World Environment Day 05 June
As millions around the globe celebrate World Environment Day, United Nations officials are warning that the incredible variety of life on Earth is in peril and urging everyone to speak out to protect biodiversity.
World Environment Day is the people’s day for environmental action. Under the theme ‘Many Species. One Planet. One Future’, this year’s event celebrated the incredible diversity of life on Earth as part of the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity.
As part of the celebrations, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has launched an updated report and documentary entitled The Last Stand of the Gorilla. The report warns that unless urgent action is taken to strengthen the enforcement of environmental law and counter poaching, endangered gorillas may largely disappear from the Greater Congo Basin in the next 15 years.
“From frogs to gorillas, from huge plants to tiny insects, thousands of species are in jeopardy,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warns in his message for the Day, adding that species are becoming extinct at the fastest rate ever recorded.
He stressed the need to stop this “mass extinction” and raise awareness about the vital importance of the millions of species that inhabits the planet’s soils, forests, oceans, coral reefs and mountains.
“I appeal to everyone – from Kigali to Canberra, from Kuala Lumpur to Quito – to help us sound the alarm. Get involved, speak out. Learn and teach others. Show leadership and help clean up.”
Other events taking place around the world include tree plantings and beach clean-ups in Africa and environmental film screenings and poetry contests in Europe, as well as the launch of a global campaign to reduce carbon emissions by 10 per cent in a year.
WED is a day for everyone on the planet to get involved and go green – from schoolchildren to presidents and from community groups to multinationals.
Rwanda’s capital Kigali will be the venue for this global celebration of the environment, with a myriad of activities over several days to inspire Rwandans, East Africans and people around the world to take action for the environment.
The celebrations in Kigali will be just one of thousands of events taking place around the globe on 5 June.
Visit Kigali for more details at:- Celebrations in Kigali
For information please contact
Nick Nuttall, UNEP Spokesperson and Head of Media, +254733632755 or +41 795965737, or nick.nuttall@unep.org
Anne-France White, UNEP Information Officer, +254 (0)20 762 3088, or anne-france.white@unep.org