Date: Wednesday, 5 June 2024; 50th Anniversary.
Sponsor: United Nations
Objectives:
World Environment Day is annually observed for the following purposes:
- to raise and spread awareness of emerging environmental concerns and crises,
- to recognize the importance of environmental issues for sustainable development,
- to call for prompt action to preserve and enhance the planet’s environment.
- to highlight the need for continuous international cooperation in environmental conservation.
Inception:
World Environment Day was observed for the first time on 5 June 1974.
History:
On 15 December 1972, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution (A/RES/2994 (XXVII)), on the first day of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment, designating June 5 as World Environment Day.
In 1974, the first World Environment Day was held in Spokane in the USA, with the theme “Only One Earth”.
Since 1987, each official celebration of World Environment Day was hosted by a different country selected by the United States General Assembly. In 2020, the host was Colombia in partnership with Germany.
How to Observe the Day
Learn, share, and action!
The United Nations General Assembly urges “governments and the organizations in the United Nations system to undertake on that day every year worldwide activities reaffirming their concern for the preservation and enhancement of the environment, with a view to deepening environmental awareness.”
Every year, the day is celebrated by engaging governments, organizations, communities, businesses, and individuals, through various events including seminars, lectures, conferences, educational programs, and social media campaigns, to raise and spread awareness of environmental issues and share innovative actions.
Each year, the United Nations proposes a theme for the World Environment Day to focus on a pressing environmental issue.
Annual theme and host nation in recent years:
2023 theme: “Beat Plastic Pollution” (Côte d’Ivoire)
2022 theme: “Only One Earth” (Sweden)
2021 theme: “Ecosystem Restoration” (Pakistan)
2020 theme: “Time for Nature” (Colombia)
2019 theme: “Beat Air Pollution” (China)
2018 theme: “Beat Plastic Pollution” (India)
2017 theme: “Connecting People to Nature” (Canada)
2016 theme: “Zero Tolerance for the Illegal Wildlife trade” (Angola)
2015 theme: “Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care” (Italy)
Official websites:
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