The theme for this year event on June 5 is 'Beat Plastic Pollution'
Nagaland Pollution Control Board World Environment Day is held each year on June 5. It is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations (UN) stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action. World Environment Day was established in 1972 during the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, which led to the creation of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Its aim is “encouraging worldwide awareness and action for the protection of our environment”. A Platform for Action World Environment Day is the UN's most important day for encouraging worldwide awareness and action for the protection of our environment.. World Environment Day is the "people's day" for doing something to take care of the Earth. That "something" can be focused locally, nationally or globally; it can be a solo action or involve a crowd. Everyone is free to choose. The Theme Each World Environment Day is organized around a theme that focuses attention on a particularly pressing environmental concern. The theme for 2018 is beat plastic pollution. To highlight the Environmental challenge of a country every year; a host country is selected and the official observation taken place, This year WED host is India On the 19th February 2018, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and Erik Solheim, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Head of UN Environment, jointly announced that India will be hosting the global World Environment Day observations on 5th June 2018. “Beat Plastic Pollution”, the theme for World Environment 2018, urges governments, industry, communities, and individuals to come together and explore sustainable alternatives and urgently reduce the production and excessive use of single-use plastic polluting our oceans, damaging marine life and threatening human health. “India is excited to host the World Environment Day this year on June 5. Indian philosophy and lifestyle has long been rooted in the concept of co-existence with nature. We are committed to making Planet Earth a cleaner and greener place”, said Dr. Harsh Vardhan. He added: “If each and every one of us does at least one green good deed daily towards our Green Social Responsibility, there will be billions of green good deeds daily on the planet.” The Government of India has committed to organizing and promoting the World Environment Day observations through a series of engaging activities and events generating strong public interest and participation. From pan-Indian plastic clean-up drives in public areas, national reserves and forests to simultaneous beach clean-up activities – India will lead the initiative by setting an example. “India will be a great global host of 2018’s World Environment Day observation,” said Erik Solheim at the announcement and added that the country has demonstrated tremendous global leadership on climate change and the need to shift to a low carbon economy, and India will now help galvanize greater action on plastics pollution. It’s a global emergency affecting every aspect of our lives. It’s in the water we drink and the food we eat. It’s destroying our beaches and oceans. India will now be leading the push to save our oceans and planet.” India is emerging as a leader, given it has one of the highest recycling rates in the world. It can be instrumental in combating plastic pollution. By hosting World Environment Day 2018, the Indian government is accelerating its leadership on an issue of tremendous magnitude. World Environment Day is a UN Environment-led global event, the single largest observation of our environment each year, which takes place on June 5 and is observed by thousands of communities worldwide. Since it began in 1972, it has grown to become a global platform for public outreach that is widely observed across the globe. Most of all, World Environment Day is a day of everyone around the world to take ownership of their environment and to actively engage in the protection of our earth. Global Plastic Pollution facts:• Every year the world uses 500 billion plastic bags • Each year, at least 8 million tonnes of plastic end up in the oceans, the equivalent of a full garbage truck every minute. • In the last decade, we produced more plastic than in the whole last century • 50 percent of the plastic we use is single-use or disposable • We buy 1 million plastic bottles every minute • Plastic makes up 10% of all of the waste we generate
Let our Citizens of Nagaland join the rest of the world by taking appropriate actions and show that we can do it.