International Tropics Day (29/06)

In June 2014, the UN General Assembly heard a report on the tropics by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. In 2016, the UN, in memory of the date of the report, held on June 29, decided to establish the International Day of the Tropics and celebrate it annually on that day (resolution A/RES/70/267).

Tropics — is an area of the Earth enclosed between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. While topography and other factors contribute to climate change, tropical locations typically have warm weather and few seasonal changes in daily temperatures. An important feature of the tropics is the predominance of rain in humid inland areas near the equator, and also that the seasonality of precipitation increases with distance from the equator.

Aung San Suu Kyi's report was devoted to revealing a whole range of problems standing in the way of the development of countries and peoples living in the tropical natural zone. Taking into account the fact that these territories as a region make up about 40% of the entire territory of the world, serve as a habitat for more than 80% of biological species, and include a significant part of the languages and cultures of the planet, the speakers of which are the peoples living here, it was concluded that the zone tropics is the most important component in the system of sustainable development of the planet.

At the same time, problems standing in the way of sustainable development of these areas were revealed, such as climate change, deforestation, urbanization and demographic changes. These problems are complex in nature, including environmental, social, and economic components. For example, the tropics have just over half of the world's renewable water resources (54%), but almost half of their population is considered vulnerable due to water shortages.

A report on the prospects for the development of tropical regions showed that over $30 trillion will need to be invested in the development of tropical infrastructure in the next decade to ensure the sustainable development of these territories and opportunities for increasing the well-being of the population living in the tropics, which numbers more than a billion people.

The current pace of development of this region of the planet shows that by 2050, about 50% of the population and 60% of the children of the entire planet will live in the tropical zone. Despite the systematic growth of the economies of many countries, the territory of which is completely or partially located in the tropical zone, the general characteristics of the region remain high in terms of population poverty and a low level of sanitary conditions. The problem remains with the multimillion-dollar number of people living in slums and also suffering from malnutrition.

By establishing a new memorable date, the UN General Assembly emphasizes the importance of the world community recognizing the need to jointly solve the problems standing in the way of the development of territories included in the natural zone of the tropics. One of the most important tasks of organizing events dedicated to this memorable date is to increase awareness of the role of the tropics in the life of the planet, the role that these territories can play in the near future, as well as problems that require the joint efforts of states, non-governmental organizations, civil society structures.

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