Reflections On World Environment Day

The world celebrates World Environment Day yesterday. A global platform for public outreach with participation from over 143 countries annually.

World Environment Day or Eco Day is observed on June 5 every year. The day emphasizes the importance of nature and its conservation. The day is celebrated across the world to raise awareness about the essential need of providing protection to our mother nature.

World Environment Day was established by the United Nation General Assembly in 1972 on the first day of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment, resulting from discussions on the integration of human interactions and the environment.

This year, World Environment Day’s theme is ‘Only One Earth’, which focuses on living sustainably in harmony with nature. This year World Environment Day conference is hosted in Sweden, while the theme for 2021 was “Ecosystem Restoration” and the conference was hosted by Pakistan.

We truly have just one Earth and any damage to it has an impact on everyone and on future generations. Of course, there will be the temptation of those who deny the existence of such harm and those who deny climate change to push their agenda to save the economy from the negative impact of the pandemic, the war in the Ukraine and high inflation.

Let us take one example; as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the European Union has agreed on a set of economic sanctions against Russia. One of these sanctions is reducing the dependence of E-U member states on Russian oil and gas.

These negative developments should serve as an opportunity to push forward the pro-environment agenda and to seek a fundamental structural change of the economy.

The day is dedicated to the environment and celebrated to spread awareness among common people about the issues of the environment. It also encourages people from different societies and communities to actively participate in the celebration as well as become an active agents in developing environmental safety measures.

Even though World Environment Day celebrations have been held annually since 1974, the idea of rotating the centre of these activities by selecting different host countries began in 1987.

This week commentary is challenging us to assess the impact of harm to the environment and of climate change on human and economy to focus on living sustainably in harmony with nature.