Since its conception in 1974, 5th of June every year is celebrated as the UN World Environment Day. It is an occasion for encouraging worldwide awareness and action for the protection of our environment.
On this day, which is also called as Eco Day or WED, over 143 nations participate in this mission, with the goal of making the public aware of incipient environmental issues that threaten the existence of our planet like marine pollution, human overpopulation, global warming, desertification and wildlife exploitation and take active measures against the issues.
It is a day of Responsibility.
The World Environment Day is an occasion for being responsible towards our planet and being a part of contributing to maintaining its equilibrium. WED was established by the UN General Assembly in 1972 on the first day of Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. The first World Environment Day was held on June 5th 1974.
Each year the focus of the Eco Day celebration is based on a specific theme, which usually is an imminent environmental issue that needs immediate attention. The theme of the first World Environment Day held in 1974 was ‘Only One Earth’. From 1987, a specific country is selected as the host nation for the official WED celebrations each year. The host country for 2021 is Pakistan.
World Environment Day 2021.
On this year’s World Environment Day, the key focus is on ‘Ecosystem restoration’. This year it is all about reinterpreting and resetting humanity’s relationship with nature; it is all about us humans setting a new course of journey, a journey based on ideas that will help us in preventing, halting and reversing ecosystem degradation.
On the occasion of World Environment Day 2021, the United Nations will launch the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration initiative aimed at propelling humanity towards a future aimed at healing our planet. There is no time to lose and there is no space for indifference, hopelessness or more damaging actions towards the environment from our part, as we are at a juncture were reversing the damages that we humans have created on our mother nature is the only course of action left for us towards the redemption of humanities future on this blue planet.
“But just as we caused the climate crisis, the biodiversity crisis and the pollution crisis, we can reverse the damage that we’ve done; we can be the first generation to reimagine, to recreate and to restore nature to kick start action for a better world.”, Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) encapsulates the aims of UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration initiative.
