SELA: Today, more than ever, we are urged to take comprehensive and systemic actions to defend the Global Environment

As this international date reaches half a century, and in an unprecedented year, the regional intergovernmental organization calls for joining forces to face the challenges of the planet's survival

The Permanent Secretary of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA), Ambassador Javier Paulinich, recalls that on 22 April 2020 special attention should be given to the 50th anniversary of the Earth Day, first launched in New York City in 1970.

“Today, more than ever, we are urged to take comprehensive and systemic actions to defend the Global Environment. Nature is suffering. We are threatened by climate change and overexploitation of our resources,” he said in support to the international movement.

As one of the guests invited by South America to mark the commitment to Mother Earth, Paulinich said that, although the multi-coloured region is rich in biodiversity and ancestral cultures, and has the world's largest water resources, “it does not escape the pollution of its air, land and water, as well as the extinction of some animal species, which are, among others, the causes of degradation, reduction and loss of our common well-being.”

He urged to promote harmony with nature. “The sanitary pandemic of coronavirus (COVID-19) has a strong relationship with the health of our ecosystem. Statistics prove that. Let us remember that we need a shift towards a more sustainable economy that works for both people and the environment. There is no other planet. It is about our own survival,” he said.