PM Khan speaks to UN ahead of World Environment Day

ISLAMABAD: Marking the beginning of the United Nations decade of dedicated ecosystem restoration with World Environment Day scheduled for June 5 (tomorrow), Prime Minister Imran Khan has Friday said the billion tree program in Pakistan is part of that decade-long UN campaign, ARY News reported.

We have planted a billion trees already and now our target is to plant at least 10 billion, said PM Khan speaking to UN session held virtually ahead of World Environment Day whose theme this year is ‘Reimagine. Recreate. Restore.’

With new national parks designated to restore environmental protection, nine of which have been chalked out so far to protect forests said the Pakistani premier, wildlife protection will also be ensured.

He also talked about expanding areas for mangrove forests saying the due steps are being considered and taken for this end and reached out to the global community to play their respective roles for the environment and ecosystem protection.

The premier said in his virtual address to the UN session on environmental protection that all the right steps taken for this purpose of restoring and reimagining the ecosystem will help resolve the water woes of Pakistan well.

It may be noted that Pakistan is set to host World Environment Day 2021 globally for the first time in history with PM Khan heading a climate change conference today to highlight the country’s effective policy in this regard.

This year’s observance of World Environment Day with the collaboration of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) will be on the theme of ‘ecosystem restoration’ and focus on resetting our relationship with nature. It will also mark the formal launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021 – 2030.