UN pledges support on environmental protection

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UN pledges support on environmental protection
UN pledges support on environmental protection

Africa-PressTanzania. THE United Nations in Tanzania has expressed commitment to continue working with the Tanzanian government in preservation of the country’s environment as the country joins the rest of the world to mark the World Environment Day (WED) today.

The National Co-ordinator of the UN Environment Programme UNEP, Ms Clara Makenya said here yesterday that UN in collaboration with the Ministry of State in the Vice President’s Office (Union and Environment) and other stakeholders had formed a committee for environment protection Yesterday, UN in collaboration with the government of Tanzania launched the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration—a rallying call for the protection and revival of ecosystems around the world, for the benefit of people and nature.

The event was graced by the minister of State in the Vice-President’s Office, Union and Environment, Mr Selemani Jafo. The UN General Assembly designated 5 June as WED.

The UN Decade runs from 2021 through 2030, which is also the deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals and the timeline scientists have identified as the last chance to prevent catastrophic climate change.

This year’s WED is commemorated under the theme ‘Ecosystem Restoration.’ Speaking during an interview yesterday, Ms Makenya said it was high time to bank on using alternative energy to restore the country’s ecosystem.

“As we gather here to commemorate the WED at national level, we will make a thorough assessment on what has so far been done in restoring the ecosystem, as well as looking at how we can come up with a comprehensive strategy on climate change which has adversely affected the country’s ecosystem,’’ she noted.

She further noted that stakeholders would discuss on how best the country can capitalize on alternative energy so as to reduce the speed of cutting down trees thus affecting the country’s ecology.

The UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) Senior Investment Officer, Abraham Byamungu said the UN body was implementing two key projects, among others, which seek to protect the environment. They include the local Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL) which aims at building climate change–resilient communities in developing and least developed countries.

The other project is the cook fund Project, which according to Mr Byamungu, seeks to empower people economically so that they can use alternative sources of energy instead of banking on charcoal.

To begin with, the project will be rolled out in Dar es Salaam, Pwani, Morogoro, Dodoma and Mwanza, which are among top regions using charcoal. Yesterday’s event, which drew different stakeholders to showcase their environment protection projects, was also attended by other UN organs including UNIDO and UNDP.

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