On the occasion of celebrating World Environment Day this Sunday, June 5, we are at the historic crossroads of continuing to promote economic and social development, especially in the countries of the so-called “third world”, guaranteeing sustainability and the protection of the environment. ambient.
This is a great challenge, especially if we consider that during the growth and economic consolidation of the industrialized countries these values were not taken into account, due to ignorance, but rather the process that led to the expansion of many of the largest companies in the world it was achieved, through depredation, the excessive exploitation of natural resources, and the contamination of the environment.
This process of industrialization of Europe and the US in principle, and later of the rest of the world, brought us to the complex situation that the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, described a few days ago in the framework of the Summit on Environment Stockholm+50.
As he described, more than 3,000 million people in the world are affected by the degradation of ecosystems, the rates of environmental pollution, especially air pollution, cause around nine million deaths a year, and more than one million species of plants and animals. They are in danger of extinction.
This tragic environmental scenario is only part of a problem that, oddly enough, is much worse and more complex: climate change.
The threat that hangs over the world, due to the increase in global average temperatures, the acidification of the oceans and the reduction of the albedo effect of the earth’s surface, means that by the year 2050, more than 200 million people will be in danger of being displaced, and according to Guterres himself, “about half of humanity already lives in climate danger zones, so they are 15 times more likely to die from climate effects such as extreme heat, floods or the drought.”
Cleaning up the environment, reducing air, water and soil pollution, protecting plant and animal species and guaranteeing their healthy development, will make it possible to prevent the death of millions of people and the extinction of as many other animal and plant species that are necessary to maintain the balance of life on the planet.
In the Dominican Republic, these efforts are and must be attended to from the ministerial areas, which also have the responsibility, and fulfill it sometimes better than others, of protecting freshwater sources; the natural sanctuaries; and forests, which are a refuge for millions of species and absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide, mitigating the causes of global warming generated by climate change.
In addition, it is their duty to regulate the exploitation of natural resources, now with greater and better knowledge of how to reduce the environmental impact of economic and industrial activities. This function denotes the role of regulatory entity of economic activities, which include those that could affect marine coastal resources, protected areas, natural parks, among others.
This control and regulatory role is precisely what leads to other instances being in charge of promoting policies to optimize the production and use of energy; technify agricultural irrigation for better use of water; generate incentives for the industry to modernize modes, materials and products for production or to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; o overcome the use of fossil fuels, especially coal, in power generation; among other State policies that lead, yes, to the improvement of environmental conditions.
These policies are and must continue to be promoted by government bodies, the private sector and civil society, as the ideal way to add social and economic value added, under a paradigm of sustainability, seen no longer as a goal, but as the way of doing things to generate the well-being and security required for individual, family and social life.
That is why, on this World Environment Day, we celebrate that the Dominican Republic has not only grown in its knowledge and awareness of the care and protection of the natural resources available in our territory, but also that, despite the difficulties and good and bad times in our history, we have developed a high level of commitment to the rational use of these resources.
Let us ensure that the thin ecological balance that makes life viable on our island is guaranteed through flexible planning but based on results that are measured both in the well-being of people and in the conditions of the environment. The challenges are many, the problems and difficulties continue to be multiple, but we have shown that as a society, we are determined to continue this fight.
