World Environment Day 2024 Theme: June 5

World Environment Day is celebrated every year on 5 June to promote awareness and action across the world to protect the environment.

World Environment Day 2024 Theme

• World Environment Day 2024 Theme: “Our Land. Our Future. We are #GenerationRestoration.”
• Saudi Arabia will host the World Environment Day 2024 celebrations.

Objective

• The people of the world have to be made aware of the environment and also discharge their duty towards nature.

History

• In the year 1972, the United Nations announced to celebrate the day to bring political and social awareness at the global level towards the environment.
• World Environment Day is celebrated every year on 5 June since the year 1973 as part of the United Nations Environment Program to spread awareness about saving life on Earth.
• At present, it has become a global platform to discuss the problem of pollution and is organized in more than 100 countries.
• In the year 2018, India hosted the international event of World Environment Day with the theme ‘Beat Plastic Pollution’.
• Air pollution is responsible for one-fourth of the deaths due to heart attack and one-third of the total deaths due to stroke, respiratory diseases, lung cancer.
• Around 92 percent of people around the world are forced to breathe polluted air. Every year, health expenditure due to air pollution puts a burden of $ 5 trillion on the global economy.
• Due to ground-level ozone pollution, crop yields are expected to decline by approximately 26 percent by the year 2030.

About the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981

• The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 defines ‘air pollutant’ as any solid, liquid or gaseous substance present in the atmosphere which is or may be injurious to human beings or other living creatures or plants or property or the environment.
• The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 provides for the establishment of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) at the apex level and State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) at the state level to advise the Government on any matter relating to the improvement, control and abatement of air pollution.
• The CPCB also sets standards for air quality and provides technical assistance and guidance to the State Pollution Control Boards.

About National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)

• India drafted and launched the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), which aims to prevent, control and abate air pollution besides enhancing the air quality monitoring network.

World environment day in india

• Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India celebrated ‘World Environment Day-2023’ with an emphasis on ‘Mission LiFE’.
• Introduced by the Prime Minister of India at the World Leaders Summit at UNFCCC COP26 in Glasgow in 2021, Mission LiFE aims to promote sustainable living by encouraging individuals to make lifestyle changes and emphasizes responsible and conscious use of resources to protect and preserve the environment. 

Importance of World Environment Day

• This day provides an opportunity to educate people about the importance of the environment and the need to protect it. This promotes environmental protection activities at the global level.
• Through this day, we can educate people about the causes and effects of climate change. Also, ways to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases and promote the use of clean energy can be highlighted.
• World Environment Day also focuses on the need for wildlife conservation. This promotes efforts to protect the habitats of wild animals and conserve species that are on the verge of extinction.
• This day also highlights the issues of water and air pollution and emphasizes the need to take steps to ensure the availability of clean drinking water and breathable air.
• On World Environment Day, we can also promote the use of recycled energy sources such as solar energy, wind energy, etc., which are environmentally friendly.

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