970, the idea of creating a UNprogramme on the environment began to take shape. It was formally mandated two years later in

1972, as an outcome of the UN Conference on the Human Environment, in Stockholm, along

with the recommendation to henceforth observe 5 June as World Environment Day. At that time,

the developed countries had begun to realize that their models for development have an impact

on the environment and that this would dictate limits to their future actions. In subsequent years,

the UN General Assembly has called for a transformation in the patterns of production and

consumption in the developed world by convening the United Nations Conference on

Environment and Development, also known as the Earth Summit, in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992.

In Johannesburg, in September 2002, a ten year plan on the issue was launched, and the

Commission on Sustainable Development would dedicate its next cycle of meetings in 2010-11to this subject. Many more milestones have emerged since then.

It is not a coincidence that we seek to bring global attention to the importance that the

environment, the earth, our Mother Earth, has on life in this world. In many cultures, the concept

of Mother Earth as the basis of their existence is integrated in their spiritual and cultural beliefs,

and reflects the interdependence that exists between all living beings, humans, animals or plants.

In Inca mythology, Pachamama is the goddess of fertility who presides over sowing and

harvesting, that is, the basis of life. That is why she is still venerated today, as she has been for

thousands of years.

Celebrating this day seeks to focus attention on the ancestral wisdom that recognizes the

holistic importance of the environment for life on this planet. No one can live without it, and

those who abuse it, who make excessive use of its resources, are harming not only the survival of

future generations, but the existence of the present one.

Ancient and wise cultures have been able to understand the relationships which exist

among all living things on this earth, and the importance of respecting them in order to guarantee

their existence, and therewith also that of the human beings in this world. Therefore, it is not

surprising that these cultures have historically rejected the so-called modern values, which in the

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last 200 years or more have based human development on the extensive exploitation of natures

resources, as if they were in infinite supply.

So-called modern civilizations seem to view the earth the same way they saw it before

Columbus proved that the planet is round. They seem to view it as a vast, limitless flat plain,

where you only need to walk into the horizon to find more resources. Consumption isencouraged, for the good of the enterprises which transform those resources into the goods and

services we think are indispensable. We never take a moment to think that the bounty we all are

using, and our future generations will try to use, is not being tended to, is not being guarded, is

not being integrated into the most intimate fibers of our being. We are conscious of protecting

our children, our patrimony, our skills, but somehow we have not integrated Mother Earth into

that protective scheme.

If the present economic model prevails in a world that by the year 2050 will have over 9

billion inhabitants, and if the ecologic footprint of those 9 billion inhabitants follows the

production and consumption patterns of the affluent countries, an ecological disequilibrium ofunimaginable proportions and consequences will have been generated.

In response, UNEP has called for a Global Green New Deal to transform the economy

into one truly conscious of the environmental circumstances of the planet. We feel this is a

necessary path towards the solution of the current economic and climate problems. The UNEP

Policy Brief on the topic recently released is the fruitful collaboration of UNEP with other

agencies and programmes of the United Nations system, the World Bank, the OECD, important

economists and NGOs. The goal is to invest 1% of GDP in five key sectors: sustainable

transport, energy efficiency, renewable energy, afforestation and reforestation, sustainable

agriculture and biodiversity protection. This initiative includes a set of measures to assist poorernations in attaining the MDGs, and make progress in their green development.

The conscious, intelligent and respectful management of the planets resources are the

foundation for our existence, especially so now that the international community faces the dual

crises of climate change and the economy. Both of these are of enormous proportions.

Especially as we need to give a positive impetus to the negotiations towards an agreement on

climate change in Copenhagen, eight months from now.

The observance of days like these, as well as World Environment Day, six weeks hence,

on 5 June, is a tool to raise awareness about the importance of this historic moment we are living.

By the same token, it is one more way to remind our policy makers of the responsibility they

have when making decisions, about leaving the bounty of Mother Earth for generations to come,

to preserve that miracle of fertility, of sowing and harvesting. Let us hope we will harvest good

decisions, with the support and actions of civil society and the private sector, by governments

taken in the spirit of international solidarity in order to protect the resources of our Mother Earth.

In closing, allow me to wish you a Happy Mother Earth day in Quechua:

Mama allpamanta sumaymana punlla!

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Thank you.

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