Featured Interview
Inger Andersen
Inger Andersen
Executive Director to the UN Environmental Program (UNEP)
Nature is our Best Prescription for an Integrated Health Insurance Policy
Did you know that 9/10 people breath polluted air? Did you know the 90% of our food from the ocean is contaminated with micro-plastics? Did you know that we are today losing species at 1000 x greater the natural extinction rate? According to Inger Andersen, former Director of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) and recently appointed Executive Director to the UNEP (UN Environmental Program); there is a direct correlation between our personal health and our planetary health… That means that sustainable living must translate into protecting not only our personal health, but the health of individual species, their communities, ecosystems, and the entire biosphere.
In our rich conversation, Inger and I explore what cities will look like in 2030 when they are green and biodiverse. We talk about what we to do in our personal lives to review our nature footprints. We talk about the need to have clear, measurable, science-based targets for evaluating our global nature footprint and framing a New Deal with Nature. Sustainability is the name of the game and none of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals can be delivered without investing in the integrity of nature and our earth systems. In Inger’s final words, there is no delaying this priority.
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UNEP New Deal
In 2020, world leaders will meet in China to agree on a new set of commitments to conserve nature.Because our current pathway is unsustainable, humans and nature alike need a new deal – a new way to coexist and thrive.
Human+Nature
The Global Deal for Nature (GDN) is a time-bound, science-driven plan to save the diversity and abundance of life on Earth. Pairing the GDN and the Paris Climate Agreement would avoid catastrophic climate change, conserve species, and secure essential ecosystem services.
IUCN Nature-Based Solutions
Nature–based Solutions (NbS) are defined by IUCN as “actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural or modified ecosystems, that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits”.
What To Do?
Ramping up for the 2020-2030 decade of the Anthropocene century to bring back the Garden of Eden, what will you do cut your emissions in half? Go electric? Eat health, waste free diets? Travel light? Build smart? Share on your Social Media,
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Catherine Cunningham, PhD
CEO, Natural Intelligence Media