World Environment Day 2020: A cry for Nature

June 5^th is World Environment Day. This is a day internationally set to celebrate our environment and appreciate nature for our co-existence. For those who share in knowledge of the creation story in the book of Genesis in the bible, it is believed that in the beginning  the earth was formless and desolate, there was darkness and from there the creation story starts when God orders for light to be there. It is a beautiful story of how everything – flora and fauna, the water, the land that we till, and skies above where the birds and all other creatures that fly flap their wings. Everything seems to perfectly fall into place like a jigsaw. Thousands of years later, we are caught up in a world filled with calamities; temperatures are increasingly high, droughts and floods are frequently experienced in different parts of the globe, ice in the Alaska and other arctic zones is fast melting and with that sea levels are fast rising to a life threatening level. In short, life is no longer the beautiful, perfect creation story that we read and wish for. Nature has taken a toll on us, and while some of us are still looking but not seeing the reality of what the world has become, the clock keeps ticking. Before we know it, there may be no time at all to do anything about all the natural phenomena affecting us thanks to our own human-inflicted effect on nature.

But all hope is not lost. Jumping to the scientific theory and ancient mythologies within which economies are believed to have been built and continue to advance, we are presented with an opportunity to reverse the order. Some of the suggested solutions are enshrined within the new policy scenarios for development which require that we not only limit our net carbon emissions to zero but take individual actions to enable us to get there. For starters, World Environment Day which is a day to voice out concerns, showcase our actions and call for further action, and is by no chance a one day affair. Every day is an environment day because everyday we wake up to nature, live in it, invest within it, take from it without caring much about we give back to it in return.  Nature has grown tired of our ungrateful attitude; it is reminding us in the simplest of forms that is has endured our destructive bullets for far too long. It can no longer stand our ignorance, arrogance, and selfish attitudes. It is also reminding us that either we as the current generation, or our future generations who will pay the price for how terribly we have been treating it. 

As the world takes time today to focus on achievements made in the UN decade of biodiversity which ends in 2020, and paves way for launch of the next decade of ecosystem restoration (2021 to 2030) agenda, we are left to ponder on what biodiversity really means for each of us. For me, it means reflecting on the beautiful creation story, how things were and how we could regain some of those values. Many things which should be done have already been said including; retracing our roots back to organic agriculture and food production, healthy living, green transportation methods, efficient industrialization pathways, carbon capture and sequestering technologies, increment on forest cover, sustainable use of water resources, reduced poaching activity and care for life in all its forms. I will therefore not dwell on what needs to be done. Because our governments and leaders know what must be done. At individual level we may be aware of what we to do or know where to find the correct information on what we must do. The problem is that no one is willing to sacrifice comfort today for the sake of a future they know nothing about. Our selfish desires drive us and the nations we live in. We are more concerned about ‘cashing-in and making our lives easier’ than we are about the overall effect all these have on nature. 

Until when we will stop pretending and override our selfish ambitions, and instead put nature first. Until when we will start asking ourselves before each action, ‘does this help or kill nature?’ Until when we will provide the correct answer to this question and be true to ourselves in our interventions. I am afraid that our cries to nature before then are in-vain. Kick-back time is here!