Climate change is one of the main causes of biodiversity loss in the world, along with the destruction of habitats, overexploitation, pollution and invasive exotic species, and has serious consequences such as the collapse of food and health systems.
In rural areas of Gaza and the West Bank (Palestine) and in the Somali region (Ethiopia), where the Foundation develops two development for cooperation agreements financed by AECID, the objective is to generate resilience among its farming and ranching population through the fight against hunger, improving food security, transitioning to sustainable agriculture and responding to the climate crisis.
In Palestine, one of the specific objectives is the application of clean energy, both in Gaza and in the West Bank. To this end, training is given to local technicians in the field of solar energy in collaboration with the Energy Research Center of An Najah University.
Furthermore, climate change is significantly affecting the lives and livelihoods of pastoralist and farming communities in the Somali region of Ethiopia where we work. There, one of the main aspects of the agreement is the sustainable recovery of the local environment from the impacts of climate change and natural disasters.
Some initiatives launched to achieve this are the reduction of erosion through physical, biological and mechanical measures; the recovery of degraded areas through reforestation campaigns with native species and the increase of biodiversity through the reintroduction of adapted species; and the creation of a nursery and a seed bank.
Social Promotion Foundation, in Special Consultive Status since 2001 and General Consultive Status since 2004 with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), presented its written statement, accessible from this link and downloadable from here, in line with the main theme of CSW66 ‘Achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in the context of climate change, environmental and disaster risk reduction policies and programmes’.
#OnlyOneEarth is the slogan chosen for the World Environment Day 2022 campaign, which aims to raise awareness of the triple emergency that the planet is facing: the climate is warming at a rate too fast for people and nature to adapt; habitat loss and other pressures on nature have put 1 million species at risk of extinction; and pollution continues to poison our air, land, and water.
The solution involves transforming our economies and societies to make them more inclusive, fairer and more respectful of nature. We must move from harming the planet to healing it.
