Restoring nature ‘the test of our generation’: Bozkir

Restoring nature ‘the test of our generation’: Bozkir

NEW YORK “” Stepping up global efforts to combat land degradation is the only way to safeguard food and water security, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and ward against future threats to health and the environment, the UN General Assembly President told ambassadors meeting in New York on Monday. Addressing a high-level dialogue on desertification, land degradation and drought, Volkan Bozkir described restoring nature as "the test of our generation“, outlining the cost of inaction. "Our planet is facing an environmental crisis that encompasses every aspect of the natural world: land, climate, and biodiversity, and pollution on land and at sea,“ he said. "Our existence and ability to thrive in this world is entirely dependent upon how we reset and rebuild our relationship with the natural world, including the health of our land.“ The General Assembly meeting, the first of its kind in a decade, is being held at a time when half of all agricultural land is degraded, threatening livelihoods but also driving extinction and intensifying climate change. "Without a change in course, this will only get worse,“ Bozkir warned. "By 2050, global crop yields are estimated to fall by 10%, with some suffering up to a 50% reduction. This