Only One Earth
In the universe are billions of galaxies,
In our galaxy are billions of planets,
But there is #OnlyOneEarth.
Let’s take care of it.
World Environment Day
June 5th
We are celebrating World Environment Day and want to recognize the amazing climate change initiatives in our communities, small and large, around the globe. It is important to remember how much wonderful work is already being done by so many but also, that there is still more to be done.
What is World Environment Day?
World Environment Day is the United Nations day which calls for:
...collective, transformative action on a global scale to celebrate, protect and restore our planet.
According to the United Nations, the Earth faces a triple planetary emergency:
- The climate is heating up too quickly for people and nature to adapt
- Habitat loss and other pressures mean an estimated 1 million species are threatened with extinction
- Pollution continues to poison our air, land and water
- We are using the equivalent of 1.6 Earths to maintain our current way of life, and ecosystems cannot keep up with our demands; and,
- Our lifestyles are associated with two-thirds of all greenhouse gas emissions but studies show that sustainable lifestyles and behaviors could reduce our emissions by 40% to 70% by 2050.
The problems we face are global and we all share the responsibility for our consumption, carbon emissions and wastage as individuals, businesses, organizations and governments. We ask that you join the movement online with the World Environment Day hashtag: #OnlyOneEarth to keep everyone informed and to encourage many more to take action.
What is the Breteau Foundation doing about the Environment?
The Breteau Foundation is committed to protecting the environment and in 2023 will launch our Fight Against Plastic project, a partnership with the globally popular Netflix animated children’s TV show Miraculous: The Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir. With the help of the superhero kids, Ladybug & Cat Noir, we are engaging and inspiring children to take action against plastic pollution by providing our accompanying free educational workshops, lesson plans and activities with the episode to teachers and educators all around the world. You can register to access this content here from 2023!
We are also continuously inspired by the ideas and accomplishments of volunteers, schools and students. The STEAM programme (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) is an initiative we’ve been facilitating since 2021, which encourages children to develop solutions to various environmental problems in Latin America.
Global Solutions to a global problem
The Breteau Foundation is also inspired by many great initiatives out there that show us that we still have time to make positive changes. There are global organizations like ECOLOGI, a British initiative that recruits individual and business members and converts their membership money to offset their carbon emissions. Ecologi is fully transparent with its finances, with over 80% of its income going back into the global community. The money helps multiple projects around the world, including:
· Protecting the rainforest in Peru
Madre de Dios is home to much of the Peruvian Amazon and faces numerous conservation challenges. The Brazil Nut Concessions project supports the local community to protect the rainforest while establishing a sustainable income through passive Brazil nut harvesting.
· Generating solar power in India
India’s energy demand is one of the fastest-growing in the world, and over half of its energy still comes from coal. This project generates solar energy in the Tamil Nadu and Telangana regions, preventing the emission of around 93,000 tonnes of CO2e per year.