Dia Mirza's Tenure As UNEP Goodwill Ambassador Extended Till 2022
News
oi-Swikriti Srivastava
By P T I
The
United
Nations
Environment
Programme
(UNEP)
on
Thursday
extended
environmentalist
and
actor-producer
Dia
Mirza's
term
as
its
National
Goodwill
Ambassador
for
another
two
years
till
the
end
of
2022.
Dia,
who
is
also
a
United
Nations
Sustainability
Development
Goals
Advocate,
said
she
views
the
extension
as
an
opportunity
to
work
towards
championing
nature.
"I
am
grateful
for
the
opportunity
to
continue
to
serve
as
UNEP
ambassador.
My
association
with
the
United
Nations
Environment
Programme
has
been
an
extraordinary
learning
curve.
It
has
defined
my
purpose
and
I
hope
to
continue
to
learn
and
make
a
difference
towards
improving
environmental
consciousness.
Now
more
than
ever
before
we
need
to
make
every
effort
possible
to
act
on
climate,
protect
wildlife,
biodiversity,
and
secure
our
natural
resources," the
actor
said
in
a
statement.
The
Kaafir
actor
said
being
a
Goodwill
Ambassador
for
the
UNEP
has
been
an
opportunity
to
have
'meaningful
conversations
around
nature
and
sustainability' with
various
stakeholders
across
India
and
the
world.
"It
has
helped
me
understand
the
complexity
of
the
issues
at
hand
and
the
simplicity
of
the
solutions," she
added.
Dechen
Tsering,
Regional
Director
and
Representative
for
Asia
and
the
Pacific,
UNEP
said
Dia's
support
a
Goodwill
Ambassador
since
2017
has
been
greatly
valued.
"Your
contributions
to
World
Environment
Day,
#BeatPlasticPollution,
Circular
Fashion
and
other
UNEP
campaigns
and
initiatives
have
helped
broaden
the
scope
and
impact
of
our
outreach.
We
look
to
you
to
continue
to
assist
us
in
our
advocacy
efforts
and
communicate
to
the
public
the
vision
and
values
that
guide
our
work,"
Dechen
said.
One
of
Dia's
big
campaigns
during
her
first
tenure
as
the
ambassador
was
#BeatPlasticPollution
that
helped
in
highlighting
the
issue
at
the
highest
levels
and
led
to
a
clarion
call
from
Prime
Minister
Narendra
Modi
to
make
India
Single
Use
Plastics
free
by
2022,
the
statement
read.