World Environment Day celebrations have begun in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. UN Environment Programme Executive Director Inger Andersen will make a keynote address at the event, which will also showcase Saudi Arabia’s efforts to combat desertification and protect natural habitats.  

Forty high-school students visited the UN Nairobi campus and took a deep dive into the world of soil with scientists and experts from the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry, and UN Environment Programme. The students tested earth samples and surveyed interactive displays outlining how countries are restoring their soil.

In the four-minute video, Astronaut Jessica Meir shares her memories of seeing Earth from space. Meir – a scientist who studied animals in extreme environments – underscored the beauty and fragility of the natural world. She highlighted how everyone can help protect the planet, from reducing plastic use to starting a home compost heap. 

Celebrate World Environment Day (WED) with UN Environment Programme by joining these two official online events: 

• 5 June, 2 p.m. GMT, A moment of truth: Special address on climate action by UN Secretary-General António Guterres Museum of Natural History, New York, 

• 5 June, 5 p.m. GMT, High-level celebration of World Environment Day by host country Saudi Arabia King Abdulaziz International Conference Centre, Riyadh  

Check out WED official events page for more information and live stream links.

The oryx has long been an Arabian icon, but these creatures were on the brink of extinction, until Saudi Arabia reversed their decline. You can read more about Saudi Arabia’s rewilding efforts in this UNEP story. 

This week's episode of RESTORE, a documentary series produced by UN Environment Programme, explores the glaciers of northern Pakistan. Here, along the banks of the mighty Indus River, communities are using traditional techniques to revive lands scarred by climate change. 

Land restoration has the potential to create millions of green jobs across Africa, Elizabeth Mrema, UN Environment Programme Deputy Executive Director wrote today to mark World Environment Day. 

With as much as 65 per cent of productive land degraded, and desertification affecting 45 per cent of the continent’s land area, it is vital that commitments are acted on to prevent, halt and reverse ecosystem degradation, she wrote.  

“We are the first generation to fully understand the immense threats to the land; we might be the last one with a chance to reverse the course of destruction. Our priority now must be on restoring ecosystems – on replanting our forests, on rewetting our marshes, on reviving our soils,” Mrema added. 

Two huge artworks will be unveiled on Seattle’s waterfront today to celebrate World Environment Day and the City of Seattle which has been selected as a Generation Restoration Role Model City by UN Environment Programme in recognition of its urban restoration efforts. The murals, curated by the non-profit, Street Art for Mankind, focus on two major aspects of ecosystem restoration: urban and marine ecosystem restoration.   

At more than 200 meters wide, the urban ecosystem restoration mural by Danish artist Victor Ash is the largest in North America. The mural is a pledge to restore nature in urban settings and calls for tree equity. The Ocean Ecosystem Restoration mural by Mexican 3-D artist Adry del Rocio, highlights the importance of connecting cities to the blue ecosystems that sustain them.

Giphy, the GIF search engine, has released 12 GIFs to mark this year’s World Environment Day. They can be sent via email or WhatsApp or embedded into your own website and are a fun way to highlight this year’s WED themes of land restoration, desertification and drought resilience. Download them now and share! 

To mark World Environment Day, UN Environment Programme (UNEP) announces six new “Pilot Cities” that joined its Generation Restoration Cities project. They are Kisumu in Kenya, Mendoza in Argentina, Curitiba in Brazil, Barranquilla in Colombia, Overstrand in South Africa and Istanbul in Turkey.  

 

With these additions, UNEP’s Generation Restoration Cities now counts 14 “Pilot cities”, together representing 44 million inhabitants, more than 2 million hectares in land surface and 606 kilometres of waterways. These pilot cities are undertaking unique restoration projects tailored to their local context.