The World Environment Day (WED) is celebrated every year on June 5th as the United Nations’ principal avenue for raising worldwide awareness about sound environmental management and spurring positive actions for sustainable development. Over the years, the day has grown to be a global platform for public outreach activities where millions of people across the world come together at community, national, regional and global levels to promote and galvanize individual actions into a collective power that generates an exponential positive impact on efforts aimed at protecting our planet.  

This year, Rwanda launched the National Environment Week (NEW) under the leadership of Honourable Dr Vincent Biruta, the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment at the Lycee Notre Dame de Citeaux (LNDC), as a prelude to the WED. LNDC was an appropriate launching pad for the NEW because it’s Head Mistress, teachers and pupils have demonstrated admirable commitment to putting into effect sound environmental protection and green economy principles. The launching was followed by a series of awareness campaigns and concrete environmental actions in both the other urban areas and local communities around the country, culminating in the WED.

This year’s WED theme is: "Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care”. The theme is informed by the alarming rate of unsustainable consumption of resources, as evidenced in the areas of food, water and energy utilization. Currently, the collective lifestyles of people all over the world, largely driven by increasing household incomes (particularly in urban areas) coupled with population growth, exceed our planet’s regenerative capacity to replenish natural resources. If consumption and production patterns continue with the same trend, we will need two planets by 2030 to sustain our ways of living. By 2050, humanity could devour resources equivalent to three times its current consumption.

Therefore, the 2015 WED theme is intended to raise awareness about the imperative to create inclusive opportunities for sustainable development, while stabilizing the rate of resource consumption. It calls for solutions for re-engineering our consumer culture in order to create a sustainable society.

Globally, the concept of sustainable consumption and production is recognized in the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, adopted in 2002 at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). During this summit, it was acknowledged that sustainable consumption and production form one of the three overarching objectives of, and essential requirements for, sustainable development, together with poverty eradication and the management of natural resources. The summit called on all countries to promote sustainable consumption and production patterns, with the developed countries taking the lead but with developing countries also taking appropriate measures.

Although Rwanda is known worldwide for its progressive sustainable environmental policies, it is still faced with the problem of unsustainable consumption and production patterns that threaten the future wellbeing of generations to come.

It is notable that the country has already initiated the necessary measures to address these imbalances.

Environmental sustainability was one of the key guiding principles of the second Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS II). The Green Growth and Climate Resilience Strategy is a comprehensive effort to green the growth process and address the effects of climate change. Additionally, there are numerous ongoing efforts and initiatives which include: Resource Efficient and Cleaner Production Programme, National Domestic Biogas Programme, Improved Cook Stove Programme and Clean Development Mechanism; among others.

In this regard, I would like to commend the Government of Rwanda for its leadership in taking concrete actions to ensure sustainability in national consumption and production. But the momentum has to be maintained.

The One UN Rwanda recognizes the importance of ensuring sustainable consumption and production and is, therefore, supporting the strengthening of appropriate policies, tools, technologies and skills for resource efficiency and cleaner production. The One UN initiatives in Rwanda include: the support to rolling out the Green City and Green Villages concept, to the development of the National Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) Programme to bring about a shift towards a more sustainable mode of development by ensuring efficiency in the utilization of natural resources and promotion of biodiversity.

The One UN agencies are also making conscious efforts to reduce their collective carbon footprint through our "Greening the Blue” initiative. As of this year, this reduction amounted to 10 per cent.

As we celebrate the WED 2015, I would like to share with you the message of the United Nations Secretary General encouraging all of us to consume sustainably: "humanity continues to consume far more natural resources than the planet can sustainably provide. Many of the Earth’s ecosystems are nearing critical tipping points. It is time for us to change. Let us become better stewards of our planet”.

We now have Seven Billion Dreams with only One Planet! We should Consume with Care. The well-being of humanity, the environment, and the functioning of economies, ultimately depend upon the responsible management of the planet’s natural resources.

The writer is the UN Resident Coordinator, Rwanda.