Recognising our planet as one home

INTERNATIONAL Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer on September 16, is a global call for action to protect the Earth's atmosphere.

- FLORA TECKIE

The ozone layer is crucial in protecting our health. It is also necessary for the well-being of animals, ecosystems, and the climate. Its depletion is caused by human activities that directly or indirectly alter the composition of the global atmosphere.

Human beings, in the Bahá'í view, are custodians of the earth and have an obligation to ensure that nature is protected, as part of a divine trust for which humanity is ultimately answerable.

There is a need to preserve order and balance in nature. Recognition of our planet as one home, and the realisation that we are one human family inhabiting the earth, will greatly contribute to addressing many challenges that humanity is facing including the environmental ones. “The Earth is one country, and mankind its citizens” wrote Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá’í Faith, over a hundred years ago.