UPEI School of Climate Change and Adaptation participates in World Environment Day activities
World Environment Day, one of the biggest international days for the environment, took place on June 5, and the UPEI School of Climate Change and Adaptation participated in activities at the Canadian Centre for Climate Change and Adaptation in St. Peter’s Bay.
The School partnered with the Government of PEI and the Office of Net Zero to host Stingray Radio programming about World Environment Day from 10 am to 2 pm. A number of radio remotes were held throughout the day with UPEI representatives including Dr. Aitazaz Farooque, interim Associate Dean; Dr. Kuljeet Grewal, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Sustainable Design Engineering, and Evan MacDonald and Hassan Afzaal, graduate students with UPEI’s precision agriculture research team.
At 11 am, Dr. Farooque served as the master of ceremonies for an announcement made by the Honourable Steven Myers, PEI’s Minister of Environment, Energy and Climate Action. Before a class of grade 5-6 students from Cardigan Consolidated, Minister Myers announced that the Government of Prince Edward Island has committed to spending $1 million to replant forests after post-tropical storm Fiona knocked down thousands of trees in the province last year. The funding will be matched by the federal government through the 2 Billion Trees Program.
The government will expand the J. Frank Gaudet Tree Nursery in Charlottetown and provide funding to municipalities to replant trees. Provincial government staff will work with farmers to expand forests, help plant in watersheds, and assist landowners in developing foresting plans.
Dr. Farooque added that the additional 300,000 trees each year will make a significant difference, “This investment is extremely important because we are looking forward, looking ahead to develop those solutions to achieve our net-zero targets.”
Led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and held annually since 1974, World Environment Day has grown to be the largest global platform for environmental outreach, with millions of people from across the world engaging to protect the planet. More than 150 countries are expected to participate in this year’s World Environment Day, with millions of people likely to engage through in-person and online activities. For more information, visit https://www.worldenvironmentday.global/
