World Environment Day 2007

World Environment Day (WED) is a global initiative which was created by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972.  Each year on June 5 the UN hosts World Environment Day, aiming to stimulate worldwide awareness of the environment. The main international celebrations for WED are hosted by a different city in the world each year. WED 2007 will be held in Tromsø, Norway: a center for polar research and a city with a living polar history.

World Environment Day is definitely a people’s event. More than a hundred nations celebrate this day. Celebrations include everything from posters competitions in schools, tree planting and clean-up campaigns, to green concerts, bicycle parades and professional art using recycled materials. Here at Headworks Inc. we recycle our and avoid using Styrofoam plates, plastic cutlery, plastic cups, etc, opting instead for the more environmentally sound method of washing up!

The topic chosen for World Environment Day this year is Melting Ice – a Hot Topic? The focus will be on the effects of climate change on the polar ecosystems and communities, and its subsequent global consequences.

It is no longer controverted that the earth’s climate is changing.  This is most noticeable in the Arctic where the temperature has risen at twice the rate of that of the rest of the world over the last few decades. Melting ice on polar caps affects those animals adapted to life in the region’s harsh conditions and its indigenous people.  Due to the sparse population in the Arctic Region, with most of the world’s population living elsewhere, it is unfortunately a question of “out of sight, out of mind.”  

Melting ice, however, is not limited to the polar areas of the globe. It is also occurring in mountainous areas, bringing this disturbing issue to everyone’s doorstep.

The agenda for the World Environment Day this year is to:

1. give a human face to environmental issues;
2. empower people to become active agents of sustainable and equitable development;
3. promote an understanding that communities are pivotal to changing attitudes towards environmental issues; and
4. advocate partnerships ensuring all nations enjoy a safer and more prosperous future.

 (For a list of previous focuses of WED and the cities and countries which hosted them, please click here.)