World Environment Day History

 

World Environment Day 2023 is a reminder that people’s actions on plastic pollution matters. The steps governments and businesses are taking to tackle plastic pollution are the consequence of this action.

It is time to accelerate this action and transition to a circular economy.

It is time to #BeatPlasticPollution.

World Environment Day History

The 1972 Stockholm Conference, also known as the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (or the Stockholm Conference), was the first international conference to address the environment. It declared the right of all people to live in a healthy and safe environment as a fundamental human right. The United Nations Environment Programme was also created at this conference.

Over the years, World Environment Day has become a platform that allows people from all walks of to take part in campaigns to raise awareness about environmental protection. Every year, the celebration of World Environment Day is held according to a particular theme or slogan that addresses the most pressing environmental issue of the day. Each year, a different country hosts the event.

India hosted the 45th World Environment Day celebrations under the theme “Beat Plastic Pollution”. The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030), which was launched last year at the World Environment Day celebrations, is a global effort to restore billions of hectares from forests to farms, and from the tops of mountains to the bottom of the oceans.The theme for World Environment Day on 5 June 2023 will focus on solutions to plastic pollution under the campaign #BeatPlasticPollution.

The world is being inundated by plastic. More than 400 million tonnes of plastic is produced every year, half of which is designed to be used only once. Of that, less than 10 per cent is recycled. An estimated 19-23 million tonnes end up in lakes, rivers and seas. Today, plastic clogs our landfills, leaches into the ocean and is combusted into toxic smoke, making it one of the gravest threats to the planet.

Not only that, what is less known is that microplastics find their way into the food we eat, the water we drink and even the air we breathe. Many plastic products contain hazardous additives, which may pose a threat to our health.

The good news is that we have science and solutions to tackle the problem –and a lot is already happening. What is needed most now is a surge of public and political pressure to scale up and speed actions from governments, companies and other stakeholders to solve this crisis. This underscores the importance of this World Environment Day mobilizing action from every corner of the world.

World Environment Day 2023 will showcase how countries, businesses and individuals are learning to use the material more sustainably, offering hope that one day, plastic pollution will be history.

THE HOST COUNTRY

World Environment Day 2023 is hosted by Côte d'Ivoire in partnership with the Netherlands.

Côte d'Ivoire is showing leadership in the campaign against plastic pollution. Since 2014, it has banned the use of plastic bags, supporting a shift to reusable packaging. The country’s largest city, Abidjan, has also become a hub for environmentally minded start-ups.

“The scourge of plastic pollution is a visible threat that impacts every community," says Jean-Luc Assi, Côte d’Ivoire’s Minister for the Environment and Sustainable Development. “We are proud to champion diverse treatments for the plastic pandemic.”

This year’s World Environment Day will be supported by the Government of the Netherlands, which is one of the countries taking ambitious action along the plastic lifecycle. It is a signatory of the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment and a member of the Global Partnership on Plastic Pollution and Marine Litter.

“Plastic pollution and its detrimental impacts on health, the economy and the environment cannot be ignored. Urgent action is required. At the same time, we need true, effective and robust solutions,” said Vivianne Heijnen, Netherlands’ Minister for the Environment. “As part of several policies aimed at plastics, The Netherlands and the European community at large are fully committed to reduce the production and consumption of single-use plastic, which can and must be replaced with durable and sustainable alternatives.”