MANIFESTO #OnlyOneEarth
Defending our one and only Planet
At a time when we follow with such a great concern for the continued drive towards a climate and environmental disaster, the war in Ukraine additionally makes us realize how fragile are the foundations of our life and how real is the possibility of unimaginable tragedies and su!ering. Our awareness of the threats and potential consequences of climate change is all the more acute as it may significantly increase the risk of intensification of armed conflicts in the coming years, destroying the entire ecosystem, both material and intangible assets of mankind, as well as existing social ties and the necessary relationships between humans and nature.
Thus, we recognize that the fight for the climate as we undertake it today is also a concern for peace, well-being, and justice in the world. The concern for peace is increasingly connected with the fight for the climate and with the care about proper functioning of ecosystems.
For years, the United Nations has been consistently fighting for the observance of human rights and the protection of the environment and climate. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), established at the historic United Nations Conference on the Environment in Stockholm, has for the past 50 years combined the concern for the health of people and the planet with such values as responsibility, peace, and respect for the principles of equality. As a result of activities undertaken by UNEP in cooperation with numerous organizations, we have nowadays been witnessing an increasingly widespread effort to decouple further social development from the use of fossil fuels and to strengthen all possible efforts towards a zero-emission global economy. These aspirations maximize our chances to maintain peace on Earth at the same time.
Many of us are already committed to saving Earth’s climate, but the gravity of the current situation demands that everyone would join the combat. We need now – quickly, and on a large scale – to implement renewable energy technology and to remove any fossil-fuel subsidies. Solid foundations for the transition to a zero- carbon economy and a world without wars, demand urgent safeguarding of the climate justice, starting a global process of restoring damaged ecosystems, and putting an end to all violence.
We have less and less time to save the Planet, but there is still time to change, and rebalance the Earth.
