Rotary Greenmeadow's guest speaker – Lynne Anderson (Ahuriri Rotary Club and chair of the Hawkes Bay Environmental Committee) gave an informative presentation on all matters environmental both locally and internationally. Protecting the Environment is Rotary International’s 7th area of focus.Rotary International's Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Group (ESRAG) was set up in Sao Paulo in 2015 to become the voice of Rotary on the environment. It currently has members in 75 countries and in 12 Regional Global Chapters. Oceania comprises Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands and totals 1380 Rotary clubs and over 42,000 Rotarians
Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Group has six areas of focus; Biodiversity, Circular economy, Climate, Food Security, Pollution and Sustainable Living. Its website showcases 74 projects across the Oceania region. The United Nations has sounded a ‘Code Red’ for humanity through its warning about irreversible climate impact.
The world is dangerously close to runaway warming and humans are ‘unequivocally’ to blame. ‘The alarm bells are deafening. Drawing on more than 14,000 scientific studies, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change August 2021 report gives the most comprehensive and detailed picture yet of how climate change is altering the natural world – and what could still be ahead.
District 9930’s Health and Wellbeing theme for the current Rotary year recognises that:
• Our Health and Wellbeing depends on the Health and Wellbeing of the planet
• Our Physical Health depends on the air that we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat
• Our Mental Health depends on living in a clean and healthy environment.
Lynne’s presentation provided compelling reasons why we all need to do our bit. In the words of Greta Thunberg, “It is never too late to do the best we can".