DIRECTOR-GENERAL’S MESSAGE FOR
WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY
5 June 2000
Paris, June 2 {No.2000-55} - The Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro
Matsuura has issued the following message for World Environment Day, celebrated
on June 5:
“At the start of the new century, it is clear that the
course humanity takes in the years to come will depend largely on whether
crucial environmental goals are reached. From mountain tops to mega-cities, from
rainforests to small ocean islands, comes news of pollution, natural and
man-made disasters, depletion of natural resources, loss of biological diversity
and degradation of both natural and cultural landscapes.
“We have to act. The global connectedness that brings the
bad news can also serve to tackle the problems. In the same way, the globalising
processes underlying the rapid social and economic change triggering many
environmental problems can be made to work for the environment, not against it.
It is fundamentally a question of political will and political action. That
action has to be grounded in sound environmental policies and supported by
informed public opinion.
“UNESCO seeks through its science programmes to provide the
knowledge needed for effective environmental policy-making and through its
environmental education initiative promotes understanding of the importance of
sustainable human development. Education for sustainability and public
awareness-raising on environmental issues are essential. Without a strong global
constituency for change, there is little chance of a real shift from current
unsustainable practices. I appeal to governments world-wide to ensure that
environmental education is an integral part of the school curriculum.
“A world-wide effort to increase investment in scientific
research and to build up the scientific capacity of developing countries is also
needed. Both environment-related scientific research and the integration of
environmental objectives into development policies will have to be scaled up if
we are to find remedies to the ever-increasing damage to the global environment.
UNESCO’s inter-governmental scientific programmes on freshwater, oceans,
biodiversity, ecosystems, coastal zones, the earth’s crust and urbanisation
problems seek to provide the type of policy-relevant knowledge required.
“A new commitment to action calls for strong partnerships
between all stakeholders. This is the time to make that commitment. On World
Environment Day 2000, special events staged all over the world show that people
do care. At its Paris Headquarters, UNESCO is hosting the first World Mountain
Forum which will seek to protect mountain environments and communities around
the world. UNESCO joins its voice to that of the United Nations Environment
Programme to make this the start of the ‘Environment Millennium’.”
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