United Nations (UN) International Day of the Tropics is observed annually on 29th June to raise awareness about the challenges faced by the tropical areas and the importance of the tropical areas in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)
Background:
i.The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) declared June 29th as the International Day of the Tropics in its resolution A/RES/70/267 adopted in 2016.
ii.June 29th is chosen as the date to commemorate the inaugural State Of The Tropics (SOTT) Report launched on 29th June 2014 which discusses the importance of the tropical regions.
The Future belongs to the tropics:
i.The International Day of Tropics is to celebrate the diversity and opportunities of the tropical nations and to share the expertise and to acknowledge the potential of the tropics.
ii.According to the United Nations, By 2050, the tropical region will accommodate most of the population and two third of its children.
iii.The nations in the tropical region have made significant progress and face several issues.
iv.The proportion of the urban population living in the slum condition are higher in the Tropics compared to the other regions of the World.
v.The Tropical regions face climate change, deforestation, logging, urbanisation and other challenges.
Events of 2020:
i.The State Of The Tropics (SOTT) 2020 Report was published on 29th June 2020 and will be launched on 30th June 2020.
ii.The celebration of the International Day of Tropics 2020 by SOTT is held as a social media campaign with #WildTropics & #WeAreTheTropics.
Tropical Region:
i.The region between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn is known as the Tropical Region.
ii.The seasonal change in this region is very low and has a warm day to day temperature.
iii.Around 95% of the mangrove forests area and 99% of mangrove species are in the Tropical region.
iv.More than 54% of the world’s renewable water resources are in this region and more than half of the tropical population is considered exposed to water stress.
About UN:
Secretary General– António Guterres(Portugal)
Headquarters– New York, United States of America
About SOTT:
State of the Tropics is a dispassionate, statistical analysis of a range of statistical indicators that reveal trends and areas where progress is being made or lost
Convenor– Prof Sandra Harding
