The World Environment Day is observed every year on June 5. This year marks the 50th anniversary of World Environment Day. The day encourages awareness and action for environmental protection around the globe.
World Environment Day 2023: Theme
The theme of World Environment Day, 2023 focuses on ways to curb plastic and reduce pollution due to plastic. This year, the host is the West African country of Côte d’Ivoire, in partnership with the Netherlands. The nation is one of the countries taking measures to curb plastic pollution. It is a signatory of the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment and a member of the Global Partnership on Plastic Pollution and Marine Litter. The significant initiative of this day is to encourage people to lead sustainable lifestyles.
World Environment Day 2023: History
A conference was held by the United Nations in Stockholm in 1972 which was the first UN conference that included the environment as its major agenda. It also recognized the right to live in a healthy environment as the basic right of any human being. The conference became a historic global effort to protect and conserve the environment, leading to the creation of the United Nations Environment Programme. The event marked June 5 as the formal declaration of World Environment Day.
The first World Environment Day was celebrated in 1973 with the theme “Only One Earth”. Since then, several pressing environmental themes have been undertaken. Some of these themes are’Only One Future for Our Children’ (1979), ‘A Tree for Peace’ (1986), ‘For Life on Earth – Save Our Seas’ (1998), ‘Connect with the World Wide Web of Life’ (2001), among many others.
World Environment Day 2023: Significance
World Environment Day is a reminder to people to protect the environment from global warming and climate change. Loss of biodiversity, loss of life and imbalance in the ecosystem are some of the effects of climate change as a result of environmental ignorance. Environment Day has worked as a platform for environmental activists to aware people about the environmental changes and degradation taking place and ways to save it.