“Happy Environment Day to all of you on 5th June.”
World Environment Day is celebrated every year on June 5, drawing global attention to environmental issues. Established by the United Nations, it serves as a platform to raise awareness, push for policy changes, and promote sustainable practices around the world. In 2024, the theme focuses on inspiring action to protect our planet, highlighting the urgency of the environmental challenges we face.
History
World Environment Day was started by the United Nations during the Stockholm Human Environment Conference in 1972. In this conference from 5 to 16 June, it was discussed to strengthen the relationship between human activities and the environment. A year after this conference, in 1973, World Environment Day was celebrated for the first time with the theme “Only One Earth”.
Significance
World Environment Day is important because it makes us aware of environmental issues such as climate change, air and water pollution, deforestation and biodiversity loss. This day reminds us how important a healthy environment is for our survival and inspires us to take collective action to protect Mother Earth.
World Environment Day Theme 2024
The theme of World Environment Day 2024 is “Our Earth, Our Future – We Restore Generations”. The theme highlights the importance of preventing land degradation and restoring healthy ecosystems.
Objective
World Environment Day aims to focus global attention on the serious environmental challenges of our time. This International Day of the United Nations has become the largest global platform for environmental awareness, with millions of people around the world joining in to protect the planet.
In 2023, World Environment Day focused on showcasing solutions to plastic pollution, underlining the need for a comprehensive “whole-of-society approach” to tackle the plastic pollution crisis. Following the unanimous passage of the historic resolution establishing an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) to develop a legally binding global instrument to end plastic pollution, this day serves as a reminder that solutions are available, but we need stronger and more concrete action to rethink how humanity designs, produces, consumes and disposes of plastics, products and packaging to reduce plastic pollution.
2018, India | Beat Plastic Pollution #BeatPlasticPollution
India has always contributed to Environment Day, such as:
The 45th celebration of World Environment Day was celebrated under the theme “Beat Plastic Pollution”. Over 6,000 people gathered at Versova Beach in Mumbai to join UN Environment Champion of the Earth Afroz Shah in a beach clean-up, where they collected over 90,000 kilograms of plastic. The Indian government has made a bold commitment to ban all single-use plastics by 2022 – which accounts for 70% of marine litter – and EU lawmakers have agreed to a ban by 2025.
2011, India | Forests: Nature at Your Service
World Environment Day saw a friendly competition between actor Don Cheadle and entrepreneur Gisele Bundchen to see who could attract more social media followers. As part of the competition, Bundchen planted the first of 50,000 trees in Rio de Janeiro’s Grumari Municipal Park. People around the world registered more than 4,000 World Environment Day-related activities.
Similarly, India also makes all efforts to save its Mother Earth.
How to Save the Environment?
We can all contribute in many ways to save the environment. Here are some simple things we can easily do:
- Use less paper and adopt recycling.
- Plant and care for trees.
- Save electricity and water.
- Don’t use plastic bags.
- Use public transport or carpool.
- Minimize the use of chemicals.
- Raise awareness about environmental issues.
Other Tips
Take Initiatives:
World Environment Day is not just a one-day celebration. It is an inspiration to make continuous efforts for environmental protection. You can take many initiatives to make people around you aware and bring about a positive change.
- Run a clean-up campaign in your community: You can directly contribute to keeping the environment clean by running a clean-up campaign in your neighbourhood, park or riverbank.
- Form an environmental club: Forming an environmental club in your school, college or workplace is a great way to raise environmental awareness. This club can run environmental activities, such as tree plantation drives, workshops and awareness campaigns.
- Join local environmental organisations: Many organisations are working to protect the environment at the grassroots level. You can support these organisations by volunteering with them or by donating.
Grassroots Change
By making small changes in your daily life, you can play an important role in saving the environment. For example:
- Buy organic food from local farmers: Organic farming is less harmful to the environment. By buying from local farmers, you are not only supporting the environment but also the local economy.
- Make compost at home: Instead of throwing away kitchen waste (fruit and vegetable peels), you can increase soil fertility and also reduce waste by making compost.
- Use reusable items: You can reduce plastic waste by using reusable water bottles, cloth bags and steel cans.
World Environment Day is an opportunity to remind us that the Earth is our only home and it is our collective responsibility to protect it. Let us all work together for “Our Earth, Our Future” and ensure a healthy planet for generations to come.
So let us pledge this Environment Day that we have to make all efforts to save the Earth, called mother, and give it a beautiful future.
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