2024-06-04

World Environment Day

June 5 is World Environment Day, one of the UN's international days, which was established in connection with the Stockholm Conference in 1972. World Environment Day was created to inform about and mobilize around current environmental issues. Today, human influence is the driving cause of climate change, which has a direct impact on people, animals and ecosystems. Several areas of the world will be uninhabitable for humans and animals as a result of extreme temperatures and natural disasters. Pollution is globally the biggest cause of disease and the biggest reason people die prematurely.

Each year, World Environment Day focuses on a new theme and is organized by a new country. In recent years, the focus has been on everything from plastic pollution and illegal wildlife trade to air pollution and food waste. This year's theme is about land restoration, desertification and resilience to drought. The 2024 host country is Saudi Arabia.
According to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, up to 40 percent of the Earth's land is destroyed, which directly affects half of the world's population. Without prompt action, drought could affect over three-quarters of the world's population by 2050.

In the region of Androy, Madagascar, a region particularly vulnerable to drought, Zonta has a project "Engaging Girls on Climate Change" run through Unicef. The project aims for children to learn about safe and inclusive environments and the possibility of taking measures to cope with the stresses that climate change brings. Read more about the project here: Engaging Girls on Climate Change in Madagascar (zonta.org).

Zonta International District 21 has its own climate committee that works actively with climate issues. For those of you who are members, read more about the climate committee's work at Climate Committee – Zonta District 21 (login required).