The United Nations Environment Programme set forth the theme "Your planet needs you! Unite to combat climate change!" for this year and called upon all the countries to turn out in the drive for combating the climate change.

Jong Yong Nam, vice-chairman of the Central Committee of the Nature Conservation Union of Korea, said in an interview with KCNA on the occasion of the World Environment Day (June 5) that the DPRK has set the prevention of the climate change as an important state policy and taken substantial measures for it since it entered the "United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change", and continued:

Great efforts have been directed to restoring the forests destroyed owing to the climate change.

The DPRK set the entire people in motion to strictly ban the illegal deforestation and to cover the whole country with forests.

At the same time, it also concentrated much effort on building minor hydro-power stations which have no impact on the climate change, thus creating lots of hydro-power generating bases.

While taking state measures for reducing greenhouse gas emission by fossil fuel, it is encouraging the efforts for introducing newly-developed alternative energy technologies.

New energy technologies which can lower coal consumption and raise efficiency are developed and introduced into thermal power plants and industrial establishments.

Along with this, efforts are being made to introduce methane gas into rural villages for meeting the demand for energy and to develop and apply various recycling energy technologies such as wind power and solar heat to suit the characteristics of areas.

Meanwhile, it is energetically pushing ahead with the international cooperation for combating the climate change.

It is carrying on projects for solving the acute food problem caused by the climate change in contact with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

In the future, too, our country will perform its duty assigned by the framework convention by further strengthening the international cooperation for combating the climate change.

To observe the day, a national symposium and other colorful functions for combating the climate change were held in Pyongyang and local areas.