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International Mother Earth Day

Special Event
22 April 2009

Address by Juanita Castaño

Director, UNEP/NYO

Today we are celebrating the General Assembly’s proclamation of 22 April as

International Mother Earth Day, the same date as the traditional observance of Earth Day in
many countries. For the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) this is a very special
date since, during the first celebration of Earth Day in 1970, the idea of creating a UN
programme on the environment began to take shape. It was formally mandated two years later in
1972, as an outcome of the UN Conference on the Human Environment, in Stockholm, along
with the recommendation to henceforth observe 5 June as World Environment Day. At that time,
the developed countries had begun to realize that their models for development have an impact
on the environment and that this would dictate limits to their future actions. In subsequent years,
the UN General Assembly has called for a transformation in the patterns of production and
consumption in the developed world by convening the United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development, also known as the Earth Summit, in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992.
In Johannesburg, in September 2002, a ten year plan on the issue was launched, and the
Commission on Sustainable Development would dedicate its next cycle of meetings in 2010-11
to this subject. Many more milestones have emerged since then.

It is not a coincidence that we seek to bring global attention to the importance that the
environment, the earth, our Mother Earth, has on life in this world. In many cultures, the concept
of Mother Earth as the basis of their existence is integrated in their spiritual and cultural beliefs,
and reflects the interdependence that exists between all living beings, humans, animals or plants.
In Inca mythology, Pachamama is the goddess of fertility who presides over sowing and
harvesting, that is, the basis of life. That is why she is still venerated today, as she has been for
thousands of years.

Celebrating this day seeks to focus attention on the ancestral wisdom that recognizes the
holistic importance of the environment for life on this planet. No one can live without it, and
those who abuse it, who make excessive use of its resources, are harming not only the survival of
future generations, but the existence of the present one.

Ancient and wise cultures have been able to understand the relationships which exist
among all living things on this earth, and the importance of respecting them in order to guarantee
their existence, and therewith also that of the human beings in this world. Therefore, it is not
surprising that these cultures have historically rejected the so-called modern values, which in the
last 200 years or more have based human development on the extensive exploitation of nature’s
resources, as if they were in infinite supply.

So-called modern civilizations seem to view the earth the same way they saw it before
Columbus proved that the planet is round. They seem to view it as a vast, limitless flat plain,
where you only need to walk into the horizon to find more resources. Consumption is
encouraged, for the good of the enterprises which transform those resources into the goods and
services we think are indispensable. We never take a moment to think that the bounty we all are
using, and our future generations will try to use, is not being tended to, is not being guarded, is
not being integrated into the most intimate fibers of our being. We are conscious of protecting
our children, our patrimony, our skills, but somehow we have not integrated Mother Earth into
that protective scheme.

If the present economic model prevails in a world that by the year 2050 will have over 9
billion inhabitants, and if the ecologic footprint of those 9 billion inhabitants follows the
production and consumption patterns of the affluent countries, an ecological disequilibrium of
unimaginable proportions and consequences will have been generated.

In response, UNEP has called for a Global Green New Deal to transform the economy
into one truly conscious of the environmental circumstances of the planet. We feel this is a
necessary path towards the solution of the current economic and climate problems. The UNEP
Policy Brief on the topic recently released is the fruitful collaboration of UNEP with other
agencies and programmes of the United Nations system, the World Bank, the OECD, important
economists and NGOs. The goal is to invest 1% of GDP in five key sectors: sustainable
transport, energy efficiency, renewable energy, afforestation and reforestation, sustainable
agriculture and biodiversity protection. This initiative includes a set of measures to assist poorer
nations in attaining the MDGs, and make progress in their green development.

The conscious, intelligent and respectful management of the planet’s resources are the
foundation for our existence, especially so now that the international community faces the dual
crises of climate change and the economy. Both of these are of enormous proportions.
Especially as we need to give a positive impetus to the negotiations towards an agreement on
climate change in Copenhagen, eight months from now.

The observance of days like these, as well as World Environment Day, six weeks hence,
on 5 June, is a tool to raise awareness about the importance of this historic moment we are living.
By the same token, it is one more way to remind our policy makers of the responsibility they
have when making decisions, about leaving the bounty of Mother Earth for generations to come,
to preserve that miracle of fertility, of sowing and harvesting. Let us hope we will harvest good
decisions, with the support and actions of civil society and the private sector, by governments
taken in the spirit of international solidarity in order to protect the resources of our Mother Earth.

In closing, allow me to wish you a Happy Mother Earth day in Quechua:

“Mama allpamanta sumaymana punlla!”
Thank you.

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