World Environment Day has been celebrated on June 5 every year since 1973. Since then, the day has grown to become the world’s largest platform for environmental outreach.
This year, it calls for collective action to end plastic pollution, creating synergies with ongoing negotiations to develop a legally binding international instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment.
As is well known, renewable energies have a positive impact on the environment. Here are some of their advantages:
Environmental:
– The main advantage is the virtually zero emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) and other pollutants that contribute to climate change.
– They help reduce pollution-related diseases.
– They do not require large amounts of water to operate.
– They reduce the need for extractive industries by avoiding the use of fossil fuels.
– They do not create difficult-to-solve waste problems, such as the disposal of nuclear waste or slag.
– They can reduce the need for large-scale hydroelectric projects with the consequent effects of flooding and erosion.
Economic:
– Reduction in electricity, water, and gas rates.
– Generation of direct jobs (construction workers, developers, equipment manufacturers, designers, installers, financiers).
– Generation of indirect jobs (in agriculture, by expanding irrigation systems; in livestock and poultry farming, with the installation of electrified barns; in commerce and services).
– Reduction in the cost of municipal electricity services (street lighting, water pumping, and public buildings).
Social:
– The possibility of bringing electricity to remote communities and promoting the development of those communities.
