The Envirocare Green Award event created a unique platform for sharing and exchanging knowledge, ideas and information about sustainability and successful sustainable initiatives around the globe. Ms. Karin Heinze’s (Founder BiO Reporter International) session was very insightful into the Organic World and how it plays a pivotal role towards a sustainable future.
A GLOBAL ECO TRANSFORMATION IS NECESSARY
Greetings from Germany, I am grateful to have the honor and opportunity to speak about the real and urgently necessary organic revolution, a global transformation to save our beautiful planet for us and for the following generations.
Being part of the jury of the Envirocare Green Award I have learned about so many ambitious initiatives that have applied for the EGA2021 and this encourages me to believe that mankind have recognized that it is high time to give back to Mother Nature what we received and be much more careful with our planet to save it for all next generations.
This is the edited keynote "Organic - A way forward to Ecosystem Restoration", Karin held at the Environcare Award event.
Organic agriculture offers important solutions and my topic today is how the organic agriculture system can restore our ecosystems. I´ m referring to SDG 2 / Zero Hunger and No Poverty in any sense … no poverty of food, of nature, of clean air and water, of biodiversity, of health.
EGA event team and Karin, BiO Reporter International, keynote speaker
THE PROBLEMS WE HAVE
<<THE ECOSYSTEM DOES NOT NEED HUMANS, BUT WE NEED A BALANCED ECOSYSTEM>>
Let´s have a look to the status quo. It is proven, that we are exhausting the boundaries of our planet – we exhaust its resources, and witness every single year the earlier date of the Earth Overshot Day – means – in half a year we use up the resources of one whole year! This process is accelerating steadily, much faster than scientists have foreseen it.
The climate crisis is only one result, the pandemic another and there are many more bad effects. It is high time to act! We cannot wait any longer because scientists show that we are reaching a tipping point … a point of no return.
It is clear that agrochemicals, chemical fertilizers, antibiotics and pesticides are poisening not only our food and soils but also our ground water, lakes, rivers and oceans. Our soils can not regenerate and the natural fertility with microbes and an active soil life is no longer there – it comes to degradation of soils and finally to desertification. Of course, also through rigorous deforestation and emitting too much carbon into the atmosphere through transport and industry. We must learn to be mindful with our precious natural resources as Mother Nature benefits people & planet with its gifts. Recently I attended a UN/ FAO webinar where a speaker said:
<<The well-being of nature and humans is inseparable – If we harm nature we harm ourselves.>>
CLIMATE CHANGE - ARE WE REALLY AWARE HOW SERIOUS IT IS?
Often I wonder …are we really aware how serious climate change harms our ecosystems including our well-being - let´s better say the possibility to live on this planet?
Different scenarios of rising temperatures of the World Climate Council show the very dangerous effects. Today we are at the level of 1 - 1.3° and already 85% of the coral riffs are effected by the coral bleach, 6% of wild animals are gone and 14% of mankind suffer from rising temperatures. The second scenario which we are gonna reach shortly if we don´t act rigorously will be up to 2 degrees and you can see how massive sea life will be touched, almost 95% will be dead or massiv effected, 14% of biodiversity and wild animals will be gone and 37% of the global population will suffer. When it comes worse and temperatures are rising further, life on earth won´t be possible any longer … oceans are dead, 45% of wild life is gone and three third of mankind is effected seriously! What if!?
SEARCHING FOR SOLUTIONS - NON-EFFICIENT SOLUTIONS
Politicians sign climate resolutions to limit global warming … but there is not enough action and real efforts, the progress is much too slow! UN and other organisations are warning since years of the dramatical loss of biodiversity and its risks …but the loss is going on in a high pace and the efforts to slow it down are obviously blown away! The scarcity of water - sinking groundwater levels, on one hand and rising sea levels on the other hand andthe serious pollution of water in rivers, lakes and the sea with agrochemicals is a huge threat especially underdeveloped countries are the first victims, but the pollution and even water scarcity is evident in industry nations, too.
Next fact: since almost 2 years we are facing the Covid pandemic! The source is - as in many other cases before - the dramatic reduction of biodiversity and wild lives natural space… we must leave the habitats to the wild animals!
Soil degradation and desertification are very big and serious problems concerning the future of billions of people and a disaster for Food Security … the agro industry suggests even more fertilizers and GMOs - but this is not a sustainable and future oriented solution!
What we really need is to save our soils by keeping them fertile and build humus to store carbon, by strengthening the biom in the soil and balancing the whole eco system. …farming must become more natural and organic and sustainably smarter in the sense of decarbonization.
BRINGING SOLUTIONS IN THE FRAMEWORK OF SUSTAINABILITY
<<Sustainable models and organic transformation experience open the door for solutions. Agroecology is a big issue and discussed in many international forums. IFOAM Organics International the roof organisation of the global organic movement published an eco transformation model.>>
UN CLAIMED TO REACH 17 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS BY 2030
We are in the UN decade of Sustainability to be reached by 2030. Goal number 2 is ZERO HUNGER – in the details of the goal you can find some very interesting description how to realize this aim - among others there is written:
By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters and that progressively improve land and soil quality
By 2020, maintain the genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated animals and their related wild species, including through soundly managed and diversified seed and plant banks at the national, regional and international levels, and promote access to and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, as internationally agreed.
ORGANIC AGRICULTURE DELIVERS "SOILUTIONS"
Especially organic agriculture will provide the richness of biodiversity, healthy food from fertile soils. We must put our efforts in saving our soils by keeping them fertile and build humus, by strengthening the biom in the soil and balancing the whole eco system - farming must become more natural and organic and sustainably smarter.
The system of organic agriculture not only supports the restoration of healthy fertile soil: lively soils with humus are an essential need to produce healthy food without using agrochemicals and harmful pesticides … if you follow organic practices the soil has the capacity to regenerate - the natural measures of green manuring, composting, crop rotation, legumes and other effective ways to build humus and keep the soil lively and self-regenerating.
Maintaining biodiversity of flora & fauna is not less important because it means to keep the natural balance of our ecosystems and save the natural resources in a sustainable way - don´t take more than nature can restore.
AGAIN: To keep this balance quite essential to stabilize our global climate and don´t fire the heating of the earth with all it´s deadly consequences as we see it since years with melting poles and glaciers and permafrost soils, changes in the global sea streams or heavy forest fires as we can see in the West of North America, even in South Europe and Russia.
ORGANIC SUCCESS STORIES
MORE PEOPLE ARE AWARE OF THE BENEFITS OF ORGANIC
SDGs and sustainability as well as organic agriculture focusses on interconnections and a system approach beyond the traditonal agricultural system: According to the SDGs many aspects are recognised from Biodiversity, animal and soil health up to input reduction and recycling to social values, fairness, participation co-creation of knowledge and much more. True sustainability only takes what nature can restore!
FINAL CONCLUSIONS
UN and FAO and many other international organisations are promoting the transition towards more agroecology and environfriendly strategies. As the Environcare Green Award shows there are many innovative ideas and passionate work around. This is very encouraging …
Every single year the essential need for a fundamental change becomes clearer and the race towards very serious risks for the next generations is obviously.
A global common eco-transformation is the goal and every single initiative and measure and effort that is leading in this direction to avoid negative environmental influence. Every single and even small steps are important.
Thank you for listening, I hope you feel inspired and encouraged to support the transformation to a new organic, healthy, social, sustainable and fair Lifestyle. Thank you so much to the initiative and commitment of Environcare and Dr. Nilesh Amrutkar - the brain behind - and his passion to fight for an environmentally friendly sustainable world. The EGA is pretty much going to be an international platform of a developing movement for innovation and engagement in the sustainable sector. Let´s keep in touch and network to bring things further.
Comments