World Environment Day 2017: Connecting people to nature

CAIRO – 7 June 2017: In 1972 the United Nations held the first conference on environmental issues in Stockholm, Sweden. The “Conference on the Human Environment” marked a turning point in the development of international environmental politics. It aimed to bring together U.N. member states to discuss and agree on how to address the challenge of protecting and enhancing the environment.

Following the Stockholm conference, the U.N. General Assembly adopted resolution

A/RES/2994 (XXVII)

designating June 5 as World Environment Day. In the same year, the General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/3000 (XXVII) to create a dedicated agency for environmental issues: the U.N. Environment Program (UNEP).

International Environment Day witnesses worldwide activities to reaffirm concern for the preservation and enhancement of the environment. These activities aim to raise awareness and create political momentum on concerns such as the depletion of the ozone layer, toxic chemicals and climate change.

https://twitter.com/UNODC/status/871408113878011905

The day turned into a global platform for taking action on urgent environmental issues and influencing national and international policies.

Goal 15 of the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals (

SDGs

) encourages the sustainable management of forests as well as combating desertification, halting and reversing land degradation and halting the loss of biodiversity.

World Environment Day has a different global host country each year and this year's host is Canada, where the official celebration will take place. Canada selected the theme for 2017 to be, ‘Connecting People to Nature.’ The day also coincides with Canada’s 150th birthday celebrations.

2017’s international theme requests people around the world to go outdoors into nature to appreciate its beauty and value. It also encourages people to protect the environment and to think about how they are part of nature and how they intimately depend on it. It challenges people to explore fun and exciting ways to experience and cherish this vital relationship with the environment.

One of these ways is following environmental news and supporting global research on the issue of protecting the environment.

One of the most unfortunate events that happened ahead of this year’s World Environment Day was the United States’ decision to pull out of the

Paris climate agreement.

To mark the day, U.N. Secretary General António Guterres said in a video message, “Without a healthy environment we can't end poverty or build prosperity. We all have a role to play in protecting our only home." Guterres urged people to use less plastic, drive less and waste less food and asked them to reconnect with nature.

Watch the full video here:


To get involved in events around the world on this day click

here

.