Dr. Fawzy Younis: The Historical Development of Celebrating World Environment Day.. From the First Day to 2023

“The Themes of World Environment Day”

World Environment Day is celebrated every year on the 5th of June with a new theme.

The themes for World Environment Day are announced by the United Nations (UN).

The celebrations of international and global occasions preceded the establishment of the United Nations, but the organization was keen to celebrate those occasions as a means of effective advocacy, education and awareness, and attracting the attention of the international community to interact positively with it.

The United Nations celebrates specific international and global events, days, weeks, years, and decades, as each year is assigned a specific slogan or theme.

The United Nations works through special events to raise international awareness of relevant issues and to make progress in connection with them locally, regionally and internationally.

Each of the international days provides an opportunity for several actors to organize activities and events related to the annual theme or slogan of the occasion.

For organizations and offices of the United Nations system, as well as for governments, civil society, the public and private sectors, schools, universities, and the general public, these events represent a starting point for initiating education and awareness-raising efforts on political, environmental, cultural, …… and other issues.

Most of these events were determined by resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly, although some were determined by the specialized agencies of the United Nations.

The United Nations also celebrates the anniversaries of the most prominent milestones in its history.

Measure the impact of these events

For those who follow the pages of international events (which include days, weeks, years, and international and global contracts), these pages witnessed the largest number of visits on the United Nations website.

Each event often has its own website, which is available in the six official languages of the United Nations.

The International Days are also an indication of the interest that a particular topic has in every part of the world.

To know such an issue, we look at the level of participation in these celebrations in different regions and in different languages in different parts of the world.

For example, there is the environmental issue that we are dealing with these days that deserves to be highlighted.

World Environment Day is a global platform to inspire positive change. People from more than 150 countries participate in this UN International Day that celebrates environmental action and the power of governments, businesses and individuals to create a more sustainable world.

World Environment Day, which is celebrated annually on June 5 of each year, brings together millions of people from all over the world and participates in many efforts to protect the earth, restore it, and sustain the ecosystems on it.

This World Environment Day https://www.worldenvironmentday.

global/ar is one of the largest international days celebrating the environment.

The celebration of this day has grown to be the largest global platform for environmental communication.

It has been celebrated by millions of people around the world annually since 1973, led by the United Nations Environment Programme.

This year’s World Environment Day coincides with the fiftieth anniversary of this event, and coincides with addressing the biggest man-made problem that affects life on land and at sea. Everyone works to defeat plastic pollution, and it was worked on earlier in 2018.

Historical glimpses of world environment day

Over the past years, since the first day of the celebration of World Environment Day until today, and the world celebrates on the same day every year, the scene is often dominated by one of the urgent environmental challenges or the call to adopt environmental behavior that calls for the preservation of our planet, which, as I say, Fawzy Younis “The Earth is the first mother for all of us, and it is our responsibility to preserve it without neglect or default.

” For all of us” and the preservation and sustainability of its resources is the responsibility of every person who lives on it.

The following is a reference review of the previous environmental days and the slogans associated with them to see where we are heading and adjust our behavior towards nature.

As Annemarie Bono said: “We don’t need a handful of people who don’t do any waste perfectly.

We need millions of people who do it imperfectly.”

Our memories activate these global calls to preserve and sustain the blue planet for us and our children for generations and generations to come.

⦁ 2023: Focus on #BeatPlasticPollution

World Environment Day 2023 stresses the importance of individual action in tackling plastic pollution.

Actions taken by governments and companies to combat this problem are direct results of such initiatives.

Now is the time to accelerate these efforts and shift towards a circular economy.

On the 5th of June 2023, World Environment Day will address the pressing issue of plastic pollution.

Within the framework of the rallying call to #Beat_Plastic_Pollution, the global event aims to mobilize meetings and dialogues related to the environment to monitor solutions and actions to address this issue.

This year’s World Environment Day 2023 aims to galvanize action globally and underscore the critical need for collective responsibility.

⦁ Year 2022: Living in sustainable harmony with nature #we only own one land

World Environment Day 2022 was celebrated in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the world’s first environmental summit, the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment.

At such a gathering the slogan “We Have Only One Earth” was adopted and the urgent need to protect and restore humanity’s only home was highlighted.

Sweden, the host country, pledged at the official 2022 event to stop issuing new licenses to extract coal, oil and natural gas. More than 65 million people around the world celebrated World Environment Day online.

⦁ Year: 2021 #EcosystemsRepair #GenerationRepair

The focus of the 2021 World Environment Day celebration was on ecosystem restoration, which was celebrated under the theme “Recreate – Reimagine – Restore”.

Pakistan hosted World Environment Day celebrations for this year and highlighted how humanity exploits the planet’s ecosystems.

It called for a concerted global effort to repair the damage already done. Every three seconds the world loses enough forests the size of a football field and over the past century half of all wetlands have been destroyed.

⦁ Year 2020: Biodiversity #TimeForNature

In 2020, the theme for World Environment Day is biodiversity, an urgent and existential concern. Colombia hosted these celebrations. “The time to act is now if we want to secure our present and our future,” said President Ivan Duque Marquez against the backdrop of the COVID-19 crisis caused by the rapid destruction of habitats.

Fourteen world leaders – including those from Colombia, Costa Rica, Finland, France and the Seychelles – issued a statement calling on governments around the world to support a new global target to protect at least 30 percent of the planet’s land and oceans by 2030.

⦁ 2019: Air Pollution #BeatAirPollution

The theme for 2019 is air pollution, a global emergency that causes around 7 million premature deaths each year.

President Xi Jinping, whose country hosted the event, stressed China’s desire to share its experiences with other countries in a message to World Environment Day 2019.

The country also launched the Air Quality Improvement Report (2013-2018) to showcase successful policies and reflect on lessons learned. .

⦁ 2018: Beat Plastic Pollution #BeatPlasticPollution

India is hosting the 45th World Environment Day celebration under the theme “Beat Plastic Pollution.

” More than 6,000 people gathered at Versova Beach in Mumbai to join UN Environment Land Award winner Afroz Shah’s effort to clean up the beach, collecting About 90,000 kg of plastics.

The Indian government is committed to banning all single-use plastics – which make up 70 per cent of marine litter – by 2022 and EU lawmakers agree to impose a ban on use by 2025.

⦁ 2017: Connecting People with Nature #MeWithNature

“I am with nature” was the theme for World Environment Day 2017, which inspired more than 1,800 events, from tree planting in Mumbai and ivory burning in Angola to a marathon run through Iguaçu National Park in Brazil.

Justin Trudeau was joined by the Prime Minister of Canada. Host country, to Erik Solheim, Executive Director of UN Environment for connecting with nature by kayaking along the Niagara River.

⦁ 2016: Zero Tolerance for the #Illegal Wildlife trade

World Environment Day was the launching point for UN Environment’s largest digital campaign #SaveWildlife and take major action to tackle international wildlife crime.

The host country of World Environment Day, Angola, promised to stop the trade in elephant ivory. China, a major destination for illegal wildlife products, also vowed and later vowed to shut down the domestic ivory market.

⦁ 2015: Resource Efficiency and Sustainable Consumption and Production #ConsumeWithCare

The Italian city of Milan hosted World Environment Day celebrations under the slogan: “Seven billion people. on one planet. Consume with care” is the most popular topic on Twitter in more than 20 countries.

More than 500 videos about World Environment Day have been posted to YouTube, including news clips, TV documentaries, event footage, music videos and animations.

⦁ 2014: Small Island Developing States and Climate Change #ClimateChange

The theme for World Environment Day is “Speak up, not sea level!” To raise awareness of the risks facing island nations as a result of climate change.

The following year, small island developing states signed an agreement at the Paris climate talks to pursue the ambitious goal of limiting the increase in global average temperature to 1.5°C.

⦁ 2013: Think, Eat and Save, reduce your food footprint #ThinkEatSave

Mongolia hosted this year’s theme, “Think-Eat-Save”.

The campaign addresses the massive annual waste and food waste and aims to empower people to make informed choices to reduce the ecological impact of food production.

⦁ 2012: Green Economy: Does it include you? #Does _ include _ you?

Twenty years after the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil became the first city to host World Environment Day for the second time.

The theme of World Environment Day was “Green Economy: Does It Include You?” Which included the United Nations Green Environment Initiative.

The number of visitors to the World Environment Day website recorded more than 4.25 million visitors, which is a new record.

⦁ 2011: #NatureForests at your service

In India’s first-ever World Environment Day challenge, actor Don Cheadle has more online followers than model Gisele Bendchen who is a tree-planter.

The following year, Giselle planted the first of 50,000 trees in the Gromari Municipal Park in Rio de Janeiro. People around the world recorded more than 4,000 activities.

⦁ 2010: #One Future

The World Environment Day Legacy Initiative has raised over $85,000 for gorilla conservation and solar lighting in villages across the host country of Rwanda.

In a global online competition, voters chose names for some newborn gorillas, highlighting their endangered status during the International Year of Biological Diversity.

⦁ 2009: Mexico – Your Planet Needs You: #Unite to fight climate change

⦁ 2008: New Zealand kick a bad habit! Towards a low carbon economy

⦁ 2007: #Ice Melt – Hot Topic?

Today’s theme represents the world

Environmental protection in “Ice Melting? – Controversial Topic” hosted by Tromsø, Norway, to mark the first of three consecutive years that the day has drawn attention to the issue of climate change, just as the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report stated that warming in The climate is unmistakable.

⦁ 2006: #Deserts and Desertification – Don’t abandon drylands!

A decade after the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification entered into force, World Environment Day sheds light on a reminder of the pressures on drylands when Algiers hosts festivities under the theme “Deserts and Desertification – Don’t Make Wetlands a Desert!”.

⦁ 2005: #GreenCities – Plan for the Planet!

World Environment Day was celebrated in North America for the first time in Italy, where San Francisco hosted hundreds of events on the theme “Green Cities: A Plan for the Planet”.

The day took on even greater significance in the year the Kyoto Protocol entered into force with the participation of US Vice President Al Gore and former San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom.

⦁ 2004: Spain – WANTED! #Seas and oceans – dead or alive?

⦁ 2003: #Water – About two billion people die due to lack of water

The main celebrations of World Environment Day took place in Beirut, Lebanon, the first in the Arab world.

The theme “Water – 2 Billion People Die From It!” was chosen.

In support of the International Year of Freshwater.

⦁ 2002: China #Give Earth a Chance

⦁ 2001: #Linking with the World Wide Web of Life

Italy hosted the World Environment Day celebrations.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan chose World Environment Day to launch the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, an unprecedented effort to plan for a healthy planet.

The international celebrations were held in several cities: Turin in Italy, Havana in Cuba, Hue in Vietnam and Nairobi in Kenya, which reflects the theme of “Communicating with the Global Network of Life”.

⦁ 2000: #EnvironmentalMillennium – It’s Time for Action

New Zealand hosted celebrations for World Environment Day.

UN Environment has launched a fully developed global website, making it easier for people around the world to register their activities and build a sense of global community.

The main events were held in Adelaide, Australia under the theme “The Environmental Millennium – Time for Action” ahead of the international summit that set the Millennium Development Goals.

⦁ 1998: #For Life on Earth – Save the Seas

The celebration of World Environment Day highlighted the threats to our marine ecosystems for the first time using the theme “For Life on Earth – We Must Save the Seas” in support of the International Year of the Oceans. Moscow, in Russia, hosted these festivities.

⦁ 1996: #The connection between human and environmental rights

Nigerian activist Ken Saro-Wiwa received the Global 500 award posthumously during World Environment Day celebrations in Ankara, Turkey.

With this award, World Environment Day sheds light on the link between human and environmental rights.

⦁ 1995: #Gift to Earth

South Africa hosted World Environment Day celebrations a year after Nelson Mandela became president.

Mandela attended the celebrations, which drew great international attention to environmental issues.

A year earlier, anti-apartheid leader Mandela used World Environment Day to declare Cape Town’s Table Mountain a “gift to the Earth” and demonstrate South Africa’s commitment to protecting biodiversity.

⦁ 1993 #Poverty and the Environment – Breaking the Vicious Circle

China hosted World Environment Day celebrations in Beijing to raise environmental awareness in the world’s most populous country under the theme “Poverty and the Environment – Breaking the Vicious Circle”.

China again celebrated the World Environment Day in China in 2002, which was hosted by the Chinese city of Shenzhen.

⦁ 1992: Determine the way for contemporary sustainable development

World Environment Day was celebrated in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, during the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development known as the Earth Summit.

Countries have negotiated landmark treaties on climate change, desertification and biodiversity and set the course for contemporary sustainable development.

⦁ 1989: # Global Warming

A year after the creation of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, celebrations hosted in Brussels, Belgium, have sparked concern about global warming.

The importance of the theme, more than any other, will be reaffirmed in subsequent World Environment Day campaigns.

⦁ 1988: #When people care about the environment first, development will continue

The main celebrations began to rotate around the world, starting with Bangkok, Thailand.

The theme of World Environment Day was “When people care about the environment first, development continues” a year after the Brundtland Report, which developed the blueprint for sustainability.

⦁ 1987: #Environmental Champions

UN Environment marked World Environment Day at its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya by presenting the first of its 500 Global Environment Champions Awards including Ms. Wangari Maathai.

The prestigious awards became a mainstay of the annual World Environment Day celebrations until 2003.

⦁ 1986: #Tree for Peace

The theme “Tree for Peace” coincides with the International Year of Peace.

The rising manifestations of World Environment Day reflected political and religious leaders including French President Francois Mitterrand, Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in a “global ceremony” by planting a tree and emphasizing the links between conflict and environmental destruction.

⦁ 1981: #The effect of toxic chemicals on groundwater and food chains

The campaign has drawn attention to how toxic chemicals are affecting water subsurface and food chains.

The following year, the United Nations Environment Governing Council adopted the Montevideo Program, which prioritizes global law-making that leads to major international agreements restricting or eliminating the use of a range of hazardous chemicals and pollutants.

⦁ 1979: #One future for our children

The theme of World Environment Day, “One future for our children,” coincided with the International Year of the Child.

For the first time, World Environment Day reflects an international year set by the United Nations, a pattern that becomes more common as environmental issues are raised on the global agenda.

⦁ 1977: #Concerns about the ozone layer

The United Nations Environment has used World Environment Day to highlight concerns about the ozone layer creating a trend for World Environment Day to generate vital early momentum on critical environmental issues. It took another ten years for the landmark Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer to be ratified.

⦁ 1974: #Only one land

World Environment Day was celebrated for the first time under the theme “Only One Earth”.

⦁ 1972: The first day of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment The United Nations General

Assembly designated June 5 as an international day to celebrate World Environment Day, which coincides with the first day of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment.

With the adoption of another resolution by the General Assembly on the same day that led to the creation of the United Nations Environment Programme.

Science and solutions must be harnessed for change

Although the picture may look a bit bleak, there is room for hope.

With scientific understanding and effective solutions, great strides are being made in addressing this issue.

What is needed now is an increased public awareness of environmental issues and an escalation of actions by governments, companies and stakeholders to mitigate these crises.

Governments need to step up and take bold decisions to drive extended product responsibility and create a circular economy that reduces and reuses plastic in a more sustainable way.

However, regardless of these necessary policy changes, ordinary people can make a huge difference.

Since late 2018, the “Prevent Pointless Plastic” campaign has been raised in parts of the world to raise awareness of the plastic issue and has helped people reduce plastic use and pollution in a few areas.

When we collectively adopt small changes with refillable water bottles, reusable coffee cups, local refill stores, and vegetable box plans, we will see a big difference.

As Annemarie Bono said: “We don’t need a handful of people who don’t do any waste perfectly. We need millions of people who do it imperfectly.”

In conclusion, human demand for the earth’s resources in what is known as the environmental footprint is increasing in a steady manner, in exchange for nature’s ability to carry out the burdens of this demand, i.e. the biological capacity.

The costs of this spending are evident in what is known as ecological and excessive spending, day after day, in scenes of deforestation, drought, scarcity of fresh water, soil degradation, loss of biodiversity, desertification, resource depletion, waste accumulation, and increasing greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere around the globe and its association with climate change, which raises the carbon and environmental footprint of humanity.

It is expected that if the world population reaches 9.6 billion people by the year 2050, it may require the equivalent of three planets such as Earth to provide the necessary natural resources to maintain lifestyles in their current form, and this warns of a danger to humanity that requires attention to the environment and its preservation by sustaining the ecosystems on it.

The responsibility of preserving it is the responsibility of every person of all ages from the first day to the last minute of life, and this is evident in the attached picture and in it a young girl wears a “Let Me Grow Up” sign as residents mark Earth Day in Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park on April 22, 1970 (https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/earth-day-50-why-legacy-1970s-environmental-movement-jeopardy-n1189506).

This requires the solidarity of every person, without exception, and working to control and reduce his Environmental Footprint through the sustainable use of resources, adopting the goal of responsible production and consumption, and activating all goals related to sustainable development from now and during the coming decades.