"Variety is the spice of life", the idiom goes, and it expresses the appreciation that popular wisdom, built on experience, gives to diversity. The green decalogue, whose fourth principle we publish this month, "you shall appreciate the diversity of our world", makes it a mandate, which means that not fulfilling it, not attending to it, carries with it the danger of losing it.

According to UN reports, 150 animal species are currently lost every day. Although statistical data can leave us cold or indifferent, it tells us of a reality that happens and, the serious thing is, many of the animal and plant species that are lost disappear without us having come to know them, along with all their wealth of information and knowledge that we will no longer be able to learn. "...The great majority become extinct for reasons related to human activity. Because of us, thousands of species will no longer give glory to God by their very existence, nor convey their message to us. We have no such right."(LS 33).

We are so used to having almost everything, things that seem unlimited or easily obtainable, that only scarcity makes us worry that it may not be available or that we may have to regret its loss. On the other hand, the search for new ways to obtain private or public resources or benefits immediately leads us to a lack of concern for the impact it might have on others or in the future, but, "Caring for ecosystems demands far-sightedness, since no one looking for quick and easy profit is truly interested in their preservation" (LS 36).

and wealth for the population, and which have disappeared or disappear before our indifference or even with our participation. These transformations that we force onto our surroundings through actions that are often hasty, interested, short-sighted and selfish for not looking at the global reach, have consequences that go beyond the appearance in terms of affecting spaces, people and living beings - the sustainability of the whole.

Attention to the environmental and social consequences of these transformations, which take place in our immediate environment and directly affect us, can make it easier for us to understand and become aware of the changes and problems generated by various human actions that are carried out. These actions are motivated by an interest of immediate economic benefit and performed in places far from us geographically. They entail deterioration of the environment, deprivation of the means of life for living beings, doomed to disappear, and forced displacement of human beings from their places of origin - with all the deficiencies and poverty that this means. Today, we have instant knowledge of all this thanks to the information given to us by the different media. We assume it as something that allows us to sustain development, growth and the level of consumption. However, we are increasingly aware that the lifestyle that we try to maintain is not compatible with the sustainability of the sources of life that we have been given to use and take care of in our planet Earth. Ban Ki-moon, former UN Secretary General, noted the relationship between caring for biodiversity and sustainable development: "We will not be able to achieve [the Sustainable Development Goals] if we do not effectively [preserve biodiversity]". 

Generally, we tend to discharge or lighten responsibility of some of our decisions because we understand that they have a limited scope. Only the decisions of public decision-makers or top managers have consequences that affect us all. On the contrary, our choices as citizens and our habits also have an effect due to the "mysterious network of relations between things" (LS 20).

While we may be overwhelmed by the reality we are now becoming aware of, we may also be encouraged by knowing that it is in our hands to change it.

Prayer