World Environment Day, occurs on 5 June every year, and is the United Nation’s principal vehicle for encouraging worldwide awareness and action for the protection of our environment. World Environment Day is run by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
First held in 1974, it has been a flagship campaign for raising awareness on emerging environmental issues from marine pollution, human overpopulation, and global warming, to sustainable consumption and wildlife crime.
World Environment Day has grown to become a global platform for public outreach, with participation from over 143 countries annually. Each year, World Environment Day has a new theme that major corporations, NGOs, communities, governments and celebrities worldwide adopt to advocate environmental causes.
The theme for 2017 is ‘Connecting People to Nature in the city and on the land, from the poles to the equator’. The host nation is Canada. This theme implores us to go outdoors and appreciate nature’s beauty and importance, and take forward the call to protect the planet Earth. Last year’s theme, “Zero Tolerance for the Illegal Wildlife trade” encouraged a fight against wildlife crime.
The day itself is all about raising awareness among people about nature and the importance of protecting it. While the issues of environmental degradation affect everyone, not all are aware enough to step ahead and do something worthy.
In recent decades, scientific advances as well as growing environmental problems such as global warming are helping us to understand the countless ways in which natural systems support our own prosperity and well-being.
The world’s oceans, forests and soils act as vast stores for greenhouse gases such as carbon ,dioxide and methane; farmers and fisher-folk harness nature on land and under water to provide us with food; scientists develop medicines using genetic material drawn from the millions of species that make up Earth’s astounding biological diversity.
Billions of rural people around the world spend every working day connected to nature and appreciate full well their dependence on natural water supplies and how nature provides their livelihoods in the form of fertile soil. They are among the first to suffer when ecosystems are threatened, whether by pollution, climate change or over-exploitation.
Some of the objectives of the world environment day campaign are mentioned below:
- It is celebrated to make aware the common public about the environmental issues.
- Encourage common people from different society and communities to actively participate in the celebration as well as become an active agent in developing environmental safety measures.
- Let them know that community people are very essential to inhibit negative changes towards the environmental issues.
- Encourage people to make their nearby surroundings safe and clean to enjoy safer, cleaner and more prosperous future.
Here is what you can do on World Environment Day:
- You all can start from your home. Build a little garden or start with a sapling
- Fertilize public trees and gardens
- Clean the roads around your house
- Say ‘YES’ to public transportation and carpooling
- Say ‘NO’ to plastic
- Buy items made from recycled products.
It’s not just a matter of day, but a responsibility of all human beings to be carried throughout the entire year. This world, where we live, is our home and it is our duty to take care and make it worth living for everyone.
