World Environment Day (WED) is celebrated annually on 5 June and encourages awareness and action for the protection of the environment. It is supported by many non-government organizations, businesses, government entities, and represents the primary United Nations outreach day supporting the environment.
First held in 1973, it has been a platform for raising awareness on environmental issues such as marine pollution, overpopulation, global warming, sustainable development, and wildlife crime. World Environment Day is a global platform for public outreach, with participation from over 143 countries annually, including participation from Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, the Philippines, Poland, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand and the United States. Every year, the program has provided a theme and forum for businesses, non-government organizations, communities, politicians and stars to advocate environmental causes.
History World Environment Day was established in 1972 by the United Nations at the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment (5–16 June 1972), following discussions on integrating human activities with the environment. One year later, in 1973, the first WED was held with the theme "Only one earth".
Host cities World Environment Day celebrations have been (and will be) hosted in the following cities:"World Environment Day: driving five decades of environmental action" , worldenvironmentday.global, no date; has most theme, some host country, and a few host city identifications. Retrieved 17 August 2019. Year Theme Host city1972Stockholm Conference on Human EnvironmentStockholm, United Nations1973Only One EarthGeneva, Switzerland 1974 Only one Earth during Expo '74 Spokane, United States 1975 Human Settlements Chandigarh, India 1976 Water: Vital Resource for Life Ontario, Canada 1977 Ozone Layer Environmental Concern; Lands Loss and Soil Degradation Delhi, India 1978 Development Without Destruction Sylhet, Bangladesh 1979 Only One Future for Our Children – Development Without Destruction Sylhet, Bangladesh 1980 A New Challenge for the New Decade: Development Without Destruction Sylhet, Bangladesh 1981 Ground Water; Toxic Chemicals in Human Food Chains Sylhet, Bangladesh 1982 Ten Years After Stockholm (Renewal of Environmental Concerns) Dhaka, Bangladesh 1983 Managing and Disposing Hazardous Waste: Acid Rain and Energy Sylhet, Bangladesh 1984 Desertification Rajshahi, Bangladesh 1985 Youth: Population and the Environment Islamabad, Pakistan 1986 A Tree for Peace Ontario, Canada 1987 Environment and Shelter: More Than A Roof Nairobi, Kenya 1988 When People Put the Environment First, Development Will Last Bangkok, Thailand 1989 Global Warming; Global Warning Brussels, Belgium 1990 Children and the Environment Mexico City, Mexico 1991 Climate Change. Need for Global Partnership Stockholm, Sweden 1992 Only One Earth, Care and Share Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1993 Poverty and the Environment – Breaking the Vicious Circle Beijing, China 1994 One Earth One Family London, United Kingdom 1995 We the Peoples: United for the Global Environment Pretoria, South Africa 1996 Our Earth, Our Habitat, Our Home Istanbul, Turkey 1997 For Life on Earth Seoul, South Korea 1998 For Life on Earth – Save Our Seas Moscow, Russia 1999 Our Earth – Our Future – Just Save It! Tokyo, Japan 2000 The Environment Millennium – Time to Act Adelaide, Australia 2001 Connect with the World Wide Web of Life Turin, Italy and Havana, Cuba 2002 Give Earth a Chance Shenzhen, China 2003 Water – Two Billion People are Dying for It! Beirut, Lebanon 2004 Wanted! Seas and Oceans – Dead or Alive? Barcelona, Spain 2005 Green Cities – Plant for the Planet! San Francisco, United States 2006 Deserts and Desertification – Don't Desert Drylands! Algiers, Algeria 2007 Melting Ice – a Hot Topic? London, United Kingdom 2008 Kick The Habit – Towards A Low Carbon Economy Wellington, New Zealand 2009 Your Planet Needs You – Unite to Combat Climate Change Mexico City, Mexico 2010 Many Species. One Planet. One Future Rangpur, Bangladesh 2011 Forests: Nature at your Service Delhi, India 2012 Green Economy: Does it include you? Brasília, Brazil 2013 Think.Eat.Save. Reduce Your Foodprint Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia 2014 Raise your voice, not the sea level Bridgetown, Barbados 2015 Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care. Rome, Italy 2016 Zero Tolerance for the Illegal Wildlife trade Luanda, Angola 2017 Connecting People to Nature – in the city and on the land, from the poles to the equator Ottawa, Canada 2018 Beat Plastic PollutionNew Delhi, India 2019 Beat Air Pollution China2020Time for NatureColombia2021Ecosystem restorationPakistan2022Only One EarthSweden2023Solutions to Plastic PollutionIvory Coast2024Land restoration, desertification and drought resilienceRiyadh, Saudi Arabia2025Ending plastic pollutionSouth Korea2026Climate actionBaku, Azerbaijan
Annual themes, major initiatives, and accomplishments For more than five decades, the UN has been raising awareness, supporting action, and driving environmental change through World Environment Day. Here is a timeline of key accomplishments in the history of World Environment Day:
2005
The theme for the 2005 World Environment Day was "Green Cities" and the slogan was "Plant for the Planet!".lish/About_WED_2005/ World Environment Day 2005 Official Site, 2005, "About World Environment Day 2005" , accessed 28 May 2009
2006 The topic for WED 2006 was Deserts and Desertification and the slogan was "Don't desert drylands".
The slogan emphasised the importance of protecting drylands. The main international celebrations of World Environment Day 2006 were held in Algeria
2007 The topic for World Environment Day in 2007 was "Melting Ice – a Hot Topic?" During International Polar Year, WED 2007 focused on the effects of climate change on polar ecosystems and communities, other ice- and snow-covered areas of the world, and the resulting global impacts.
The main international celebrations of WED 2007 were held in Tromsø, Norway, a city north of the Arctic Circle.Norwegian Polar Institute, World Environment Day 2007–information in English and Norwegian
Egypt issued a postage stamp for the 2007 World Environment Day.
2008 The host for World Environment Day 2008 was New Zealand, with the main international celebrations scheduled for Wellington. The slogan for 2008 was "CO2, Kick the Habit! Towards a Low Carbon Economy." New Zealand was one of the first countries to pledge to achieve carbon-neutrality, and will also focus on forest management as a tool for reducing greenhouse gases.UNEP Press Release, 1 October 2007, "Kick the Habit – World Environment Day 2008 to be Hosted by New Zealand with Focus on Fostering Low-Carbon Economies" , accessed 10 November 2007
The Chicago Botanic Garden served as the North American host for World Environment Day on 5 June 2008.
2009 The theme for WED 2009 was "Your Planet Needs You – UNite to Combat Climate Change", and Michael Jackson's "Earth Song" was declared "World Environment Day Song". It was hosted in Mexico.
2010 "Many Species, One Planet, One Future" was the theme of 2010.
It celebrated the diversity of life on Earth as part of the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity. It was hosted in Rwanda. Thousands of activities were organized worldwide, including beach cleanups, concerts, exhibits, film festivals, community events, and more. Each continent (except Antarctica) had a "regional host city", the UN chose Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as the host for all North.
2011 The theme for 2011 was 'ForestsNature At Your Service'. Thousands of activities were organized worldwide, with beach cleanups, concerts, exhibits, film festivals, community events, tree plantings and much more. India hosted it.
2012 The theme for the 2012 World Environment Day was Green Economy.
The theme aimed to invite people to examine their activities and lifestyle and see how the concept of a "Green Economy" fits into it. The host country for the year's celebrations was Brazil.
2013 The 2013 theme for World Environment Day was "Think.Eat.Save".
The campaign addressed the huge annual food waste and losses, which, if conserved, would release a large quantity of food and reduce the overall carbon footprint. The campaign aimed to raise awareness in countries with lifestyles that lead to food waste. It also aimed to empower people to make informed choices about the food they eat, thereby reducing the overall ecological impact of worldwide food production. The host country for the year's celebrations was Mongolia.
2014 The Theme of the 2014 WED was the International Year of Small Island Developing States (SIDS). By choosing this theme, the UN General Assembly aimed to highlight the development Challenges and successes of the SIDS. In 2014, World Environment Day focused on global warming and its impact on ocean levels. The slogan of the WED 2014 is "Raise your voice not the sea level", as Barbados hosted the global celebrations of the 42nd edition of the World Environment Day. The UN Environment Programme named actor Ian Somerhalder as the official Goodwill ambassador of the WED 2014.
2015 The slogan of the 2015 edition of World Environment Day was "Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care". The slogan was chosen through a social media voting process. In Saudi Arabia, 15 women recycled 2000 plastic bags to crochet a mural in support of the WED 2015. In India, Narendra Modi planted a Kadamb sapling to celebrate the World Environment Day and raise awareness for the environment. Italy is the host country of the 43rd edition of the WED. The celebrations took place as part of Milan Expo around the theme: Feeding the Planet – Energy for Life.
2016 The 2016 WED was organized under the theme "Go wild for life". This edition of the WED aimed to reduce and prevent the illegal wildlife trade. Angola was chosen as the host country of the 2016 WED during the COP21 in Paris.
2017
The theme for 2017 was "Connecting People to Nature – in the city and on the land, from the poles to the equator". The host nation was Canada.
2018 The theme for 2018 was "Beat Plastic Pollution". The host nation was India. By choosing this theme, it is hoped that people may strive to change their everyday lives to reduce the heavy burden of plastic pollution. People should be free from overreliance on single-use or disposable products, as they have severe environmental consequences. We should liberate our natural places, our wildlife, and our own health from plastics. The Indian government pledged to eliminate all single use of plastic in India by 2022.
2019 The theme for 2019 was "Beat Air Pollution". The host nation was China. This theme was chosen as air pollution causes about 7 million premature deaths annually."World Environment Day – How the world came together to #BeatAirPollution" , www.worldenvironmentday.global, 7 June 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
In Réunion Island, Miss Earth 2018 Nguyễn Phương Khánh from Vietnam delivered her speech during World Environment Day with the theme "How to fight global warming".
2020 The theme for 2020 was "Time for Nature", and was hosted in Colombia in partnership with Germany.
Colombia is one of the largest megadiverse countries in the world and holds close to 10% of the planet's biodiversity. Since it is part of the Amazon rainforest, Colombia ranks first in bird and orchid species diversity and second in plants, butterflies, freshwater fish, and amphibians.
2021 The theme for 2021 was "Ecosystem Restoration", and was hosted by Pakistan. On this occasion, the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration was also launched.2021 Theme: Ecosystem Restoration Geneva Environment Network, 31 May 2021
2022