June 5 Marks World Environment Day

Tomorrow, on June 5, World Environment Day is celebrated, an environmental awareness day run by the United Nations. 

The aim of the day is to raise awareness of the environment and specific environmental issues.

Wold Environment Day (WED) was established in 1972 but first held in 1974, which shows that concern about the environment goes back several decades at least. 143 countries take part in World Environment Day, and the day focuses on environmental concerns ranging from pollution to global warming and sustainable food production to protection of wildlife.

Every year there is a new main focus for WED. The theme for this year’s World Environment Day is “Celebrate Biodiversity,” a concern that is both urgent and existential.

"Recent events, from bushfires in Brazil, the United States, and Australia to locust infestations across East Africa – and now, a global disease pandemic – demonstrate the interdependence of humans and the webs of life, in which they exist," the UN said in a statement. 

The theme for 2019 was "Beat Air pollution". The host nation was China. This theme was chosen as it has been killing about 7 million people annually.

Participants of WED include NGOs, governments, communities, individuals, charities, organizations and celebrities, and together they raise awareness of environmental issues.

Each year a country or Nation hosts WED.

This year, it will be hosted in Colombia, in partnership with Germany. 

Colombia is one of the largest “Megadiverse” nations in the world to hold 10% of the planet’s biodiversity. Since it is part of the Amazon rain forest, Colombia ranks first in bird and orchid species diversity and second in plants, butterflies, freshwater fish, and amphibians.

World Environment Day can be celebrated in many ways, activities such as clear up campaigns are popular and will be prominent this year, also concerts, conventions and parades, tree planting, and lectures. Promotional materials for the day tend to be created using natural environmental colors.

History of the event

In 1972, the United Nations General Assembly established the World Environment Day on the first day of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment.

"The celebration of this day provides us with an opportunity to broaden the basis for an enlightened opinion and responsible conduct by individuals, enterprises, and communities in preserving and enhancing the environment," says the United Nations.

By Ana Dumbadze 

Image: Stock Photo