Sadhana Shankar’s Column – Efforts are needed to save the rapidly barren earth. , Sadhna Shankar’s column: Necessary efforts to save the rapidly developing barren earth. Achi-News

Sadhna Shankar Author and former Indian Revenue Service officer

This is the third time in a row that the supply of cocoa is expected to be less than global demand. The reason is the 8.5% drop in its global production. In April 2024, the price of cocoa beans reached a record 12 thousand dollars per ton, which is 4 times last year’s price. The chocolate industry is in crisis due to climate change and the problems of farmers who produce coca are also increasing.

According to research, farmers are now entering a dangerous cycle of planting cocoa trees, where climate change is reducing fertile land. In such a situation, farmers destroy forests to plant cocoa trees.

It’s not just cocoa farmers doing this, it’s happening all over the world. This land, the most important resource of human civilization, is in crisis because of us – we have drained it, forced it to suffer drought and turned green areas into desert.

This year the theme of United Nations (UN) Environment Day was – The Land, The Future. We are Generation Regeneration.’ That means our earth, our future and we are the generation of recovery. The purpose of this slogan is to focus on restoring the earth, saving it from becoming barren and drought and saving our ecosystem.

There is a focus on restoring the Earth because UN reports show that 40% of the planet’s land has become barren, directly affecting half the world’s population and about half of global GDP ($44 trillion) but is a threat.

The incidence of drought has increased by 29% since 2000. If immediate action is not taken, drought could affect three quarters of the world’s population by 2050. It will have a greater impact on women and the poor. The Secretary General of the United Nations says that we need to find a way out of the hell of climate change.

In India, ISRO has prepared a map of desertification and land degradation in the country, where it was found that in 2018-19, out of 328.72 million hectares of the country, 97.85 million hectares ie 29.7% of the geographical area of ​​the country has become an area geographical. the victim of this degradation. The analysis revealed that more than half of the land affected by erosion is either rain-fed farmland or forest land. This does not bode well for food security or tackling climate change.

According to a World Bank report, India’s drought-prone areas have increased by 57% since 1997, and rainfall has also increased by 85% since 2012. Since these two things are happening at the same time, drought in one part of the country and floods in other parts.

The government is taking several steps to promote afforestation, greenery and land restoration. City Forest Scheme, National Coastal Projects, National Green India Mission and other similar schemes are part of it. India has also signed the Bonn Challenge and the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Now let’s talk about people. We human beings are the true caretakers of the earth and until we (whether urban or rural) do not become part of these efforts at our respective levels, we will not come out of this crisis.

Take small steps every day – save water, separate rubbish, use natural fabrics, adopt organic farming, plant trees – all these steps together will contribute to the global campaign to bring the earth back to w original condition. Let us truly be a ‘Generation Recovery’.
(This is the author’s own opinion)