Remarks at World Environment Day 2024 “Land Restoration, Desertification and Drought Resilience”

Excellency, Mme Bounkham Vorachit, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, 

 Excellency, Mr Athsaphangthong Siphandone, Governor of Vientiane Capital, 

 Deputy Chief of Mission of the Royal Thai Embassy, UNDP Resident Representative, distinguished guests, 

 Students and professors from the National High School, 

 Ladies and gentlemen, 

 It is my pleasure to join you here today ahead of World Environment Day 2024, and for the 25th National Environment Day in Lao PDR. 

It is an honour for me to take part in my first World Environment Day celebration as UN Resident Coordinator to Lao PDR – as a symbol of the deep and fruitful collaboration between Lao PDR and the United Nations in addressing environmental priorities. 

Ladies and gentlemen, 

The global theme of World Environment Day 2024 is “Land Restoration, Desertification and Drought Resilience”. 

I cannot stress enough how critical these issues are for sustainable development, and to achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals – or SDGs – agreed by all countries in 2015. 

Protecting land, forests and the biodiversity they host has its own Sustainable Development Goal: SDG15, “life on land”. 

A healthy land also feeds us, contributing to SDG2 – “zero hunger”. 

In Lao PDR, healthy land is connected to the 18th national SDG – “lives safe from UXO”. 

Protecting land, forests and biodiversity is connected to all the SDGs. 

When land is degraded (removing its natural vegetation), deforested, and then affected by drought, it loses its capacity to sustain life, which leads to a range of consequences. 

Today, the world faces an intensifying Triple Planetary Crisis: 

• the crisis of climate change, 
• the crisis of nature and biodiversity loss, 
• and the crisis of pollution and waste. 

These crises will affect everyone, everywhere, yet rural communities, smallholder farmers, and the poor, are hit hardest.  

As a result of climate change, droughts are increasing in frequency and duration. 

At the same time, heavy rain and flooding are also becoming more common, as the climate becomes more unpredictable. 

Healthy land and forests can help us mitigate the impacts of climate change – by regulating the local climate and contributing to water management. 

Lao PDR is already taking commendable action and has set ambitious targets to protect and restore nature. 

As many of us will know, one of Lao PDR’s national objectives is to increase forest cover to 70% of land by 2030. 

As you may have seen in the press this week, the Government is planning to plant 34 million trees this year.

• I look forward to all of us making a small contribution to this effort later this morning. 
• (Which is very fitting as today is also National Arbour Day…) 

Through actions like this, we can help our cities and communities thrive. 

But despite our best efforts, we must do more to protect and restore nature. 

Let me conclude my remarks with five examples of what each one of us can do:  

Firstly, we can reduce the amount of waste we produce. We can choose re-usable objects to use less plastic. (Re-usable rather than single-use plastic bottles for example.) 

Second, we can think about how we manage our waste. We can collect our waste and recycle what can be recycled. Both these actions can prevent pollution from ruining our environment. 

Third, as agriculture is critical in Lao PDR, we can make it more environmentally friendly. We can choose to grow organic crops, rather than using chemicals – improving both our health, and the health of the land. 

Fourth, we can restore and replenish nature – for example planting trees as we will this morning. 

Fifth and finally, we can spread the word. All of us can be powerful agents of change speaking about environmental protection and leading by example within our families and communities. 

Nature is our ally – let’s use today’s World Environment Day celebration to remember that we can all contribute to its protection.  

Thank you.