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Each year the United Nations select a relevant theme for World Environment Day, and this year’s #GenerationRestoration could not be more appropriate.
Our land. Our future – that’s the 2024 campaign strapline designed by the UN Environment Programme, asking organisations and countries to work together to revive water sources, grow forests and bring back soils.
Celebrating our net zero achievement
Before diving fully into the topic, we wanted to acknowledge a milestone of our own. A couple of years back, we decided to play a bigger part in communicating the importance of net zero, showcasing the incredible work happening across the energy sector to deliver a greener future and putting a focus on the projects, roles and people who are helping to deliver it. To do that, we launched our very first issue of Net Zero News, and the rest is history.
Two years on, we’re absolutely thrilled to celebrate that we’ve now passed the 10,000 subscriber mark and wanted to thank everyone who has so far signed up to stay up-to-date with our latest news and insights across the energy mix. It’s fantastic to see so many people excited to follow and support the concept of a more sustainable world, and we look forward to many more years of keeping you informed with all the latest happening across the green energy market. On that note...
Restoring nature in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
The 2024 host country is Saudi Arabia, who are keen to build on the G20 Global Land Initiative. The G20 countries equate to almost half of the total land area of the earth, and the initiative aims to reduce land degradation, whilst improving conservation habitats – aiming for a 50% reduction in degraded land by 2040.
For World Environment Day, these land regeneration plans take centre stage for Saudia Arabia, together with the need to build drought resilience. Desert land in the country and the wider Middle East is being hit hard by the environmental impact of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss – making it harder for rural communities to make a living. With temperature records continuing to rise, the region is getting hotter - meaning more droughts, storms and floods. These bring significant challenges to every country, but even more so when vast hectares of land are dry and arid.
It's a challenge that Saudi Arabia is tackling head on, as NRL’s Middle East and North Africa Area Manager Hazem Ayoub explains.
“Climate change impacts all of us, and for countries like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, that’s evident to see through the desert land challenges they face. Projects across the country and wider Middle East region look to address this and regenerate the land.
The coming years are a critical time for tackling climate change, as G20 countries work together on the Paris Agreement to reduce global warming and reach net zero. Whilst new energy projects aim to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, this needs to be teamed with efforts to rebuild the land and ecosystem.”
Supporting reforestation efforts
Rebuilding our forests also helps to tackle climate change. Growing a blanket of trees provides a natural canopy to absorb carbon dioxide emissions, which is why the loss of forests and vegetation across the world at an alarming rate is adding to climate challenges.
Overexploitation of natural resources is a significant factor, as trees are torn down to build infrastructure or be sold as construction materials. Natural acts such as seasonal drought, increased rainfall, soil erosion and forest fires also contribute to desertification.
Projects across the globe tackle reforestation, working to reintroduce forests where they have declined to bring the local ecosystem back to life and help drive biodiversity.
Each year the NRL Group work with One Carbon World to offset any emissions we cannot reduce by purchasing carbon credits. These credits can be used to support global projects such as reforestation, including vital work in Uruguay through the La Pita project which we supported. 4.5 million trees are expected to be planted during the lifespan of the project, which covers 18,000 hectares of degraded grassland. The new forest plantation will help to enrich the soil, improve air quality, build storm water management and provide employment prospects for local people through opportunities to farm the land.
Did you know?
World Environment Day has been held for 50 years. Thanks to the growing concern of climate change over the decades it’s grown into a global outreach campaign, interacting with tens of millions of people each year as countries come together to take action.
Want to get involved? Follow the UN Environment Programme on LinkedIn.
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