Ella Bella Constantinides has just returned to South Africa from the United Nations Environmental Programme in Kigali Rwanda. Rwanda was the official world host forWorld Enviro Day 2010. The campaign which is being rolled out stands for “African Youth Standing Up for Bio Diversity” and the International celebrations of “World Environmental Day.” Her opening presentation was received with great excitement and she was requested to present at the UN Biodiversity conference that took place last week. The celebrations in Rwanda involved three days of events from 3-5 June, culminating in a gorilla-naming ceremony in the Volcanoes National Park.
Constantinides addressed the International forum by calling for the International sports community “……to be eco conscious as we celebrate the greatest sporting event on earth,” she went on to say, “It is our responsibility as global residents of this earth to be cognisant of the carbon footprint that we leave behind, long after the hype, excitement and sports stars go home. The FIFA 2010 Soccer World Cup highlights South Africa and our continent and it is our duty to tread lightly as we enjoy the splendours of our natural heritage and biodiversity, thus ensuring that we leave a green legacy behind.”
Back home in Johannesburg, Constantinides, heads up the educational programme for the Miss Earth South Africa in association with Consol, the key objective being to empower women and educate children across South Africa, and where the programme allows, across the borders into Africa. The vision is to enable young people from all over the region of Africa to take part in giving a human face to environmental issues and to enable citizens to realize that not only is it their responsibility, but it is also in their power to become agents for change in support of sustainable and equitable development.
This year’s World Environment Day is aimed to be the biggest, most widely celebrated, global day for positive, environmental action. Commemorated on 5 June since 1972, WED is one of the principal vehicles through which the UN stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and encourages political attention and action. Through WED, UNEP calls for advocating partnerships among all stakeholders or perhaps, even more correctly, among all species living on this one planet and sharing a common future.
The liveeco team
