Environment Day (WED) is celebrated annually on 5 June and is the United Nations' principal vehicle for

encouraging awareness and action for the protection of the environment. First held in 1973, it has been
a platform for raising awareness on environmental issues as marine pollution, overpopulation, global
warming, sustainable development and wildlife crime.[1] World Environment Day is a global platform for
public outreach, with participation from over 143 countries annually. Each year, the program has
provided a theme and forum for businesses, non government organizations, communities, governments
and celebrities to advocate environmental causes.[2][3]

Contents

1 History

2 Host cities

3 Annual themes and major initiatives and accomplishments

3.1 2005Host cities[edit]

World Environment Day celebrations have been (and will be) hosted in the following
cities:[5]

Year Theme Host city

1972 Stockholm Conference on Human Environment Stockholm,United Nations

1973 Geneva, Switzerland[6]

1974 Only one Earth during Expo '74[7] Spokane, United States

1975 Human Settlements Dhaka, Bangladesh

1976 Water: Vital Resource for Life Ontario, Canada

Ozone Layer Environmental Concern; Lands Loss and Soil

1977 Sylhet, Bangladesh
Degradation
1978 Development Without Destruction Sylhet, Bangladesh

Only One Future for Our Children – Development Without

1979 Sylhet, Bangladesh
Destruction

A New Challenge for the New Decade: Development Without

1980 Sylhet, Bangladesh
Destruction

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
 Beijing, People's Republic of
1993 Poverty and the Environment – Breaking the Vicious Circle
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, Republic of Korea

1998 For Life on Earth – Save Our Seas Moscow, Russian Federation

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 Torino, Italy and Havana, Cuba

Shenzhen, People's Republic of

2002 Give Earth a Chance
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, England

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? Brasilia, 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

Connecting People to Nature – in the city and on the land, from the
2017 Ottawa, Canada
poles to the equator

2018 Beat Plastic Pollution[8] New Delhi, India

2019 Beat Air Pollution[9] China

2020 Time for Nature[10][3] Colombia

2021 Ecosystem restoration[11] Pakistan

2022 Only One Earth Sweden

Annual themes and major initiatives and

accomplishments[edit]
This section needs expansion. You
can help by adding to it. (January
2016)

For almost five decades(January 2016), World Environment Day has been raising
awareness, supporting action, and driving changes for the environment. Here is a
timeline of key accomplishments in WEDs' history:
2005[edit]

Standard WED banners hung in San Francisco in May 2005

The theme for the 2005 World Environment Day was "Green Cities" and the slogan was
"Plant for the Planet!".[12]
2006[edit]
The topic for WED 2006 was Deserts and Desertification and the slogan was "Don't
desert drylands".[13]
The slogan emphasised the importance of protecting drylands. The main international
celebrations of the World Environment Day 2006 were held in Algeria.
2007[edit]
The topic for World Environment Day for 2007 was "Melting Ice – a Hot Topic?"
During International Polar Year, WED 2007 focused on the effects that climate change
is having on polar ecosystems and communities, on other ice- and snow-covered areas
of the world, and the resulting global impacts.
The main international celebrations of the WED 2007 were held in the city of Tromsø,
Norway, a city north of the Arctic Circle.[14]
Egypt issued a postage stamp for the 2007 World Environment Day. [15]
2008[edit]
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.[16]
The Chicago Botanic Garden served as the North American host[17] for World
Environment Day on 5 June 2008.
2009[edit]
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.[18]
2010[edit]
'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, with beach clean-ups, concerts, exhibits, film festivals, community events
and much more.[19] Each continent (except Antarctica) had a "regional host city", the U.N.
chose Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as the host for all North. [20]
2011[edit]
The world environment day of 2011 was hosted by India. It was the 1st time for India to
host the day. The theme for 2011 was 'Forests – Nature At Your Service'. Thousands of
activities were organized worldwide, with beach clean-ups, concerts, exhibits, film
festivals, community events, tree plantings[21] and much more.
2012[edit]
The theme for the 2012 World Environment Day was Green Economy.[22]
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.[22]
2013[edit]
Stage in front of the Brandenburg Gate on Environmental Festival 2011

World Environment Day 2011 in Donetsk, Ukraine

US Consul CG Yee, along with the Mayor of Thessaloniki Vassilis Papageorgopoulos, the Prefect of
Thessaloniki Panagiotis Psomiadis, and many others participating in World Environment Day on the waterfront,
Bike Path

Trees planting during the World Environment Day 2012 in Konso – Ethiopia

The 2013 theme for World Environment Day was Think.Eat.Save.[23]

The campaign addressed the huge annual wastage and losses in food, which, if
conserved, would release a large quantity of food as well as reduce the overall carbon
footprint. The campaign aimed to bring about awareness in countries with lifestyles
resulting in food wastage. It also aimed to empower people to make informed choices
about the food they eat so as to reduce the overall ecological impact due to the
worldwide production of food.[23] The host country for the year's celebrations was
Mongolia.
2014[edit]
The Theme of the 2014 WED was International Year of Small Islands Developing States
(SIDS). By choosing this Theme the UN General Assembly aimed to highlight the
development Challenges and successes of the SIDS. In 2014, the World Environment
Day focused on global warming and its impact on ocean levels. [24] 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. [25][26] The UN Environment
Programme named actor Ian Somerhalder as the official Goodwill ambassador of the
WED 2014.[27]
2015[edit]
The Slogan of the 2015 edition of the World Environment Day is "Seven Billion Dreams.
One Planet. Consume with Care". The slogan was picked through a voting process on
social media.[28][29] In Saudi Arabia, 15 women recycled 2000 plastic bags to crochet a
mural in support of the WED 2015.[30] In India, Narendra Modi planted a Kadamb sapling
to celebrate the World Environment Day and raise awareness for Environment. [31][32] 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. [33]
2016[edit]
The 2016 WED was organized under the theme "Go wild for life". This edition of the
WED aims to reduce and prevent the illegal trade in wildlife. [34] Angola was chosen as
the host country of the 2016 WED during the COP21 in Paris.[35][36]

Activities for world environment day in Bhopal, India

2017[edit]
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. [37]
2018[edit]
The theme for 2018 was "Beat Plastic Pollution". The host nation was India. [38] 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 the over-
reliance on single-use or disposables, as they have severe environmental
consequences. We should liberate our natural places, our wildlife and our own health
from plastics.[39] The Indian government pledged to eliminate all single use of plastic in
India by 2022.[40]
2019[edit]
The theme for 2019 was "Beat Air Pollution". The host nation was China. This theme
was chosen as air pollution kills about 7 million people annually. [41]
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".[42]
2020[edit]
The theme for 2020 was "Time for Nature", and was hosted in Colombia in partnership
with Germany.[10]
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[edit]
The World Environment Day falls on June 5. The theme for 2021 is "Ecosystem
Restoration",[43] and was hosted by Pakistan. On this occasion UN Decade of Ecosystem
Restoration was also launched.[44][45]
2022[edit]
The World Environment Day theme for 2022 is "Only One Earth" and the event is being
hosted by Sweden.[46]

See also[edit]

 Environment portal

 Arbor Day
 Earth Day
 National Cleanup Day
 World Cleanup Day
 Index of environmental articles
 List of environmental dates
 List of environmental protests
 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment

References[edit]
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