World Environment Day 2024 is a special event to celebrate our shared environment. So, what is World Environment Day & what is its theme.
This article looks at the celebration of the United Nation’s World Environment Day 2024 and helps to explain what World Environment Day is, why is it a special event in 2024 & what is its theme.
What is World Environment Day?
World Environment Day is the United Nations’ special flagship day for promoting worldwide awareness and action for the environment. Over the years, it has grown to be the largest global platform for environmental public outreach and is celebrated by millions of people across the world.
World Environment Day was established in 1972 & first celebrated in 1974 and takes place every year on 5 June. Each year, World Environment Day is hosted by a different country in which official celebrations take place. The host country for 2024 is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
What is the theme for 2024?
The theme for World Environment Day 2024 day will focus on land restoration, desertification and drought resilience. As a nation facing degradation, desertification and drought, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is deeply invested in delivering solutions. The Kingdom is acting nationally and regionally through the Saudi Green Initiative and the Middle East Green Initiative.
According to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, up to 40 per cent of the planet’s land is degraded, directly affecting half of the world’s population and threatening roughly half of global GDP (US$44 trillion). The number and duration of droughts has increased by 29 per cent since 2000 – without urgent action, droughts may affect over three-quarters of the world’s population by 2050.
Land restoration is a key pillar of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030), a rallying call for the protection and revival of ecosystems all around the world, which is critical to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
2024 will mark the 30th anniversary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. The sixteenth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 16) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) will be held in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, from 2 to 13 December 2024.
So, to summarise:
There are many opportunities to celebrate our shared environment especially on World Environment Day this year on 5 June 2024 & a rich resource of information available from the World Environment Day website.
If this article has helped to advance your understanding of the UN’s World Environment Day especially this year’s event and its theme of land restoration, desertification and drought resilience, leave a comment in the box below, if this article has help you.
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Thank you for article! The latter, focused on land restoration, desertification & drought resilience! I am wondering why soil as a major component of land is not highlighted! The article raises the threat of many people starving if land restoration is neglected! However, I am aware of the World Soil Day, 5th December! It’s my conviction, that the more we advocate for these two inseparable resources, the greater the success! We take advantage of every opportunity! Thank you!
Thank you for your comment – Certainly, soil health is an important part of the focus on land restoration, desertification & drought resilience.
Hopefully, we will see coverage of this topic during World Environment Day.