The World Environment Day was observed on Sunday across the globe including Pakistan with the aim of raising global awareness to take positive action to protect the environment.
The Ministry of Climate Change and other organisations working for the protection of the environment organised seminars and events in all four provinces including the federal capital.
The day is celebrated every year on June 5 to raise global awareness about the environmental issues. It is observed under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
Over the years the World Environment Day has been used as a global platform for public outreach in over 100 countries.
It also serves as the ‘people’s day’ for doing something positive for the environment, galvanising individual actions into a collective power.
The day is observed in order to highlight a range of environmental problems, including climate change, waste management, unsustainable consumption, degradation of natural resources and extreme natural disasters.
Last month, at the second United Nations Environment Assembly in Nairobi, UN “Wild For Life” global campaign was launched, led by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Convention on the International Trade in Wild Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES).
The campaign asks everyone to pledge to end illegal trade of wildlife – from ordinary citizens, who can ensure they do not buy prohibited products, to governments, who can pursue change though implementing effective policies to protect species and ecosystems.
Angola, which is this year’s World Environment Day global host, has served notice that it will no longer tolerate the sale of illegal wildlife products and is strengthening legislation and increasing border controls as part of efforts to restore elephant populations that were devastated by the country’s civil war.
Such actions have sent a strong message that wild species of plants and animals are a precious commodity that must be sustainably managed and protected from illegal trade.
