This year’s World Environment Day is celebrated with the theme Think. Eat. Save to encourage people to reduce their ecological footprints and become more aware of the environmental impact of the food choices they make. Joining this international movement, the Ministry of Environment, under close collaboration with the City Hall, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, CCCA, NGOs and the private sector celebrated the World Environmental Day at Boeung Trabek High School in Phnom Penh. Around 1000 participants attended the event including monks, government officials, police officers, Red Cross youth, teachers, students, and the media.
In the event, the Prime Minister’s message for the World Environment Day 2013 was read to raise people’s awareness of their daily activities which are threatening the environment and the Earth. His message reminded people to adhere to conscientious food consumption to avoid producing excessive environmentally polluting waste. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, every year 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted. At the mean time, however, one in seven people in the world go to bed hungry.
The impact of food waste is costly. Food waste leads to inefficient use of inputs such as fertilizer and energy. It also contributes immensely to increase in green house gases concentration in the atmosphere through rotting process during which methane gas—one of the greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change—is emitted. Methane is 23 times more potent than CO2 as a greenhouse gas. The vast amount of food going into landfills contributes significantly to global warming.
In his remarks, H.E. Dr. Mok Mareth, Senior Minister, Minister of Environment, highlighted the government’s green development strategy which embraces a long term vision to achieve resource saving, efficient use of resources and behavioral change toward sustainable production and consumption. He believes that this year’s World Environmental Day message would increase people’s understanding of environmental issues and inspire them to begin taking actions.
Lively participation was seen during the question and answer session, in which participants volunteered to answer environment-related questions prepared by the organizer, and the adjourning tree planting ceremony held in the school compound.
Please click the link below for Speeches in World Environment Day Celebration
1. Message of the Prime Minister
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2. Speech of the Senior Minister, Minister of Environment
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3. Speech of Phnom Penh Governer
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4. Speech of Representative from MoEYS
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