World Environment Day is an annual observance on 5th June. It is celebrated among 143 countries around the globe. The gift of Mother Nature is the place where we live, the air we breathe, water, and all other natural sources that make living things possible to dwell. It should be celebrated yearly. By the initiative of the United Nations, World Environment Day is celebrated.
World Environment Day 2020
World Environment Day 2020 will be celebrated on 5th June, Friday. It will be hosted by Columbia and the theme of 2020 is “Celebrate Biodiversity”.
Brief History
In 1972, the United Nations General Assembly established the World Environment Day on the first day of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. After a discussion made in the Conference on the Integration of Human Interaction and the environment, the final decision was taken on the establishment of World Environment Day.
After two years and in the year 1974, the first World Environment Day was celebrated with the theme “Only one Earth”. Since then the annual celebration of WED is observed. In the year 1987, the concept of hosting the event of WED annually by selecting the different countries around the globe is initiated.
Why the Event was Established?
WED is celebrated annually on 5th June. The environment is the place where living things dwell, safety is necessary. The rise in environmental pollution and degradation in the quality of the environment is a big challenge for the world. The land, marine life, greenery, mountains, water bodies, and all living creatures are part of this environment.
Sadly, due to rising pollution, global warming, deforestation, and many environments degrading activities the United Nations came up with the idea of establishing the World Environment Day. Its main motive is to raise awareness of environmental safety and its protection.
Hosting Countries
Many countries around the world have been hosted World Environment Day with different Themes. In India, New Delhi had hosted World Environment Day in 2011 and 2018. In the year 2019, World Environment Day was hosted by China with the Theme of “Air Pollution”.
World Environment Day Themes
World Environment Day is an annual event observed on 5th June yearly. Annually it is hosted by various countries across the world. The host countries celebrate Environment Day with the theme decided by the United Nations. Every Year a new theme is adopted by the United Nations for the celebration of World Environment Day. The theme is based on the current scenario of the environment and the challenges for the environment. Here we have a list of some themes of World Environment Day:
The theme of the year 2019: “Beat Air Pollution”
The theme of the year 2018: “Beat Plastic Pollution”
The theme of the year 2017: “Connecting People to Nature”
The theme of the year 2016: “Go wild for life”
The theme of the year 2015: “One World, One Environment”
The theme of the year 2014: “Small Island Developing States”
The theme of the year 2013: “Think, Eat, Save”
The theme of the year 2012: “Green, Economy: Does it include you?”
The theme of the year 2011: “Forests: Nature at your Service”
The theme of the year 2010: “Many Species, One Planet, One Future”
How the Event is Observed?
Annually World Environment is celebrated on 5th June. The agenda of saving our environment is portrayed by various celebration events. Let’s have a look at some of the events that are observed on the eve of World Environment Day:
- Plantation Events: On the eve of World Environment Day, across world tons of plants are planted by the collaborative efforts of people and various organizations.
- Cleanliness Campaign by NGOs: Various Cleanliness campaigns are carried out for marine and litters scattered. Plastic Pollution is a challenging issue for the environment, every year tons of plastic are released from the marine.
- Social Media Campaigns: On the eve of World Environment Day, various Social Media Campaigns are observed. People share quotes, messages, and pictures supporting the theme of World Environments Day. Popular Search Engine Google also praises the WED by changing the Doodle for the Day.
- In Schools and Colleges: On the eve of World Environment Day, Speech, Drawing Competition, Poster Making Competition, Slogan Writing Competition, and various academic level competitions are observed.
Similarly, Television Chat shows and various celebration events in host countries are observed on the eve of World Environment Day.
How You can Participate in the Celebration
We can also contribute our efforts towards the safety of the environment. There are various ways of participating in the World Environment Day celebration:
- Reading the data about world environment Day and the possible threats to our environment.
- Using less electricity, fuels, etc can be a good initiative for saving our environment.
- Tree plantation can be a contribution to the environment; we can plant more new trees near our home or in our garden.
- Media campaigns by sharing the pictures, quotes, or posting any informative piece for World Environment Day.
Objectives & Significance of World Environment Day
World Environment Day is celebrating by the motive of saving the environment from possible threats. Environmental protection is not the sole responsibility of environmentalists and the regional authority of a particular place but it should be a concern for the people living in a society.
WED focuses on the factors that work for raising awareness among the general public towards the environment. It aims to create a sense of responsibility in the government and the general public for nature.
Various NGOs, Government, and local authorities took part in the Environment protection steps on the evening of World Environment Day. These activities work as awareness of generation events for the public. The themes of the WED are based on the current situation of natural aura around us and the issues for the environment. United Nations guidelines for environment conservation are highlighted on the eve of World Environment Day.
45 Years of World Environment Day
Since the inception of the celebration of World Environment Day, there have been several changes in the environment of the earth. There was not much pollution in the air, and we needed to improve the fertility of soil first. It continued to be a silent objective of the event by the 7th celebration. By the 12th celebration of the day, there has been a sufficient increase in the number of vehicles on the road. It caused the mixing of chemicals and hazardous elements in the environment. That’s why we worked on cleaning the environment for the next 5 years.
Since then, also the number of trees has gradually decreased all around the world. It was the result of urbanization and industrialization and subsequently, earth suffered from various disasters like earthquakes, floods, drought, epidemics, and global warming. Pollution and population were the two major problems. In the upcoming years, World Environment Day was focused on reducing pollution from the earth.
The efforts of the authority and the participants succeeded when the latest data were released. According to the UN latest environment report, the environment of the earth has improved in some places in the world. It could become possible because of the increasing number of trees. In the list of the countries which planted the most number of trees, India was among the top five countries. It is not less pride for us. So we can say that belated and slowly but the objective of celebrating the World Environment Day is being achieved. It is the result of the effort of all of us.
Goals to be Achieved and Voice of Youths
There have been around 45 years of celebration of World Environment Day. Though many goals of the celebration of the event are achieved in this period, there are many things yet to be done. We need to identify the things that are damaging our environment and reduce them to the minimum.
The first thing that comes to our mind is the spread of plastic pollution. Plastic pollution has taken over the entire world and is probably the most damaging factor for our environment. It has polluted the land, water, and air as well. Another problem is the lack of an adequate number of trees around us. This the main factor for increasing pollution and global warming. Increasing population and unbalanced use of the non-renewable resource of energy also need to be controlled through the awareness towards the cons of declined Environment and the pros of a healthy environment.
Waste production and disposal, urban expansion, acid rain, overfishing, etc are also a major threat to be removed as soon as possible. There are also some which have grown indiscriminately, and they are ocean acidification, loss of biodiversity, and climate change. These are the major issues that can create a problem in survival on earth in the future. We must think and solve all the problems in the upcoming years.
Conclusion
World Environment Day is annually celebrated for generating awareness among people. The role of the Environment for all of us is crucial. For saving the environment getting declined and enjoying the gift of Mother Nature ever, the United Nations established World Environment Day.