50th World Environment Day 2022

Context

World Environment Day is observed globally on 5th June every year. 

• Sweden is the host this year.

About World Environment Day

• The World Environment Day is observed on the 5th of June every year to encourage worldwide awareness and action to protect our environment.
• The day has been celebrated since 1974 by engaging governments, businesses, celebrities and citizens to focus their efforts on a pressing environmental issue.
• The aim of this day is to encourage people worldwide to take care of the Earth or become an agent of change.
• World Environment Day has grown to become a global platform for public outreach, with participation from over 143 countries annually.
  • India hosted the 45th celebration of World Environment Day under the theme ‘Beat Plastic Pollution’. 

Theme 

• The theme for World Environment Day 2022 is again “Only One Earth” which will work to promote worldwide activism to safeguard our planet with the focus of living sustainably in harmony with nature.
• The theme for World Environment Day 2021 is “Ecosystem restoration”. 
• India hosted the 45th celebration of World Environment Day under the theme ‘Beat Plastic Pollution. 

Motto

• Only One Earth was the motto for the 1972 Stockholm Conference; 50 years on, the motto holds true – this planet is our only home, whose finite resources humanity must safeguard.

History

• World Environment Day was established in 1972 by the United Nations at the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment (June 5-16, 1972), which had resulted from discussions on the integration of human interactions and the environment.
• Two years later in 1974, the first World Environment Day was held with the theme “Only One Earth”.
• The United Nations Program (UNEP) is the primary agency that is behind this celebration.
• Initially, it was started as a flagship campaign for raising awareness on budding environmental issues from marine pollution and global warming, to sustainable consumption and wildlife crime.

Significance

• World Environment Day has been a platform for raising awareness on environmental issues such as marine pollution, overpopulation, global warming, sustainable consumption and wildlife crime. 
• The day aims to focus on the importance of the environment and to remind people that nature should not be taken for granted.