Recherche

image-i-nations trésor

planet

Global Recycling Day – 18 March 2024

18 mars 2024
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: climate emergency, environment, fire, global temperatures, greener future, natural resources, planet, recycling, throwing away, waste

Every year, the Earth yields billions of tons of natural resources and at some point, in the not too distant future, it will run out.

That’s why we must think again about what we throw away – seeing not waste, but opportunity.

The last decade has been the hottest on record, and we are now facing a climate emergency of unparalleled proportions. If we don’t make significant and rapid changes, we will see continued rising global temperatures, the melting of icecaps, continents on fire and rapid deforestation.

This directly affects humanity with increased poverty, immigration from displaced communities, job losses, waste mountains and natural habitats disappearing. We have the power to make lasting changes to combat this, and with recycling being recognized in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals 2030, we are already seeing many individuals, governments and organisations taking direct action to support the global green agenda.

Recycling is a key part of the circular economy, helping to protect our natural resources. Each year the ‘Seventh Resource’ (recyclables) saves over 700 million tonnes in CO2 emissions and this is projected to increase to 1 billion tons by 2030. There is no doubt recycling is on the front line in the war to save the future of our planet and humanity.

The Global Recycling Foundation is pleased to announce the theme of Global Recycling Day 2024 as #RecyclingHeroes. This will recognise the people, places and activities that showcase what an important role recycling plays in contributing to an environmentally stable planet and a greener future which will benefit all.

Global Recycling Day was created in 2018 to help recognise, and celebrate, the importance recycling plays in preserving our precious primary resources and securing the future of our planet. It is a day for the world to come together and put the planet first.

The mission of Global Recycling Day, as set out by the Global Recycling Foundation, is twofold:

1. To tell world leaders that recycling is simply too important not to be a global issue, and that a common, joined up approach to recycling is urgently needed.

2. To ask people across the planet to think resource, not waste, when it comes to the goods around us – until this happens, we simply won’t award recycled goods the true value and repurpose they deserve.

 

Source: text & Images: https://www.globalrecyclingday.com/

 

World Migratory Bird Day – 14 October 2023

14 octobre 2023
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: bird species, conservation, ecosystems, habitat, life cycles, planet, water resources

Water is fundamental to sustaining life on our planet. Virtually all migratory birds rely on water and its associated habitats at some point during their life cycles. Lakes, rivers, streams, ponds, wetlands, and coastal waters are all vital for feeding, drinking, or nesting, and as places to rest and refuel during long seasonal migrations.

Unfortunately, these aquatic ecosystems are becoming increasingly threatened around the world, and so are the migratory birds that depend on them. The increasing human demand for water, as well as pollution and climate change, is having a direct impact on the quantity and quality of water resources and on the conservation status of many migratory bird species.

In 2023, the importance of water is the focus of World Migratory Bird Day, an annual global campaign that celebrates the migration of birds across countries and continents. Throughout the year, we will spread the message that “water sustains bird life” and provide actions for managing water resources and protecting healthy aquatic ecosystems.

When is WMBD? Bird Day is Everyday! World Migratory Bird Day is not just a day. It’s a year-long celebration! Birds migrate at different times in different regions, and this campaign is designed to reflect that. Although the traditional dates are the second Saturdays of May and October (May 13 and October 14 in 2023).

 

Source: Text & Image: https://www.birdday.org/

World Tourism Day – 27 September 2023

27 septembre 2023
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: goals, people, planet, prosperity, solutions, sustainable development

Investing in People, Planet, and Prosperity

The overall disruption in the tourism sector brought about by COVID-19, provides an opportunity to redefine and recalibrate the direction and narratives of tourism investments for a more sustainable future for the People, the Planet, and prosperity.  

This World Tourism Day 2023, the UNWTO,  under the theme “Tourism and green investment” highlights the need for more and better-targeted investments for the Sustainable Development Goals, the UN roadmap for a better world by 2030. Now is the time for new and innovative solutions, not just traditional investments that promote and underpin economic growth and productivity.

Did you know?

  • Tourism employs one in every ten people on Earth.
  • Tourism in rural areas can particularly benefit traditionally disadvantaged groups such as women – who make up 54% of the workforce in the tourism sector compared to 39% for the whole economy – youth and Indigenous people.
  • In emerging destinations, 50% of young people are unable to work in tourism due to a lack of opportunity, resources, or access to academic training.
Source: Text: https://www.un.org/en/observances/tourism-day    Image: ENI CBC Med

World Elephant Day – 12 August

12 août 2023
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: carbon, conservation, endangered, environment, feeding patterns, planet, rain forest

Turns Out Elephants May Play a Crucial Role in Saving The Planet

Preserving populations of critically endangered forest elephants is crucial not just for the animals themselves, but to protect the carbon-sucking capacities of the environments they live in, a new study demonstrates.

The rainforest of central and west Africa, which is the second largest on Earth, could lose 6 to 9 percent of its atmospheric carbon capturing capacity if elephant communities were wiped out – further accelerating the warming of the planet.

Forest elephants play a crucial role in the carbon cycle, ‘thinning out’ the rainforest canopy by eating fast growing taller trees that capture less carbon. This creates more space and sunlight for the slower growing trees beneath which capture more carbon from the environment.

« If we lose forest elephants, we will be doing a global disservice to climate change mitigation, » says biologist Stephen Blake from Saint Louis University in Missouri.

« The importance of forest elephants for climate mitigation must be taken seriously by policy makers to generate the support needed for elephant conservation. The role of forest elephants in our global environment is too important to ignore. »

Using data from previous studies and new information collected in the field, the team analyzed nearly 200,000 records of forest elephant feeding patterns in Africa, covering more than 800 individual plant species.

The preference that elephants have for the lower carbon density trees seems to be down to the nutritional value they get from them rather than they’ve availability: they’re more palatable to the animals and easier to digest.

Source: Text: https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/technology/  Story by David Nield    Image: Wikipedia

June International Asteroid Day – 30 June

30 juin 2023
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: catstrophic threats, comet, global issue, hazard, impact, planet, Siberia

Why Asteroid Day?

In December 2016 the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/71/90, declaring 30 June International Asteroid Day  in order to « observe each year at the international level the anniversary of the Tunguska impact over Siberia, Russian Federation, on 30 June 1908, and to raise public awareness about the asteroid impact hazard. »

International Asteroid Day aims to raise public awareness about the asteroid impact hazard and to inform the public about the crisis communication actions to be taken at the global level in case of a credible near-Earth object threat.

The General Assembly’s decision was made based on a proposal by the Association of Space Explorers, which was endorsed by Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS).

Background

Near-Earth objects (NEOs) represent potentially catastrophic threats to our planet. NEO is an asteroid or comet, which passes close to the Earth’s orbit. According to NASA’s Center for NEO Studies, there are over 16 000 Near Earth Asteroids discovered. The Tunguska asteroid event in Siberia, Russian Federation, on 30 June 1908, was the Earth’s largest asteroid impact in recorded history.

On 15 February 2013, a large fireball (technically, called a « superbolide »), traveling at a velocity of 18.6 kilometers per second, entered the atmosphere and disintegrated in the skies over Chelyabinsk. According to NASA, the approximate effective diameter of the asteroid was estimated at 18 meters and its mass at 11,000 tons. The Chelyabinsk event was an extraordinarily large fireball, the most energetic impact event recognized since the 1908 Tunguska blast in Russian Siberia.

The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA)  has worked on NEOs for many years, recognising a NEO impact hazard as a global issue demanding an international response.

 

Source: Text & Image: https://www.un.org/en/observances/asteroid-day

International Day of the Tropics – 29 June

29 juin 2023
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: biodiversity, Climate change, Equator, forests, marine ecosystems, planet, seasons, slums, température

Each year on June 29th, the International Day of the Tropics raises awareness about various challenges that tropical nations face. It’s also a day to celebrate the extraordinary diversity of the Tropics.

#InternationalDayOfTheTropics

The regions of the Earth that lie in the middle of the planet are called the Tropics. The Tropics account for 36 percent of the Earth’s landmass. It includes the Equator and parts of North and South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia. This region is warm all year round. The temperature in the Tropics ranges from 77 to 82 degrees F. The Tropics get a lot of sun and only have two seasons: the wet season and dry season.

Some parts of the Tropics, like the Amazon Basin, get nearly 9 feet of rain per year. Other areas, such as the Sahara Desert, get only 2 to 10 centimeters of rain a year. This difference in precipitation affects which plants and animals live in the different parts of the Tropics. The Tropics are important because of the number of economic exports come from these regions. Also, about 40 percent of the world’s population lives within the tropical zone.

Biodiversity

While biodiversity is greater in the Tropics, the loss of biodiversity is also greater here than in the rest of the world. This loss of biodiversity is partly attributed to human activity, such as:

  • Destruction of forests and marine ecosystems
  • Overexploitation of industrial fishing fleets and commercial hunters
  • Spread of diseases and invasive species
  • Growing impacts of climate change

Because of these issues, many species of plants and animals in the Tropics face the loss of their habitats. They are also vulnerable to becoming endangered.
Humans living in the Tropics face many challenges as well. More people experience undernourishment in the Tropics than anywhere in the world. This is consistent with the higher levels of poverty in these regions.

Also, more people live in slums in the Tropics than in the rest of the world.

 

Source: Text & Image: https://nationaldaycalendar.com/international-day-of-the-tropics-june-29/

Word Sustainable Gastronomy Day – June 18

18 juin 2023
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: agriculture, eating, food, Fruits, people, planet, profit, vegetable, vegetables

Word Sustainable Gastronomy Day on June 18 recognizes the practices and principals associated with sustainable food consumption combined with the art of collecting, preparing, and consuming the food we eat. As part of the observance, the day acknowledges the social, cultural, and artistic expression related to gastronomy and defines three dimensions of sustainable development – people, planet, and profit.

The United Nations says several principals guide sustainable food production and consumption:

  1. Improving efficiency in the use of agricultural resources.
  2. Direct action to conserve, protect and enhance natural resources.
  3. Responding to the changing needs of people, communities, and ecosystems is key to sustainable agriculture.
HOW TO OBSERVE WORLD GASTRONOMY DAY

Learn more about sustainable gastronomy and agriculture by visiting the www.un.org website.

  • Don’t buy more food than you need.
  • Recycle food by composting and converting unused foods into jams or sauces.
  • Shop locally grown vegetables and fruits.
  • Buy from small and local suppliers who use or promote sustainable agriculture techniques.
  • Use all of the food you have on hand.
  • Be mindful of what is in your vegetable drawer and use it before it wilts and rots.
  • Make lunch to take to work — compost food scraps.

Use #SustainableGastronomyDay to share on social media.

WORLD SUSTAINABLE GASTRONOMY DAY HISTORY

The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed World Sustainable Gastronomy Day in December 2016 and first celebrated in 2017.

 

Source: Text & Image:  https://nationaldaycalendar.com/world-sustainable-gastronomy-day-june-18/

Earth Day – 22 April 2024

22 avril 2023
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: Climate change, environment, health, natural disasters, planet, politicians, pollution, scientists

For the past 50 years, Earth Day has been celebrated by billions of people around the globe, annually every April 22, to join together in promoting awareness for the health of our environment. Why should we continue to celebrate this holiday? Some people may view it as just another holiday, or an excuse to wear green and a flower crown, similar to St. Patrick’s Day, but with serious concerns about our changing environment being studied and addressed today by prominent scientists, politicians, and young climate change activists alike, some people are adapting to more environmentally friendly ways of living — every day, not just on April 22 every year. Cue the composting, recycling, repurposing, carpooling, thrifting, and metal straws to save the turtles.

HISTORY OF EARTH DAY

The idea for Earth Day was originally born in 1969, when a US Senator named Gaylord Nelson, witnessed the effects of a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, CA. He called to action all Americans to take a stand for the environment in 1970, and thousands of colleges and universities across the United States organized protests for a healthy, sustainable Earth. This included air pollution from factories and freeways, as well as the loss of habitats for animals and animal extinction. Because of these national rallies, the first Earth Day helped create the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species acts into law.

Today, we have similar concerns, and unfortunately they are even messier than that original oil spill. Increasing natural disasters, extreme weather, and rising global temperatures may seem impossible for one human, let alone millions or even billions of humans, to slow down, or stop. It has been reported that coral reefs are dying, we see pictures of animals on land and in the ocean with trash in their bellies or around their body, and corporate factories and large companies around the world continue to pollute our air and our living spaces. But a small action, like picking up litter on the sidewalk that may have otherwise ended up around the neck of an animal or in the ocean, still makes an impact — a step in the right direction, and an important change.

Source: Text: https://nationaltoday.com/earth-day/    Image: Freepik

World Science Day for Peace and Development – 10 November

10 novembre 2022
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: development, energy, médecine, peace, planet, science, society

Celebrated every 10 November, World Science Day for Peace and Development highlights the significant role of science in society and the need to engage the wider public in debates on emerging scientific issues. It also underlines the importance and relevance of science in our daily lives.

By linking science more closely with society, World Science Day for Peace and Development aims to ensure that citizens are kept informed of developments in science. It also underscores the role scientists play in broadening our understanding of the remarkable, fragile planet we call home and in making our societies more sustainable.

‘The applications of basic sciences are vital for advances in medicine, industry, agriculture, water resources, energy planning, environment, communications and culture’, affirmed the United Nations General Assembly on 2 December 2021, when it endorsed the proposal for an International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development. World Science Day is contributing to the Year in 2022 by celebrating this theme.

‘We need more basic science to achieve The 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals’, the United Nations General Assembly noted in December 2021. It is true that the share of domestic research expenditure devoted to basic sciences varies widely from one country to another. According to data from the UNESCO Science Report 2021 for 86 countries, some devote less than 10% of their research expenditure to basic sciences and others more than 30%.

Having a capacity in basic sciences is in the interests of both developed and developing countries, given the potential for applications to foster sustainable development and raise standards of living. For example, a growing number of people around the world suffer from diabetes. Thanks to laboratory studies of the ways in which genes can be manipulated to make specific protein molecules, scientists are able to engineer genetically a common bacterium, Escherichia coli, to produce synthetic human insulin.

 

Source: Text: https://www.un.org/en/observances/world-science-day    Image: news 18.com

 

World Clean-up Day – 17 September

17 septembre 2022
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: charismatic leader, civic movement, clean-up, imagination, metropolis, opportunity, planet
A goal that crosses borders and defies religious and cultural differences. World Cleanup Day is one of the biggest civic movements of our time, uniting 191 countries across the world for a cleaner planet. On that day volunteers and partners worldwide again came together, despite the special requirements and many restrictions of Covid-19, to rid our planet of trash – cleaning up litter and mismanaged waste from our beaches, rivers, forests, and streets.

The humble beginning

‍This world-changing idea began in the small northern European country of Estonia, in 2008. 50,000 people united to clean up the entire country in just five hours. On that day, a global bottom-up civic movement was born and spread like wildfire around the globe. This captured the imaginations of people worldwide, who were inspired to follow suit with the same ambitious ‘one country, one-day’ formula.

The simple idea has grown into a global movement with millions of volunteers and charismatic leaders. The simple act of cleaning has become a force that binds together people and groups that would otherwise never dream of working towards the same goal. Civil society, governments and global corporations, women in Saudi Arabia, people defying war in Yemen and Syria, Muslims, Jews, Hindus and Christians, men and women, children.

Why?

‍Nearly every human on this planet has a place they call a Home. Be it a mansion, a street, a hut or a flat in a metropolis. Then there are the cities, countries, and regions we call home. And the planet we call home. When 50,000 Estonians cleaned their home in 5 hours, the world got wind of it. The simplicity of the idea and the ‘let’s do it’ attitude took off and the rest, as they say, is history. Anyone can pick up trash. In 2018, a 101-year old man volunteered to clean in Curaçao. In Estonia, a group of mothers carrying their babies went out to clean. In Scotland, a dogs association came out with the dogs. But World Cleanup Day has become so much more than the simple act of picking up trash. Daycares, schools, companies, government officials – the old, the young, the rich, the poor, the able and less able – everyone contributed. Because they could. Because they wanted to be involved in making their home a better place. Because they were given an opportunity to help. Because they belong to a community.
Source: Text & Images: worldcleanupday.org