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WED celebrated at Milan Expo with call to "consume with care"

Xinhua, June 6, 2015 Adjust font size:

The World Environmental Day (WED) was celebrated this year on Friday at the Milan world exposition, with each of the seven billion people on the planet being called to make a change towards a more responsible consumption of the Earth's resources.

"Humanity continues to consume far more natural resources than the planet can sustainably provide," United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a video message screened at the Expo Milano 2015. "It is time for us to change," he stressed.

"The goal of sustainable development is to increase the quality of life for all people without increasing environmental degradation and without compromising the resource needs of future generations," Ban went on saying.

Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), noted that under current trends, global extraction of resources is set to reach 140 billion tonnes by 2050 - when the world population is forecasted to reach nine billion - compared to around 7 billion tonnes in 1900.

"This will probably exceed the availability and accessibility of resources, as well as the carrying capacity of the planet to absorb the impacts of their extraction and use," he said at the Expo.

Steiner underlined the WED is the opportunity for everyone to realize the responsibility to become agents of change. "I would like you to hold on to that vision and strive to make it reality, be it refusing to buy single-use plastic bags or riding a bike to work," he pointed out.

UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva advocated creating positive connections between food, agriculture and the environment.

Globally, FAO estimates that up to one-third of all food produced is squandered or lost, while food lost and wasted could feed a third of the world's hungry, instead of misuse of labor, water, energy and other inputs.

Sustainability is central, da Silva observed, because "we are seven billion dreams, sharing only one planet." This year's WED thematic slogan, "Consume with care," also underscores the extreme importance of how humankind handles food, he said.

Italy is the host of this year's celebrations of the WED whose theme of "Seven billion dreams. One planet. Consume with care" is complementary to the Expo theme of "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life" dedicated to sustainable nutrition.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Environment Minister Gian Luca Galletti attended Friday's celebrations. Related events included a forum of ministers of agriculture, cooking classes by celebrity chefs using leftover food as well as culture and music events.

An initiative named "Towards a sustainable Expo" was also launched to award participant countries and organizations which provide examples to the visitors of Expo Milano 2015 of virtuous behaviors for the environment. Enditem