World Environment Day is observed on June 5 every year to raise awareness about safeguarding the environment. Since its inception in 1973, World Environment Day has catalysed positive change by confronting the various challenges to the environment.
This year’s World Environment Day celebrations are hosted by The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with a theme that highlights “Land Restoration, Desertification, and Draught Resilience.” Driven by the environmental threats of degradation, desertification, and draughts, the host country is at the forefront of advocating environmental solutions. With the World Environment Day 2024 slogan, “Our land. Our future. We are #GenerationRestoration” as their rallying cry, participants from across the globe are coming together to honour the planet and champion environmental protection.
History
June 5 was designated as World Environment Day by the UN General Assembly during the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment in 1972. The same year witnessed the creation of the United Nations Environment Program. The following year, in 1973, the first World Environment Day was celebrated, marking a significant occasion for environmental awareness and action.
Importance
Every year, World Environment Day encourages international parties to join forces to foster environmental policies and act as a reminder of collective responsibility to restore the quality of the environment. Gone are the days of holding up placards, jotting down deforestation essays, and insisting that school kids think about their mother nature. We are living in a time when the environment is deteriorating beyond repair. Several global nations are grappling with scarce rainfall, draughts, flash floods, landslides, and near-famine-like conditions—the impacts of global climate change.
The state of our planet underscores the urgency of action. This year’s theme is especially pressing as much of the world is reeling under the crippling effects of land degradation, drought, and desertification. By celebrating this day, we raise awareness about critical environmental issues such as climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss. World Environment Day celebrations this year push for land restoration efforts from nations to restore the crippling effects of environmental degradation.
Despite the global repercussions of human-induced environmental hazards, every environmental day serves as a glimmer of hope, reminding the world that there is still time to reverse the damage through innovative technologies, sustainable practices, and collective action.
