World Environment Day

World Environment Day

 June 5th commemorates the date on which the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment met in 1972. Sweden originally suggested this conference in 1968 and the UN decided to convene in 1972 to raise awareness of human interaction with the environment. At this meeting, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) issued the Stockholm Declaration which provided a list of twenty-six principles relating to protecting the environment. Reading the proclamation and principles now, it's striking how innocent and ambitious people once were during the early years of the environmental movement. Since then, there have successes and setbacks when trying to encourage people and nations to protect the environment, but maybe today people are less wide-eyed about it. The principles are wide ranging, concerning topics such protecting wildlife and resources to eliminating weapons of mass destruction.

 

This year’s theme for World Environment Day celebrations is Think.Eat.Save. The UN states that every year 1.7 billion tons of food goes to waste, which is heartbreaking when considering all those who suffer from hunger.