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All of us need to use this day to remind ourselves to protect our natural surroundings. Though Sweden was the first to suggest this environmental initiative in 1968, it wasn’t actually established by the United Nations until 1972. World leaders from around the globe sat together to discuss how they can raise awareness to protect our environment — and it was then WED was made and 2 years later, the first-ever WED was celebrated in Spokane Washington with the slogan “Only One Earth.” This day is celebrated on this date, June 5th in the United States and around the world. It encourages worldwide activism including everything from littering to climate change. This is both a global celebration and a platform for public outreach.
The facts are that an estimated 7 million people die each year from causes related to air pollution and the majority have been occurring in the Asia-Pacific region. China has taken the initiative to step up and take actions against this. They hosted the UN World Environment Celebration in 2019 and now own half the world’s electric vehicles and 99 percent of the world’s electric buses. The country has demonstrated tremendous leadership in tackling air pollution domestically. And it is up to each country to do their share as well.
WED has been completely embraced by people everywhere, so much so that it’s even slowly creeping into pop culture. Celebrities around the world all encourage people, in their own unique way, to do their part and “ save the world”. Leonardo DiCaprio and Meryl Streep are some of the many who constantly speak out about environmental awareness. Even Maurice Strong- Canadian oil and mineral businessman and a diplomat turned his focus to lead the discussions about marine pollution, human overpopulation, and global warming. So, it doesn’t matter if you’re a famous actor, an athlete or a student in college we all can take a part. Get out and spend a day outdoors doing fun activities towards preserving this beautiful planet.
Sustainability and the protection of the environment are without a doubt among the most pressing issues we face in the world today. The core necessities of life all come from Mother Nature and, unfortunately, we take it for granted. World Environment Day encourages everyone from individuals to large-scale corporations to be more conscious of their impact on the environment.
A theme is observed every year. The theme for 2020 was ‘Biodiversity.’ Advocacy campaigns and calls for change are heavily promoted, all the while educating others to adopt healthy actions and break patterns that contribute to the degradation of the ecosystem. Just the simple act of switching off unnecessary lights has a tremendous effect.
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