The World Environment Day event schedule is now complete. Below is the 2021 World Environment day live feed.
This World Environment Day, join #GenerationRestoration.
In the lead up to World Environment Day, we're featuring updates from United Nations System, from partners and from others helping to call attention to the fact that the future of humanity depends on action now.
On the eve of World Environment Day, a group of more than fifty United Nations experts called on countries to take urgent and timely action to recognize and implement the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment as a vital response to the current multi-faceted environmental crisis.
The world is currently facing a climate emergency, pervasive toxic pollution, dramatic loss of biodiversity, and a surge in emerging infectious diseases of zoonotic origin, such as COVID-19. The environmental crisis has negative impacts on a wide range of human rights including the rights to life, health, water, sanitation, food, decent work, development, education, peaceful assembly and cultural rights, as well as the right to live in a healthy environment.
The adverse effects have a disproportionate impact on women and girls and the rights of billions of people, especially those who are already vulnerable to environmental harm including people living in poverty, minorities, older persons, LGBT persons, racially and ethnically marginalized groups, indigenous peoples, people of African descent, persons with disabilities, migrants, internally displaced persons, and children.
“As human rights experts of the United Nations system, we call for human rights, including the right to a healthy environment, to be placed at the heart of the required transformations related decision-making processes. We need to address the root causes of inter-related environmental disasters and seize this opportunity to ‘build forward better’ in order to achieve a just and sustainable future and leave no one behind,” the statement says.
Find out more about World Environment Day here. And see what you can do as part of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration here.
From June 4 - 11, join the #GenerationRestoration Youth Assembly - a virtual youth forum organised by various youth constituencies, youth-led movements, groups and UN partners, featuring a wide range of speakers debating how youth can play a key role in the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.
There will be daily workshops on key themes and additional independent partner events. This thematic focus builds on the conversations youth community had during the virtual Youth Environment Assembly in Feb 2021, in the lead-up to the UN Environment Assembly.
What: #GenerationRestoration Youth Assembly: Young People and Future of Mulitlateralism
When: June 4 - 9
Check out the Youth Voices for Nature portal and find out what others are doing to mark World Environment Day.
You can also download a handy #GenerationRestoration toolkit to help you get involved in World Environment Day and #GenerationRestoration.
UNESCO has been a leader in promoting in situ solutions to the global challenges of terrestrial, coastal, and marine biodiversity loss while also engaging with human culture, education and values which underpin our decision-making.
Over 10 million km², roughly 6 per cent of the earth’s landmass, is already under one or more UNESCO designation, through its 1,121 World Heritage sites (including 252 natural and mixed sites and 114 cultural landscapes), its 714 Biosphere Reserves and its 161 Global Geoparks.
Watch this presentation by Shamila Nair-Bedouelle, Assistant Director-General for the Natural Sciences, UNESCO, establishing a Human-Nature panel for the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration that kicks off officially tomorrow on World Environment Day.
Read more here and follow the links to UNESCO’s live panel events:
High-level Panel
Restoring the Human-Nature bond – the role of Education, Sciences and Culture
4 June 2021, 12:00 - 12:45 pm (UTC)
Restoration in action
50 years of ecosystem restoration in UNESCO designated sites and networks
5 June 2021, 11:00 - 11:45 am (UTC)
Ahead of World Environment Day on June 5, and the official launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, watch Thailand’s live celebration of the global drive to heal our planet.
Featuring remarks from Varawut Silpa-archa, Thailand’s Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, EU Ambassador to Thailand Pirkka Tapiola, and speakers from UN agencies, academia and NGOs.
Join in the global celebrations and be part of #GenerationRestoration.
The terrible tragedy of the global pandemic has made us all acutely aware of the need to reset our relationship with nature and save the planet from a looming environmental catastrophe. The opportunities are there as governments pledge trillions of dollars in COVID-19 relief, creating a once-in-a-generation chance to transition to a global green economy that will preserve our natural life support systems.
On World Environment Day on June 5, which is being hosted by Pakistan, AirQualityAsia, in cooperation with the National Assembly of Pakistan’s Sustainable Development Goals Task Force and Women’s Parliamentary Caucus, will hold a Parliamentary webinar on the climate crisis and the role that the legislators can play in crafting sustainable solutions.
Tackling the Climate Crisis: Transitioning to a Global Green Economy will see parliamentarians discuss how Green Economy bills present key opportunities for addressing climate change, mitigating its effects, and preserving the environment while building our economies.
What: Parliamentary Webinar on Tackling the Climate Crisis - Transitioning to Green Economy
When:June 5; 1:00pm - 2:00pm (BST);1700 - 1800 Pakistan; 12:00 - 13:00 UTC
World Environment Day marks the formal launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. The planet needs all of us to act now to make sure this global push to halt and reverse environmental degradation succeeds. Why not sign up for an event to mark World Environment Day or take the Snap Challenge and show how you are making a switch to a more sustainable lifestyle. We are all part of #GenerationRestoration.
Ahead of World Environment Day on June 5, Twitter is partnering with organisations committed to tackling climate change, including UNEP, the Framework on Climate Change, and WWF among others, to make it easier to find credible climate information from global experts.
“Starting this week, you can follow the Climate Change Topic to find personalized conversations about climate change, including Tweets from environmental and sustainability organizations, environmental activists, and scientists. These Tweets will appear right in your home timeline when you follow the Topic,” Twitter said in a post on its blog.
Twitter also said it had made new environmental commitments and expanded Twitter’s sustainability efforts. In partnership with the Science-Based Target Initiative (SBTi), the company has committed to significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
Read more about the Twitter campaign here and join the global conversation by using #WorldEnvironmentDay and #GenerationRestoration on social media.
Keep up-to-date with everything related to World Environment Day here and find out more about the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, which launches officially on June 5.
Ending deforestation is essential to confront the "quadruple planetary emergency" of a climate crisis, a nature crisis, an inequality crisis and a global health crisis.
We know the benefits of preserving our forests: ending deforestation can lead to massive emissions reductions while improved forest management and reforestation mean additional carbon can be sequestered. The world’s forests also act as shields, keeping humans safe from zoonotic diseases, such as coronaviruses. Their destruction can have devastating consequences for global public health.
Forest and Landscape Restoration is gaining momentum in the Asia-Pacific region thanks to increased political interest and commitment. Pakistan has been at the forefront, notably with its Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Programme, one of the world’s most ambitious afforestation projects.
Forest restoration projects like this must be massively scaled up across the region and the world during the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, a 10-year global push led by UNEP and the Food and Agricultural Organization to halt and reverse ecosystem degradation that launches formally on World Environment Day on June 5.
As host country for World Environment Day, Pakistan will showcase its own forest restoration success stories and lessons learned in an event organised with the FAO. Find out more about forest restoration in the region with this FAO Regional Strategy and Action Plan for Forest and Landscape Restoration in Asia-Pacific. Join the June 5 event to find out more about what Pakistan has done.
When: June 5; 10:00am - 12:00pm (BST); 9.00 am - 11.00 am (UTC); 14.00 - 16.00 Islamabad
Where: Join on YouTube
Check out the facts and figures on Ecosystem Restoration here.
Find out more with UNEP’s Ecosystem Restoration playbook, a practical guide for healing the natural systems that sustain us.
Keep up-to-date with all the events being held around World Environment Day here and find out more about the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration here.
Ahead of World Environment Day on June 5, music-led environmental non-profit REVERB has launched a Music Climate Revolution to galvanize musicians, fans and music industry leaders to fight the climate crisis.
The campaign is backed by leading artists such as Billie Eilish, Brittany Howard, Dave Matthews Band, Jack Johnson, Maroon 5, The 1975, The Lumineers, Shawn Mendes and many others. The aim is to help bands shrink the environmental footprint of their tours; encourage fans to take climate action as consumers, voters, and supporters of climate-friendly community projects; and partner with music businesses to minimize climate impacts.
Ultimately, the idea is to make the entire music industry “climate positive,” where performing, recording and enjoying music eliminates more greenhouse gas pollution than they create.
“I’m thrilled to work with REVERB to make climate action part of my tour and everything I do,” says Billie Eilish. “We face a climate emergency, and we all have a responsibility to spread that call to action.”
REVERB is a nonprofit dedicated to empowering millions of individuals to take action toward a better future for people and the planet. It partners with musicians, festivals and venues to green their events while engaging fans face-to-face at shows to take environmental and social action.
World Environment Day marks the official launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, a global push to reimagine, recreate and restore our relationship with nature.
Show you are ready for change by joining UNEP’s online Snap Challenge. Check out this video for inspiration and show the world what you will do to heal nature.
More tips here and when you post be sure to share your action on social media channels with the #GenerationRestoration and #WorldEnvironmentDay hashtags. Challenge friends, organizations, or companies to take the challenge too.
@UNEP and @FAO will launch #GenerationRestoration on TikTok this #WorldEnvironmentDay!
We are the generation that can make peace with nature. There has never been a more urgent need for us to revive damaged ecosystems than now.
Join us: https://t.co/M39LwRbnrd#TikTokForGood pic.twitter.com/NowjnkTPin— TikTok For Good (@TikTokForGood) June 3, 2021
As some global societies begin to build back after the COVID-19 pandemic, we have a unique opportunity to deliver a green and sustainable recovery, locking in benefits for people and planet.
In December 2020, African environment ministers voted to adopt a green stimulus initiative that tied environmental incentives to economic and social recovery.
The African Green Stimulus Programme, agreed by 54 ministers at the eighth special session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN), noted the link between destruction of nature and disease and called upon countries to better protect and restore biodiversity and ecosystems, which will help prevent future pandemics while addressing the triple planetary emergencies of biodiversity loss, climate change and pollution.
Read more here about this innovative programme that feeds directly into the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, a 10-year global push to prevent, halt and reverse degradation of the natural world. Another major African initiative is the Great Green Wall; read more about it here.
The Decade will launch on World Environment Day on June 5. Discover why ecosystem restoration matters and learn how you can play your part with UNEP’s Ecosystem Restoration Playbook.
Check out all the official events relating to World Environment Day here and join #GenerationRestoration by registering your own event.