World Environment Day

World Environment Day

World Environment Day (WED) was established in 1972 by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly to mark the opening of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. Two years later, in 1974 the first WED was held with the theme “Only One Earth”. Commemorated yearly on 5th June WED is one of principle Vehicles through which the UN stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment enhances attention and action. WED serves as the “Peoples day” for doing something to take care of the earth or become an agent of change. World Environment Day is a global platform for public outreach, with participation from over 143 countries annually.

Even though WED celebrations have been held annually since 1974, in 1987 the idea for rotating the center of these activities through selecting different host countries began. Every year WED has a different global host country for the official celebrations. Last year, WED was hosted by Colombia in partnership with Germany. This year’s host is Pakistan.

WORLD Environment Day Anthem

An Earth Anthem penned by poet Abhay K is sung to celebrate World Environment Day.

Our cosmic oasis, cosmic blue pearl
the most beautiful planet in the universe
all the continents and all the oceans
united we stand as flora and fauna
united we stand as species of one earth
different cultures, beliefs and ways
we are humans, the earth is our home
all the people and the nations of the world
all for one and one for all
united we unfurl the blue marble flag.

The anthem was launched in June 2013 on the occasion of the World Environment Day by Kapil Sibal and Shashi Tharoor, then Union Ministers of India, at a function organized by the Indian Council of Cultural Relations in New Delhi. It is supported by the global organization Habitat for Humanity.

THEME 
For too long, we have been exploiting and destroying our planet’s ecosystems. Every three seconds, the world loses enough forest to cover a football pitch and over the last century we have destroyed half of our wetlands. As much as 50 per cent of our coral reefs have already been lost and up to 90 per cent of coral reefs could be lost by 2050, even if global warming is limited to an increase of 1.5°C.
Ecosystem restoration means preventing, halting and reversing this damage to go from exploiting nature to healing it. This World Environment Day will kick off the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, a global mission to revive billions of hectares, from forests to farmlands, from the top of mountains to the depth of the sea. Only with healthy ecosystems can we enhance people’s livelihoods, counteract climate change and stop the collapse of biodiversity.
Above all, World Environment Day offers a global platform for inspiring positive change. It pushes for individuals to think about the way they consume; for businesses to develop greener models; for farmers and manufacturers to produce more sustainably; for governments to invest in repairing the environment; for educators to inspire students to take action; and for youth to build a greener future.

Table: Theme and Host Country of WED sine 1974 to 2021

Year Theme Host city
1974 Only one Earth  Spokane, United States
1975 Human Settlements Dhaka, Bangladesh
1976 Water: Vital Resource for Life Ontario, Canada
1977 Ozone Layer Environmental Concern; Lands Loss and Soil Degradation Sylhet, Bangladesh
1978 Development Without Destruction Sylhet, Bangladesh
1979 Only One Future for Our Children – Development Without Destruction Sylhet, Bangladesh
1980 A New Challenge for the New Decade: Development Without Destruction Sylhet, Bangladesh
1981 Ground Water; Toxic Chemicals in Human Food Chains Sylhet, Bangladesh
1982 Ten Years After Stockholm (Renewal of Environmental Concerns) Dhaka, Bangladesh
1983 Managing and Disposing Hazardous Waste: Acid Rain and Energy Sylhet, Bangladesh
1984 Desertification Rajshahi, Bangladesh
1985 Youth: Population and the Environment Islamabad, Pakistan
1986 A Tree for Peace Ontario, Canada
1987 Environment and Shelter: More Than A Roof Nairobi, Kenya
1988 When People Put the Environment First, Development Will Last Bangkok, Thailand
1989 Global Warming; Global Warning Brussels, Belgium
1990 Children and the Environment Mexico City, Mexico
1991 Climate Change. Need for Global Partnership Stockholm, Sweden
1992 Only One Earth, Care and Share Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
1993 Poverty and the Environment – Breaking the Vicious Circle Beijing, People’s Republic of China
1994 One Earth One Family London, United Kingdom
1995 We the Peoples: United for the Global Environment Pretoria, South Africa
1996 Our Earth, Our Habitat, Our Home Istanbul, Turkey
1997 For Life on Earth Seoul, Republic of Korea
1998 For Life on Earth – Save Our Seas Moscow, Russian Federation
1999 Our Earth – Our Future – Just Save It! Tokyo, Japan
2000 The Environment Millennium – Time to Act Adelaide, Australia
2001 Connect with the World Wide Web of Life Torino, Italy and Havana, Cuba
2002 Give Earth a Chance Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China
2003 Water – Two Billion People are Dying for It! Beirut, Lebanon
2004 Wanted! Seas and Oceans – Dead or Alive? Barcelona, Spain
2005 Green Cities – Plan for the Planet! San Francisco, United States
2006 Deserts and Desertification – Don’t Desert Drylands! Algiers, Algeria
2007 Melting Ice – a Hot Topic? London, England
2008 Kick The Habit – Towards A Low Carbon Economy Wellington, New Zealand
2009 Your Planet Needs You – Unite to Combat Climate Change Mexico City, Mexico
2010 Many Species. One Planet. One Future Rangpur, Bangladesh
2011 Forests: Nature at your Service Delhi, India
2012 Green Economy: Does it include you? Brasilia, Brazil
2013 Think.Eat.Save. Reduce Your Foodprint Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
2014 Raise your voice, not the sea level Bridgetown, Barbados
2015 Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care. Rome, Italy
2016 Zero Tolerance for the Illegal Wildlife trade Luanda, Angola
2017 Connecting People to Nature – in the city and on the land, from the poles to the equator Ottawa, Canada
2018 Beat Plastic Pollution New Delhi, India
2019 Beat Air Pollution China
2020 Time for Nature Colombia
2021 Ecosystem Restoration Pakistan

Mr. Faheem Ahamad (Asst. Professor, Department of Environmental Science, KVSCOS)
Dr. Mukesh Ruhela (HOD & Professor, EEM-SITE)
Dr. Sweta Bhardwaj (Assist. Professor, EEM-SITE)

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