Celebrating Nature—The Importance of World Environment Day

Today, on World Environment Day, explore the significance and the importance of celebrating and preserving nature.

Why have a World Environment Day?

Every year, on June 5, World Environment Day puts a spotlight on our environment, raising awareness and promoting action for the protection of our planet.

Established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972, the idea of World Environment Day is to focus global attention on vital environmental issues, and to encourage worldwide participation in environmental activities for positive change.

This year’s theme—“Our land. Our future. We are #GenerationRestoration”—provides a platform for governments, organisations, and individuals to come together and take action on issues of land restoration, desertification and drought resilience.

Imagine a world where lush forests dwindle, farmlands struggle, and lakes dry up. This isn’t science fiction, it’s the reality we face if we don’t heal our planet. The United Nations warns that up to 40% of Earth is already degraded, impacting half the global population. Droughts are getting worse, affecting more people each year. By 2050, over three-quarters of us could be facing water shortages.

But here’s the good news: we can turn things around! The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration is a rallying cry to revive our world. 

This year, World Environment Day focuses on land restoration, a fancy term for bringing our planet back to life. We can’t rewind time, but we can plant trees, restore water sources, and rebuild healthy soil.

Individual Actions for Environmental Protection

While global efforts are crucial, every individual has the ability to make a difference in their daily lives. World Environment Day emphasises the power of individual actions in protecting the environment.

Simple actions such as recycling, conserving water, using public transportation, and planting trees can have a significant impact.

World Environment Day reminds us that we all have a responsibility to protect and preserve our environment for current and future generations.

Birthdays are a chance to honor the person we’re celebrating, to appreciate their presence in our lives, and to shower them with a little extra love and kindness.

This World Environment Day, let’s take time to celebrate nature and our environment. Honour it and appreciate the important role a healthy environment plays in sustaining us every day. Use the day to shower our planet with a little extra love and kindness!

This is our chance, our generation’s chance, to make peace with the land. We are #GenerationRestoration. Let’s grow a greener future, together!

Join Glimmer and keep the conversation going. Let’s build a better, greener tomorrow!

Check out some of our other blogs for some really helpful ideas on how you can help make a difference.

Sources:

World Environment Day June 5. https://www.un.org/en/observances/environment-day

Preventing, halting and reversing loss of nature. https://www.decadeonrestoration.org