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Letter addressed to all staff of the United Nations Environment Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Dear Colleagues,
It is with great pleasure that we are jointly announcing the official launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030). The goal of the UN Decade is to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems worldwide. As lead implementing agencies, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), have joined forces to design a collective response of the UN System, and indeed of humanity, to achieve the goal of the UN Decade.
The natural affinity between UNEP and FAO has been evident in our long-standing partnership in various areas of common interest. Our formal collaboration began in 1977 and has only gotten stronger and deeper, most notably, with the renewal of the memorandum of understanding in 2019 where we pledged to focus our joint efforts on critical areas such as sustainable food systems, ecosystem services, biodiversity in agriculture, forestry and fisheries, data and statistics, and international law and regulatory matters.
Bringing together our complementarity of expertise and the deep commitment amongst all our staff, we pledge to elevate our partnership through this UN Decade to collectively deliver on this call for action.
At the end of this critical UN Decade, we envision a world where – for the health and wellbeing of all life on Earth and that of future generations – the relationship between humans and nature has been restored, where the area of healthy ecosystems is increasing, and where ecosystem loss, fragmentation and degradation have been ended.
The UN Decade is not simply a new project or campaign.
The UN Decade is a collective attempt to redefine humanity’s role in nature, from being consumers of natural resources to becoming stewards of the ecosystems that sustain all life on Earth. Ecosystem restoration can play a decisive role for humanity’s food, water and energy security; for healthier, more resilient and prosperous societies; and for ending biodiversity loss, ensuring food security and nutrition and delivering a stable climate. This is a global call to action for the implementation of the Rio Conventions and the Sustainable Development Goals.
The urgency of this could not be overstated. As the Secretary-General recently observed, ‘making peace with nature is the defining task of the 21st century. It must be the top, top priority for everyone, everywhere.’
The momentum is already building:
- FAO is emphasising the need for transformation of MORE efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable, agriculture -food systems for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind. The four betters reflect the interconnected economic, social and environmental dimensions of agriculture food systems.
- In FAO, this new approach has already triggered a debate at the technical Committees (COAG, COFI and COFO), on the importance of restoration of production ecosystems. The theme is also proposed in the FAO Medium Term Plan 2022-2025 as part of the program priority area on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.
- In UNEP, we will focus our largest communication event this year, World Environment Day, hosted by Pakistan, to kick start the behavioural change we want to see in the world by 2030 and engage thousands of organizations worldwide in the growing restoration movement.
- The United Nations Food Systems Summit later this year will add further urgency to move the world towards regenerative practices across land, freshwater, and oceans.
- Restoration and integration of climate change challenges into food security will be a theme across the three Rio Conventions and their COPs in 2021 and beyond.
What you can do as individuals:
- Get familiar with your local ecosystems and what you can do to protect and heal them – be it your gardens and campuses, your city, nearby forests, rivers and coasts.
- Act as advocates for ecosystems and introduce the topic to your neighbours, family friends, at clubs and schools.
- Join the #GenerationRestoration community! Follow our live social media wall to see the restoration movement grow in real time.
We are looking forward to your energy, innovation and support for #GenerationRestoration. In the coming months, we will be hosting a joint Townhall on the UN Decade and look forward to engaging with you all then as well.
With warm regards,
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