UNITED NATIONS, April 20 (Xinhua) -- The planet risks "profound and potentially irreversible changes" by human activities, UN Deputy Secretary-general Asha-Rose Migiro warned on Wednesday, calling for efforts to be stepped up to balance sustainable development.
Migiro's statement came ahead of International Earth Day, which falls annually on April 22, as the UN General Assembly marked the occasion on Wednesday in an interactive event on harmony with nature.
"The evidence is clear from all quarters: by our very own activities and assumptions, we risk profound and potentially irreversible changes in the planet's ability to sustain our progress," Migiro said. "We see it in water pollution, loss of biodiversity, desertification, deforestation, a depleted ozone layer, and climate change."
With the world undergoing a "tremendous change," especially with emerging economies, hundreds of millions of people have risen from poverty, she said.
"We need to bring these benefits to hundreds of millions more -- decent jobs, clean, affordable energy, and all the social and economic benefits that such advances can bring," Migiro said.
Migiro called on the world body to "embrace a low-carbon, resource-efficient pro-poor economic model," adding that decoupling growth from pollution and natural resource depletion will make growth sustainable.
She said while world leaders in 2002 agreed to substantially reduce the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010, "we failed to meet that target."
However, she also said that "it is not too late to change course and improve our relationship with Mother Earth." "But time is running short," she added.
With 2011 marking the International Year of Forests, which also is the beginning of the International Decade for Biodiversity, she said there is much to be done in balancing sustainable development.
The UN Conference on Sustainable Development, which will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in June 2012, will be an opportunity to evaluate mankind's relationship with nature from the last 20 years, and to reaffirm commitments to "inject new impetus and to chart a sustainable way forward," Migiro said.
The UN General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution in 2009 to proclaim April 22 as International Mother Earth Day, expressing its conviction that, to achieve a just balance among the economic, social and environmental needs of present and future generations, "it is necessary to promote harmony with nature and the Earth."
