5 Reasons Why World Environment Day Vital for All

What is World Environment Day?

June 5 world environment day. Since 1974, this yearly event has been held to raise awareness and inspire action against concerns that threaten our natural world and climate. It’s a United Nations (UN) programme that aims to provide a global platform for environmental outreach.

It is a global event observed by approximately 150 countries throughout the world, with the goal of encouraging governments, corporations, communities, and individuals to take environmental action. The goal of World Environment Day is to raise awareness about the dangers that growing pollution levels and climate change pose to the environment.

The inaugural UN world environment day is Observed on 1974, providing a global forum for promoting constructive environmental change.

World Environment Day 2022 launched in Stockholm, Sweden, with a plea: “Now is the Time to Act before it is too late“.

5 Reasons Why World Environment Day Vital for All

Explained: Importance of World Environment Day – Let us try to understand why World Environment Day is Vital for all. This day should not be just for planning but a concrete action with milestones to save our earth.

1. Understand the Issue

We are using the equivalent of 1.6 Earths to maintain our current way of life, and ecosystems cannot keep up with our demands.

Our lifestyles are associated with two thirds of all greenhouse gas emissions – studies show that sustainable lifestyles and behaviours could reduce our emissions by 40 to 70% by 2050.

Sustainable consumption and production can drive economic development, mitigate climate change, positively impact health and pollution, and help alleviate poverty – potentially increasing incomes by an average of 11% in low- and medium-income countries by 2060, and 4% in high-income countries.

Earth faces a triple planetary emergency:

• The climate is heating up too quickly for people and nature to adapt;
• Habitat loss and other pressures mean an estimated 1 million species are threatened with extinction;
• Pollution continues to poison our air, land and water.

2. It’s time to Act

It is past time for appropriate actions to be taken as soon as possible. As we have all been dealing with pandemics for the past two years, the importance of a safe, clean, and sustainable environment has never been more apparent. It is now imperative that we all take care of Mother Earth and her resources. Global warming is a major threat, posing difficulties in maintaining a healthy lifestyle and protecting the environment.

India has already made a number of initiatives toward raising awareness and taking corrective action to safeguard the environment from global warming.
It is our first and main responsibility to monitor how each resource is used.

3. Conquer – Phase wise Goals to be targeted

What needs to achieve by what time to be agreed and to be act upon it.

The United Nations emphasise that environmental protection and health is a major problem that impacts people’s well-being and economic development around the world. The commemoration of this day allows us to extend the basis for informed thought and responsible behaviour by individuals, businesses, and communities in the preservation and enhancement of the environment.

4. People’s small actions can have a great influence

The following are some of these initiatives:-

1. Reduce your use of plastic on a daily basis.
2. A tree should be planted in a year.
3. Take responsibility for keeping your community clean and sanitary.
4. Do not toss trash into rivers or the sea.
5. Use things with care and recycle what you can.
6. Make an effort to reuse items.
7. Reduce your driving and increase your bicycle riding.
8. Conserve as much water as possible.
9. Resource exploitation to the bare minimum.
10. Do not discharge acids or chemicals into rivers.
11. It is necessary to increase the forest area by minimising the consumption of wood and trees.

5. Everyone’s Responsibility

The environment is a major worry for Mother Earth’s animals. We must take good care of it in order to keep it going for a long time. It has shown to be a terrific platform for individuals, NGOs, institutions, organisations, and corporations to promote their thoughts and perspectives about environmental preservation across the generations. Governments and communities plan a variety of activities to commemorate the day in order to promote environmental conservation.

World Environment Day History

The United Nations designated 5 June as World Environment Day to highlight that the protection and health of the environment is a major issue, which affects the well-being of peoples and economic development throughout the world. The celebration of this day provides us with an opportunity to broaden the basis for an enlightened opinion and responsible conduct by individuals, enterprises and communities in preserving and enhancing the environment.

World Environment Day was established in 1972 by the United Nations at the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment ( 5–16 June 1972), that had resulted from discussions on the integration of human interactions and the environment. Two years later, in 1974 the first WED was held with the theme “Only One Earth”

The year 1972 marked a turning point in the development of international environmental politics, with the first major conference on environmental issues, known as the Conference on the Human Environment, or the Stockholm Conference. Later that year, on 15 December, the General Assembly adopted a resolution (A/RES/2994 (XXVII)) designating June 5 as World Environment Day and urging “Governments and the organizations in the United Nations system to undertake on that day every year world-wide activities reaffirming their concern for the preservation and enhancement of the environment, with a view to deepening environmental awareness.”

UNESCO has an important track record in advancing ecological sciences through pioneering work on ecosystems, biosphere reserves, capacity building, scientific assessments and policy briefs to assist decision-makers in managing natural resources sustainably. UNESCO mobilizes the knowledge, know-how and practices of local communities and indigenous peoples to support their inclusion in environmental decision-making. Its World Network of Biosphere Reserves demonstrate ways to safeguard natural ecosystems and biodiversity through science, education and participatory approaches while promoting innovative economic development that is environmentally sustainable and socially and culturally appropriate.

Credit: https://en.unesco.org/

Year	Theme	Host city
1974	Only one Earth during Expo ’74	Spokane, United States
1975	Human Settlements	Dhaka, Bangladesh
1976	Water: Vital Resource for Life	Ontario, Canada
1977	Ozone Layer Environmental Concern; Lands Loss and Soil Degradation	Sylhet, Bangladesh
1978	Development Without Destruction	Sylhet, Bangladesh
1979	Only One Future for Our Children – Development Without Destruction	Sylhet, Bangladesh
1980	A New Challenge for the New Decade: Development Without Destruction	Sylhet, Bangladesh
1981	Ground Water; Toxic Chemicals in Human Food Chains	Sylhet, Bangladesh
1982	Ten Years After Stockholm (Renewal of Environmental Concerns)	Dhaka, Bangladesh
1983	Managing and Disposing Hazardous Waste: Acid Rain and Energy	Sylhet, Bangladesh
1984	Desertification	Rajshahi, Bangladesh
1985	Youth: Population and the Environment	Islamabad, Pakistan
1986	A Tree for Peace	Ontario, Canada
1987	Environment and Shelter: More Than A Roof	Nairobi, Kenya
1988	When People Put the Environment First, Development Will Last	Bangkok, Thailand
1989	Global Warming; Global Warning	Brussels, Belgium
1990	Children and the Environment	Mexico City, Mexico
1991	Climate Change. Need for Global Partnership	Stockholm, Sweden
1992	Only One Earth, Care and Share	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
1993	Poverty and the Environment – Breaking the Vicious Circle	Beijing, People’s Republic of China
1994	One Earth One Family	London, United Kingdom
1995	We the Peoples: United for the Global Environment	Pretoria, South Africa
1996	Our Earth, Our Habitat, Our Home	Istanbul, Turkey
1997	For Life on Earth	Seoul, Republic of Korea
1998	For Life on Earth – Save Our Seas	Moscow, Russian Federation
1999	Our Earth – Our Future – Just Save It!	Tokyo, Japan
2000	The Environment Millennium – Time to Act	Adelaide, Australia
2001	Connect with the World Wide Web of Life	Torino, Italy and Havana, Cuba
2002	Give Earth a Chance	Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China
2003	Water – Two Billion People are Dying for It!	Beirut, Lebanon
2004	Wanted! Seas and Oceans – Dead or Alive?	Barcelona, Spain
2005	Green Cities – Plan for the Planet!	San Francisco, United States
2006	Deserts and Desertification – Don’t Desert Drylands!	Algiers, Algeria
2007	Melting Ice – a Hot Topic?	London, England
2008	Kick The Habit – Towards A Low Carbon Economy	Wellington, New Zealand
2009	Your Planet Needs You – Unite to Combat Climate Change	Mexico City, Mexico
2010	Many Species. One Planet. One Future	Rangpur, Bangladesh
2011	Forests: Nature at your Service	Delhi, India
2012	Green Economy: Does it include you?	Brasilia, Brazil
2013	Think.Eat.Save. Reduce Your Foodprint	Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
2014	Raise your voice, not the sea level	Bridgetown, Barbados
2015	Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care.	Rome, Italy
2016	Zero Tolerance for the Illegal Wildlife trade	Luanda, Angola
2017	Connecting People to Nature – in the city and on the land, from the poles to the equator	Ottawa, Canada
2018	Beat Plastic Pollution[4]	New Delhi, India
2019	Beat Air Pollution[5]	China
2020	Time for Nature[6][2]	Colombia
2021	Ecosystem restoration[7]	Pakistan
2022	Only One Earth	Sweden

World Environment Day Is Celebrated Every Year on?

Every year on June 5th, World Environment Day is commemorated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to raise awareness about deteriorating environmental conditions and to inspire people all over the world to adopt positive environmental measures to help create a brighter future.

World Environment Day Is Observed on 5th June of every year.

As host for 2022, Sweden is putting on the official World Environment Day ceremony at the Teknisa Museet in Stockholm starting at 11:30AM CET and lasting one hour.

Sweden’s Minister for Climate and the Environment Annika Strandhäll and UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Inger Andersen will be there. This will be special programme with music, discussions and announcements, all set in the Technology Museum with its “Zero City” exhibition, about a future city where transport is fossil-fuel free.

Inger Andersen, the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Annika Strandhäll, the Swedish Minister for Climate and the Environment, launched World Environment Day with impassioned speeches calling for urgent action.

Andersen said: “We know what to do. End our addiction to fossil fuels. Restore nature to its full glory. Transform our food systems. Make our cities green, liveable and low-carbon – a task Sweden is committed to, from Kiruna to Malmo, from Stockholm to Gothenburg. And we can do it – as one people, living on one Earth.”

This was a message echoed by Strandhäll; she said: “2022 must also be a turning point. We must show that we hear the call from science and the young generation. We must learn the lessons of the past and apply our efforts in the present in order to secure a sustainable future for all.”

World Environment Day 2022 has the theme #OnlyOneEarth and calls for collective, transformative action on a global scale to celebrate, protect and restore our planet. Led by UNEP, World Environment Day is the largest global platform for environmental public outreach and is celebrated by millions of people across the world.

World Environment Day Poster

World Environment Day Drawing

World Environment Day Quotes

We are asking too much of our planet to maintain our unsustainable ways of life. Earth’s natural systems cannot keep up with our demands. The only way forward is to work with nature, not against it.

António Guterres Secretary-General of the @UN

The science is clear. Time is running out. We must go from harming our planet to healing it. We need to rethink the way we live & the way we consume. There is #OnlyOneEarth. We have to protect it.

United Nations

We can no longer let people in power decide what hope is.

Greta Thunberg

A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

Margaret Mead

Conclusion

The World Environment Day raise awareness and inspire action against concerns that threaten our natural world and climate. It’s a United Nations (UN) programme that aims to provide a global platform for environmental outreach. It is responsibility of everyone to understand the issue and start acting on it to save our earth.

It is our first and main responsibility to monitor how each resource is used.
The environment has become exceedingly polluted and contaminated, posing a serious threat to human health. The World Environment Day motivates us to take action to enhance the environment we can’t live without, as well as to take proper efforts to conserve the environment without which life on Earth would be impossible.

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