“Reimagining the future has never tasted so sweet, like nectar to a bee, honey to a home. No one can do this alone. The promise of restoration lives within us.”

This is the message at the heart of a powerful spoken word poem written by Jordan Sanchez, a 19-year-old Harvard University student, to mark World Environment Day on June 5.

The poem -- “Recreate. Reimagine. Restore!” -- reminds listeners that we must stop plundering and start protecting the planet’s resources. Sanchez, who was born and raised in the Bronx, New York, always ensures her spoken word poetry mixes urgency with hope -- a balance that resonates as the world embarks on the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, a 10-year drive to halt and reverse the degradation and destruction of our natural world.

“I want people to understand the situation we are in is serious but there is always something we can do, we have to remain positive and we have to act,” said Sanchez, who has been inspired by Amanda Gorman, the American National Youth Poet Laureate who performed at President Joe Biden’s inauguration.

As a Black and Hispanic woman, Sanchez is especially concerned about environmental justice and acutely aware of how people of colour are disproportionately affected by climate change, often because they live in poorer areas.

Feeling inspired? Join the millions of people from #GenerationRestoration marking World Environment Day by registering your own event. Take part by checking out the official schedule here. And learn more here about what we need to do to make this UN Decade count. We all have a role to play in restoring the natural world.

“The world cannot sustain our rate of use and abuse forever, and it is imperative that we accept the changes in lifestyles and livelihoods necessary to achieve the 2030 goals.”

These are the words of Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, in response to the new Measuring Progress: Environment and the SDGs report, published on Saturday.

The report found that despite progress in key areas such as clean water, sanitation, clean energy, forest management and waste, countries are still living unsustainably and are on course to miss the environmental dimensions of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

“We have still not embraced the rate of change necessary to come in line with the 2030 Agenda,” said Maruma Mrema. “The report makes it clear that we are falling short, and, in some cases, actually receding.”

Read the full story here and find out what we need to do to reverse these alarming trends.

The report is another reminder that we must bend the curve of continuing environmental deterioration. That is why the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, which kicks off on World Environment Day on June 5, is so important: we must get everyone on board to do all they can to halt and reverse our destruction of the natural world.

Find out more about the Decade here. Join the global #GenerationRestoration movement and get directly involved by registering your own event for World Environment Day here.

In Watamu, on Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast, people are putting ecosystem restoration into practice by returning beaches to their pristine natural state through a novel recycling programme.

Community members are paid to collect plastic and other rubbish from the beach and this is then taken to a recycling centre where it is sorted and, in the case of plastic, chopped up into small flakes before being sold to manufacturers in the area.

The project is led by the Watamu Marine Association and receives financial support from the hotels clustered along Watamu’s shore. The Watamu Marine Association is part of the Global Partnership on Marine Litter, which is supported by UNEP.

Read more about this transformative project here.

Check out this interactive article on plastic pollution for all the facts.

The Kenyan project offers a great example of how individuals can make a difference. We all need to get on board to make a success of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, which launches officially on World Environment Day on June 5.

If you too are feeling inspired to join #GenerationRestoration, check out the events happening worldwide to mark World Environment Day here, and then register your own event.

And you can browse all the official events for the day here.

For more practical ways to help heal the planet, have a look at the Ecosystem Restoration Playbook here.

We know we need to do more to heal our relationship with nature. One way we can do that is by ensuring we protect those key biodiversity-rich areas that need to be conserved. The report card on the world’s efforts to do this is mixed.

The Protected Planet Report, released last week by UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature, found that great progress had been made since 2010 in extending protection to new lands and ocean regions but that more needs to be done on the quality of the protection offered.

This latest edition of the biennial Protected Planet Report is the final report card on Aichi Target 11 – the global 10-year target on protected and conserved areas which aimed to bring important benefits to both biodiversity and people by 2020.

Check out the full Protected Planet report here.

Managed effectively, protected and conserved areas can help to prevent further ecosystem degradation and consolidate progress during the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, which will be launched formally on World Environment Day on June 5.

This is a critical year for biodiversity. The UN Biodiversity Conference, rescheduled to take place in October in China, offers an opportunity to ensure we take better care of the natural systems that sustain all life on this planet.

Find out more about ecosystem restoration with UNEP’s practical playbook here.

Get involved and join #GenerationRestoration here.

“The challenges we face on the planet are so acute that we don’t have the luxury of waiting for someone else to step up and take action. We are all part of the solution.”

This is UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen’s message ahead of the International Day for Biological Diversity on May 22.

More than ever before, we are aware of the effects of our unsustainable consumption and production on the natural world that sustains us and all life on this planet. We are using up the equivalent of 1.6 earths to maintain our current way of life and this cannot go on.

UNEP supports local, national and global action to end biodiversity loss; it supports countries to monitor and manage their biodiversity, amplifies scientific warnings of the effect humans are having on ecosystems and biodiversity, works with business and investment to drive nature-positive investments and encourages decision-makers to view nature as an asset.

This is a critical year for biodiversity. The UN Biodiversity Conference, rescheduled to take place in October in China, offers an opportunity to ensure we take better care of the natural systems that sustain all life on this planet.

The Conference, known as COP15, will be the biggest biodiversity summit in a decade and aims to agree on a new set of goals for nature over the next decade through the Convention on Biological Diversity post-2020 framework process.

World Environment Day on June 5 marks the official launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, a 10-year drive to galvanize all sectors of global society to become part of #GenerationRestoration and halt and reverse the degradation of our life-support systems.

Ahead of the launch of the UN Decade, keep up-to-date on everything related to biodiversity with UNEP’s Spotlight on nature and biodiversity.

Join #GenerationRestoration here.

The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, which launches officially on World Environment Day June 5, runs until 2030, which is also the deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the world’s blueprint to a better, fairer future for people and planet.

Ecosystem restoration delivers multiple benefits like creating jobs, protecting livelihoods, regulating diseases and reducing the risks posed by natural disasters. Restoration efforts will be critical if we want to achieve the SDGs by 2030.

Time is getting short so how are we doing? On May 22, UNEP and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity will release “Measuring Progress: Environment and the SDGs”, an analysis of progress made, measured against 92 environment-related SDG indicators.

The report uses simple correlation analyses between indicator pairs related to the state of the environment and drivers of change, and the state of the environment and the state of society, to improve the understanding of the links between SDGs indicators. Panelists will discuss the background, adopted methodology, results and main recommendations, ending with a Q&A session.

Join the virtual launch and see what the data tells us.

When: May 22; 8:00 EST, 14:00 CET, 15:00 EAT, 20:00 CST

Where: Online. Click here for the link.

World Environment Day will be celebrated by millions of people and already there are a host of online events lined up. Stay up-to-date with the World Environment Day official event schedule here.

Find out more about the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration here and join in by becoming part of #GenerationRestoration.

Scientists say the next 10 years will be critical if the world is to avert runaway climate change and the loss of millions of species. Nature can and must be part of the solution while we decarbonize all sectors of our economies. And nature needs our help.

That’s why the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, which launches officially on World Environment Day on June 5, is so vital. We have to reset our relationship with nature and revive the natural spaces lost to development.

But what does that mean exactly? Check out this article for 10 actions that will make a difference and enable us to place nature at the heart of a more sustainable future for people and the planet. These practical measures include financing restoration with both long-term public and private funds, building a global movement that engages all sectors of society and shifting behaviours so that our global consumption of the planet’s resources is more sustainable.

Read on here to discover the full list.

Check out the facts and figures on Ecosystem Restoration here.

World Environment Day will be celebrated by millions of people and already there are a host of online events lined up. Stay up-to-date with the World Environment Day official event schedule here.

And why not get involved and join #GenerationRestoration by organising your own event? Check out what others are doing here and add your own.

World Environment Day -- the biggest celebration of our planet’s amazing natural resources -- is happening on June 5. This year, the theme is ecosystem restoration and the day marks the official launch of the UN Decade for Ecosystem Restoration -- a 10-year drive to halt and reverse environmental degradation and fundamentally reset our relationship with nature.

As host, Pakistan will be leading this year’s celebration and showcasing its own initiatives, including its 10 Billion Tree Tsunami to restore forests and mangroves and plant trees in urban areas over five years.

People all over the world are organising their own events from global virtual gatherings to community clean-ups, live social discussions and musical and film screenings -- all, of course, in line with the latest COVID-19 regulations for their particular area.

Why is World Environment Day important? UNEP’s Executive Director Inger Andersen explains: “2020 was a year of reckoning, facing multiple crises, including a global pandemic and the continued crises of climate, nature and pollution. In 2021, we must take deliberate steps to move from crisis to healing: and in so doing, we must recognize that the restoration of nature is imperative to the survival of our planet and the human race.”

Check out UNEP’s events page here for inspiration and then register your own event so that you too can be part of #GenerationRestoration.

Browse the official schedule of events hosted by UNEP and Decade Partners, featuring high-level speakers, expert panels and other events taking place around the world here.

On May 19, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC), will launch their latest Protected Planet Report on the state of the world’s protected areas.

The Protected Planet Report 2020 reveals the progress made towards the 2010-2020 global target on protected and conserved areas (Aichi Target 11), which aimed to bring important benefits to both biodiversity and people. The report also identifies crucial opportunities for further improving the protected and conserved area network under the next set of global nature targets, due to be agreed upon at the UN Biodiversity Conference in October.

The Protected Planet Reports offer the most up-to-date and complete assessment of the state of protected areas around the world. This publicly available online platform allows users to discover terrestrial and marine protected areas, access related statistics and download data from the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA).

When: 19 May; 10:15 US ET / 14:15 GMT / 15:15 UK / 16:15 CET

Register for the press conference here.

Watch the press conference live here.

Check out the 2018 Protected Planet report here

World Environment Day on June 5 marks the official launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, a 10-year drive to halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems worldwide. Find out more about this global push to reset our relationship with nature here.

World Environment Day will be celebrated by millions of people and already there are a host of online events lined up. Stay up-to-date with the World Environment Day official event schedule here or get involved and register your own event here.

To face our changing world, we must learn to live sustainably so that we can adapt and act #ForNature. Education is key to finding solutions and creating a more sustainable world but not all learners are receiving the information they need.

That is why at the World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development this week, UNESCO is launching a campaign – learn for our planet - calling on the world to invest in education for sustainable development and ensure that it is embedded in learning systems globally. For the survival of our planet, we need to #LearnForOurPlanet.

UNESCO found that 45% of national education documents it studied made little-to-no reference to environmental themes including sustainability, climate change and biodiversity. Less than half of those documents mentioned climate change and only 19 per cent made reference to biodiversity. This must change.

The World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development is taking place virtually from 17 to 19 May 2021 in Berlin, Germany and aims to enhance awareness on sustainable development challenges and reaffirm global commitments to ‘Education for Sustainable Development for 2030’.

Check out the World Conference on Education here and follow live events.

As we prepare to reset our relationship with nature, we need all hands on deck. World Environment Day, June 5, marks the official launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Designed to connect and empower, the decade will build political momentum and connect the thousands of initiatives on the ground. Everyone can get involved and be part of #GenerationRestoration. Sign up here.

Learn more about Education for Sustainable Development here.