World Environment Day 2024: Know the date, theme, history, and significance

World Environment Day 2024: Celebrated globally, this day serves as an opportunity to raise awareness about environmental issues and promote environmental protection measures. Here's all you need to know.

World Environment Day 2024: It is annually on June 5, this year it will be observed on Wednesday.

World Environment Day (WED) is celebrated annually on June 5th, a significant international event dedicated to raising awareness about environmental issues and promoting sustainable practices.

Established by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 1972, WED has become a global platform for addressing pressing environmental challenges. This year, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will host the 2024 Environment Day celebration, focusing on land restoration, desertification, and drought resilience.

Promoting environmental change and sustainable practices, World Environment Day aims to highlight various environmental problems, including air pollution, climate change, plastic pollution, illegal wildlife trade, sustainable consumption, sea-level increase, food security, and more, with climate change being a pressing environmental challenge predicted to lead to rising sea levels, extreme weather events, and changes in global food systems.

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World Environment Day 2024: Date and History

World Environment Day 2024 (Source: @UNEP/X)

World Environment Day is annually celebrated on June 5, and in 2024, it is being observed today, Wednesday. The theme for this year is “Our Land, Our Future, We Are Generation Restoration,” revolving around land restoration, desertification, and drought resilience, emphasising the importance of these issues in achieving sustainable development.

World Environment Day 2024: History and Significance

Since 1973, World Environment Day has been observed annually on June 5th. The United Nations General Assembly was established on this day in 1972 to raise awareness and promote action for environmental protection.

Each year, a different theme is chosen to focus on environmental issues. Past themes have primarily focused on pollution, the illegal wildlife trade, air pollution, and food waste. This year, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will host World Environment Day 2024, emphasising land restoration, desertification, and drought resilience.

Land restoration is a critical component of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030), a global initiative aimed at protecting and reviving ecosystems worldwide. This is essential for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

Our future on planet Earth is at risk.

We are not just Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, or Gen Z. We are all #GenerationRestoration with one future: let’s act like it.

On #WorldEnvironment, this new online guide shows how everyone can take action #ForNature: https://t.co/IWU8djmkUu

— UN Environment Programme (@UNEP) June 5, 2024

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