UN Decade On Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030
By Amanda Lee Siek Hsia
In conjunction with 2021 World Environment Day on June 5 , 2021 , the Water and Environment Ministry ( Kementrian Alam Sekitar dan Air or KASA ) launched its Strategic Plan 2020-2030 : Environmental Sustainability in Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur . The KASA Minister said the plan , a joint effort between the Ministry and its agencies , was developed based on three main frameworks that translated into KASA ’ s direction and strategy for a period of 10 years from 2020 to 2030 . While officiating virtually the national-level 2021 World Environment Day , themed “ Ecosystem Restoration ”, the Minister explained that it covers the Malaysia Plan which includes the Government ’ s agenda , current policies and also the country ’ s sustainable development agenda through the UN Sustainable Development Goals ( SDG ).
On the same day , the United Nations Environment Programme and the Food and Agricultural Organisation launched the UN Decade for Ecosystem Restoration — a crucial decade for countries to deliver on their international environmental commitments such as the Paris Agreement . It aims to halt the degradation of ecosystems and restore them to achieve Sustainable Development Goals . Only healthy ecosystems can enhance people ’ s livelihoods , counteract climate change and stop the collapse of biodiversity .
UN decision on Decade for Ecosystem Restoration
During the 69 th plenary meeting of the UN General Assembly on March 1 , 2019 , the UN decided to designate the decade 2021 – 2030 as the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration with the following points : a ) Ecosystem restoration within existing structures and available resources with the aim of supporting and scaling up efforts to prevent , halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems worldwide and raise awareness of the importance of successful ecosystem restoration ; b ) It stressed that ecosystem restoration and conservation contribute to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as well as other related United Nations major outcome documents and multilateral environmental agreements , including the Paris Agreement adopted under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change , and the achievement of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and the post-2020 global biodiversity framework ; c ) It encourages Member States to : i ) foster political will , the mobilisation of resources , capacity-building , scientific research and co-operation and momentum for ecosystem restoration at the global , regional , national and local levels , as appropriate ; ii ) mainstream ecosystem restoration into policies and plans to address current national development priorities and challenges due to the degradation of marine and terrestrial ecosystems , biodiversity loss and climate change vulnerability , thereby creating opportunities for ecosystems to increase their adaptive
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