Promoting Clean Environment With A Healthier Lifestyle

Everyone can make a difference, par­ticularly when making smart envi­ronmental choices a habit and per­haps even influencing others into taking similar actions.

Doing the right thing for the future of life on Earth can even have immediate personal benefits.

It can tap into your creativity, can get you more engaged with your community and the world, and may contribute to a healthier lifestyle at local level.

While nature is in an emergency mode, the “Only One Earth” campaign for the World Environment Day 2022, prompts all individ­uals to celebrate “our one and only planet through collective environmental actions.

The 2022 theme “Only One Earth” advo­cates for progressive environmental change on a global scale.

Permanent Secretary for Environment, Joshua Wycliffe said the theme shines a spotlight on climate action, nature action and pollution action while encouraging everyone, everywhere in the world to live sustainably.

“While our individual consumption choic­es do make a difference, it is the “collective action” that will create the immediate en­vironmental change the world needs,” he said.

Building a greener environment

Mr Wycliffe said it was our responsibility to safeguard and sustainably use the natu­ral resources for our social and economic growth, and for the survival of generations to come.

“Section 40 of the constitution states the right of Fiji’s citizens to a clean and healthy environment, which includes the right to have the natural world protected for the benefit of present and future generations through legislative and other measures,” he said.

“Therefore, relevant Ministries, stakehold­ers and citizens of Fiji must work together in building a greener and a healthier envi­ronment for all Fijians.

“Through the 7R policy we can efficiently and effectively manage the waste generated by rethinking, refusing, reducing, repur­posing, reusing, recycling and recovering waste products.”

He said the waste generated was having a negative impact on our environment, not only by visual impact - it was contributing to climate change effects through global warming and affecting our health and envi­ronment.

“Bringing your own shopping bags from home or biodegradable bags for grocery, planting trees, mangroves, sea grass, pro­tecting coral reef ecosystems and investing in green innovative technology such as so­lar energy can make a huge difference,” he said.

Through the Jobs for Nature Programme, the Ministry is partnering with Fijians in­cluding the vulnerable groups to restore, rehabilitate and protect our environment.

“We are also working with businesses to ensure that they comply with our Environ­ment Impact Assessment (EIA) processes and have proper waste disposal and recy­cling permits in place,” he added.

The Ministry has also incorporated cli­mate resilience into all areas of its work programme.

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