Degraded ecosystems harm more than three billion people.
Pollution causes nine million people worldwide to die each year, and over one million plant and animal species are on the verge of extinction, with many facing extinction within decades.
Individual people, community members, society organizations, enterprises, and various governments celebrated World Environment Day today under the theme #OnlyOneEarth, with official festivities hosted in Stockholm, and host country Sweden declaring a ban on announcing additional licenses for the harvesting of coal, oil, and fossil fuels beginning July 1 to protect human health and the environment.
The world environment day
General view of the ahuehuete tree placed where La Palma used to be at Reforma Avenue, in the framework of World Environment Day in Mexico City on June 5, 2022.
General view of the ahuehuete tree placed where La Palma used to be at Reforma Avenue, in the framework of World Environment Day in Mexico City on June 5, 2022.
The United Nations' main vehicle for increasing global environmental awareness and action is World Environment Day.
Since 1973, the day has served as a critical venue for encouraging progress on the Sustainable Development Goals' environmental components in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
The day has been used to promote awareness and build political momentum around major environmental challenges, such as toxic chemical pollution, desertification, and global warming since 1973 as per the UN News.
It has subsequently evolved into a worldwide action platform, assisting in the transformation of consumer behavior as well as national and international environmental policy.
UN Chief Secretary-General António Guterres emphasized the importance of a healthy environment for people and the Sustainable Development Goals by providing food, clean water, medicines, climate management, and protection from extreme weather occurrences.
He claimed that nearly half of humanity is already in the climate danger zone, with people 15 times more likely to die as a result of climate impacts, such as extreme heat, floods, and drought.
He also claimed that there is a 50:50 chance that global temperatures will exceed the Paris Agreement limit of 1.5°C in the next five years.
The Secretary-General made measures to activate renewable energy everywhere by lowering red tape, transferring subsidies, and doubling investment, as well as making renewable technologies and raw materials available to everybody.
For the sake of mankind and their own financial line, organizations must prioritize sustainable development in their decision-making.
He claimed that healthy earth is the foundation of practically every enterprise on the globe.
Also Read: How World Environment Day 2020 is Being Celebrated Despite a Raging COVID-19 Pandemic
Global actions on the world environment day
Annika Strandhäll, Sweden's Minister for Climate and Environment, announced the ban during the official World Environment Day festivities in Stockholm
Creating the green employment of the future by expediting the climate transition is one of the top goals for the Swedish government, she said.
People must take action against behaviors that have a harmful impact on our health and the environment as part of our efforts to achieve our climate goals.
The victors in the global competition will be those that accelerate the transition, not those who fall behind and cling to fossil fuel dependence, she noted.
Meanwhile, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment, David Boyd, has cautioned that wars are worsening environmental damage and human rights crimes.
According to him, peace is a necessary condition for long-term growth and full enjoyment of human rights, especially the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment.
He said that conflicts use "massive amounts" of energy, create "large emissions of climate-disrupting greenhouse gases," pollute the air, water, and land, and damage ecosystems.
World Environment Day 2022
World Environment Day will be observed for the 49th time in 2022.
It was founded in 1972 during the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, and it is commemorated every year on June 5th, with a new country hosting it each year.
#OnlyOneEarth is the topic for this year's World Environment Day, which was first observed in 1973.
It asks for worldwide collective, revolutionary action to honor, defend, and repair our planet.
Hundreds of millions of people throughout the world joined worldwide social media debates calling for immediate environmental conservation and restoration.
Hundreds of thousands of people planned their own events, such as planting millions of trees, cleaning up rubbish, and doing acts to draw attention to the fact that there is only one Earth.
On World Environment Day, governments and communities all across the world took action to improve their ecosystems.
A historic call on climate-responsible financing was signed by religious leaders.
These groups will only work with financial institutions that support the Paris Agreement's goal of reducing global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Related article: Happy Earth Day 2017! UN Calls for Environmental and Climate Literacy to Save Mother Earth