World Environment Day: Date, History, Significance, Theme, and Messages from United Nations Officials for World Environment Day

Last updated on September 10th, 2024 at 07:47 am

We are living because the environment around us provides everything we need to live, from air to water. The environment provides us with every basic thing we require for survival. But with time, people have forgotten the importance of the environment and how significant it is for every individual to protect the environment around them. Every year on June 5, World Environment Day is celebrated. When this day is celebrated, it is crucial to encourage environmental awareness and acknowledge to people around the world how much the environment is essential for us. Annually, World Environment Day is overseen by the United Nations Environment Programme. We are here with everything you need to know for this year’s Environment Day, starting from history to this year’s theme.

History and Significance of World Environment Day

World Environment Day is observed worldwide on June 5. This day is significant for raising awareness about various environmental problems. On this day, people are encouraged to take various measures to protect the environment.

In 1972, during the Stockholm Conference, the United Nations established World Environment Day. World Environment Day is the outcome of talks about combining human interactions with the environment. In 1974, the first World Environment Day was observed with the theme ‘Only My Earth’.

Every year, World Environment Day is celebrated with a new theme that highlights a particular environmental problem, such as climate change.

World Environment Day 2024: Theme

The theme for 2024 World Environment Day highlights desertification, land restoration, and drought resilience, according to the official website of World Environment Day. The slogan for this year’s Environment Day is ‘Our Land, Our Future’. We are #GenerationRestoration. The celebrations for this year’s World Environment Day will be hosted by Saudi Arabia.

United Nations Officials Message On This World Environment Day

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Message

The theme of World Environment Day 2024 is ‘Desertification, Land Restoration, and Drought Resilience. Human beings depend on land. Yet all over the world, biodiversity and climate chaos are transforming healthy lands into deserts. This means that crops are failing, economies are weakened, and water sources are disappearing, with the poorest people suffering the most. Sustainable development is also suffering. The use of land is the reason for eleven percent of carbon dioxide emissions heating up the earth. It is now time to break free.

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Every country should deliver on their every commitment to restore degraded land and ecosystems and on the entire Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. The countries must also use their new action climate plan to reverse deforestation by 2030. We must increase the finance to support developing countries to support sustainable development and protect nature.

We are Generation Restoration. Together, we will all build a sustainable future for humanity and the land.

UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen Message On This World Environment Day

On this Environment Day, we are asking every individual to join the global movement to build drought resilience, restore lands, and fight desertification. Land degradation has affected over three billion people. By restoring ecosystems, we can handle the triple planetary crisis: the crisis of land and nature loss, the crisis of climate change, and the crisis of waste and pollution. By 2030, we can help reverse biodiversity loss, and we can also reduce food and poverty insecurity with the help of sustainable development goals.

Last year, around six countries pledged to restore 350 million hectares of wetland and 300,000 km of rivers. Later in 2024, the three Rio Conventions on biodiversity, land, and climate will each hold a conference of parties.

We all must make this work count. I thank the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for organising World Environment Day this year. On this significant day, I request everyone to join generation restoration.