Seven billion dreams. One Planet. Consume with care. Those are the messages of today, which is World Environment Day everywhere. It’s the biggest day for positive environmental action!
The United Nations declares this day every year to energize worldwide awareness and action for the environment. Stakeholders in over 100 countries celebrate through public outreach every June 5. This year, the UN noted that “the well-being of humanity, the environment, and the functioning of the economy, ultimately depend upon the responsible management of the planet’s natural resources. And yet, evidence is building that people are consuming far more natural resources than what the planet can sustainably provide.”
World Environment Day points to the phenomenon that high population growth and economic development are propelling many of the Earth’s ecosystems toward critical tipping points of depletion or irreversible change.
“By 2050, if current consumption and production patterns remain the same and with a rising population expected to reach 9.6 billion, we will need three planets to sustain our ways of living and consumption.”
The opposite future embraces sustainability–doing more and better with less, knowing that rising rates of natural resource use and the environmental impacts that occur are not a necessary by-product of economic growth. Says UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon:
“Although individual decisions may seem small in the face of global threats and trends, when billions of people join forces in common purpose, we can make a tremendous difference.”
With this message in mind, the day’s planners have created 10 action items that ordinary people can adopt. We reproduce them here. Pass one or two or all ten of them along!
Seven organizations have stepped up to sponsor the day:
- Stop Wasting Food movement Denmark (Stop Spild Af Mad)
- Save the Children
- Slow Food
- 2015 is the Time for Global Action
- Zero Hunger Challenge
- The UN at Expo Milano 2015