Environment experts from the United Nations will be among the speakers as Qatar Foundation (QF) and the Arab Youth Climate Movement Qatar host an online discussion on June 9 about why nature and sustainability must be at the heart of international efforts to build back better after the coronavirus pandemic.
The webinar, Our Biodiversity and Our Future, is being held as part of World Environment Day 2020, which is calling for planet-wide action to combat the increasing loss of plant and animal species, and the degradation of the natural world.
Topics to be spotlighted during the online event will include the current state of biodiversity in the Arab world, how civil society groups can work with governments and the private sector to safeguard the environment, and how biodiversity issues can be addressed in the post-pandemic rebuilding stage.
It will also look at the role of youth in conserving the planet, and whether global systems need to be rethought if biodiversity loss is to be reversed.
“The webinar continues our trend of recent years in hosting an event to mark World Environment Day, that seeks to open people’s eyes and minds to the enduring importance of nature, and the need for us to all play our part in building a sustainable future for our own communities, and for the planet,” said Nisreen Abdrabbo, the head of Environment Compliance at QF.
“The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has served to remind humanity about all that nature gives us, and the need to cherish and respect it,” she said. “It is only through doing so that we can have economic development, social resilience, and a truly sustainable world.
“Through bringing together climate and biodiversity experts from the United Nations, the Rainforest Alliance, and the Arab Youth Climate Movement Qatar – who we are delighted to be collaborating with to host this webinar – we hope to play our part in encouraging our community to think, act, and live in a sustainable way, and be active participants in protecting our shared environment.”
Speakers will be Dr Miguel Clüsener-Godt, the director of the Ecological and Earth Sciences Division and Secretary to Unesco’s Man and the Biosphere Programme; Roula Majdalani, the cluster leader on Climate Change and Natural Resources Sustainability at the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia; Neeshad Shafi, the executive director of the Arab Youth Climate Movement Qatar; and, Henriette Walz, the global theme lead for Deforestation and Biodiversity at the Rainforest Alliance.
The webinar – which will allow the online audience to post questions – takes place from 11am-12.30pm on June 9 via Microsoft Teams.
No registration is required.