Earth Day 2020: message from Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw

50 years ago people mobilized the world to demand a new social contract with nature. Earth Day was born.

Today, our social contract is put in jeopardy. The current COVID-19 crisis is showing how much we depend on each other as well as on other species and nature for our health, food systems and livelihoods. We obtain more than 99.7% of our food from land. For many people and communities in the world, land is the source of livelihoods and the only safety net in the time of crisis.

We need to protect nature and continually promote healthy landscapes. And we also need to build back stronger, and smarter, in ways that are healthy, safe, green, just and more resilient.

Let us use our strength to fight COVID-19. Let us recommit to what Earth Day is all about. Let us rise again for a new social contract with nature!

Happy Earth Day everyone.

Read the keynote statement of Ibrahim Thiaw on agricultural and climate change at the Earth Day's 50th anniversary online event.