President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday said that the observance of Environment Day each year was a reminder of the obligation of the government and the people to preserve and protect the environment against degradation.
In his message on World Environment Day to be observed today, he said that it might seem paradoxical that in a world where one in every seven people went to bed hungry and more than 20,000 children under the age of 5 died from hunger every day, food wastage was a major factor contributing to global environmental degradation.
“It is a reminder to take measures to reverse the present trends and save our future and our planet, and that issues in environmental degradation transcend national boundaries and concern the whole mankind,” he said
“The Day’s theme this year, “Think. Eat. Save” is the most appropriate call to sensitise people to the fact that while many go hungry, nearly 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted annually” said the president.
He said that the issue of food wastage was especially pertinent in Pakistan. Due to floods and other natural disasters many regions of the country have been exposed to food shortages.
“While we need to introduce new technologies for improving food production we also need to play an active role in saving the country and the world from food scarcity by showing our commitment towards not wasting food and conserving the earth’s resources” he maintained.
He hoped that the Day’s observance across the country would help strengthen our national resolve towards preserving the environment and saving food resources.