World Environment Day is celebrated June 5th and was established by the United Nations in 1974.

History

Since 1974, World Environment Day has been celebrated annually on June 5th worldwide in an attempt to bring awareness to and solve pressing environmental issues. The holiday provides a global platform for individuals, groups, and businesses to explore making positive change.

World Environment Day was established during the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment, where UN General Assembly members stressed the importance of caring for and interacting with the environment. They discussed items including deforestation, overpopulation, pollution, and climate change, thus, World Environment Day was created.

Themes

In hopes to see progression on the many challenges our earth faces daily, a theme is chosen each year to focus on one specific environmental issue. The first ever theme was “Only One Earth,” and each theme since then has brought attention to a new problem.  The 2021 theme will be “Ecosystem Restoration,” in which the organization calls for revival of our damaged ecosystems.

Locations

Along with new themes each year, a country is chosen to host and promote the World Environment Day activities. This year, Pakistan has been chosen due to its wide array of ecosystems and mass effort to restore those that are damaged.

What You Can Do to Celebrate 

World Environment Day has organized a website in which you can learn more about the day itself, ecosystems, and get involved in this evolving holiday. There are several small ways you can help to better our earth. Recycling, planting trees, and being environmentally conscious are some of the small ways you can help out the environment. If you want to go the extra mile and truly get involved in this year’s World Environment Day, click here to join activities and understand how to recover our deteriorating ecosystems.