Sterling One Foundation has called for concerted efforts by every inhabitant of the Earth, to ensure its continued survival and protection.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the foundation’, Mrs Olapeju Ibekwe, made the appeal on Friday against the backdrop of the celebration of the 2022 World Earth Day with the theme: ”Invest in our Planet”.
Ibekwe told our correspondent in Lagos that the Earth was the only planet that humanity had and it needed care to make it habitable for all.
Ibekwe noted that ‘World Earth Day” marked the anniversary of the Modern Environmental Movement, which started in 1970. It was also a reminder for mankind to protect and safeguard mother earth and its species, to make it a better place for the coming generations.
The CEO said that available statistics showed that the Earth Day was widely recognized as the largest secular observance in the world, marked by more than a billion people every year .
“It is a day of action to change negative human behavior towards the environment and provoke policy changes, Ibekwe said.
Ibekwe could not agree less with the UN who said: “Despite ongoing efforts, biodiversity was deteriorating worldwide at rates unprecedented in human history.
“It is estimated that around one million animal and plant species were now threatened with extinction”.
Also lending her voice to Wendell Berry, Ibekwe noted that the “Earth is all we have in common.”
The CEO said that efforts should be geared to stop indiscriminate bush burning , which polluted the air and impacted directly on the ozone layer.
She said that the foundation in 2022 would be involved in tree planting as part of its efforts at renewing the Earth, adding that the foundation had Climate Action as one its pillars and had been working around the clock to achieve environmental sustainability.
“Through the Foundation’s Beach Adoption Project it had also done a lot in ensuring that our waterways were free of single use plastics, which threatened the survival of aquatic and human life.
“The foundation also promotes a circular economy by partnering with some recycling companies to ensure waste-to- wealth policy gets to the people at the bottom of the pyramid,” Ibekwe said.
She urged Nigerians to do all to mitigate climate change effects and to work towards building a sustainable planet.
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