World Environment Day is observe every year on 5th June as the name suggests, the day encourages awareness and action for the protection of the environment. The world is facing many environmental concerns, many of them grave, and they require urgent addressing.
Every year, a different theme is chosen for World Environment Day to draw attention to a different aspect of environmental concern.
This year, the focus is on beating plastic pollution.
History of World Environment Day
World Environment Day was establish in 1972 by the United Nations at the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment.
At the conference, it was discuss how international measures to address alarming environmental issues can be introduce.
It was in 1974 that this day was celebrate for the first time.
Some of the major environmental challenges the world is facing today include climate change, deforestation, pollution including plastic pollution, biodiversity loss, and sustainable development.
Significance of World Environment Day
The significance of World Environment Day lies in the fact that it gives people from all walks of life, be it governments, businesses, non-governmental organizations, or the general public, an opportunity to take concrete steps to protect the environment.
People are encourage to live more sustainably by reducing waste, conserving energy, implementing eco-friendly practices, and supporting environmental causes.
This is also a global forum where policy debates take place, knowledge is share sharing, and initiatives for environmental issues are discuss and their implementation processes chart.
Theme of World Environment Day 2023
The 15th World Environment Day will again focus on the plastic pollution crisis.
From clothes, and packaging to beauty products and kitchen essentials, plastic pervades our everyday life, due to its affordability, durability, and flexibility.
As United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) points out, plastic pollution chokes marine wildlife, damages soil and poisons groundwater, and can cause serious health impacts.
According to the UNEP, humans produce more than 430 million tonnes of plastic per year.
Two-thirds of these are short-live products that soon become waste, filling the ocean and, often, working their way into the human food chain.
On their website, Llorenç Milà i Canals, Head of the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP’s) Life Cycle Initiative, said :
“Many people aren’t aware that a material that is embedded in our daily life can have significant impacts not just on wildlife, but on the climate and on human health.”
