🌎🌿 Happy World Environment Day 2023! 🌎🌿
On this special day, let’s come together to celebrate and raise awareness about the Sustainable Development Goals that are crucial for our planet’s well-being. SDG 13 (climate action), SDG 14 (life below water), and SDG 15 (life on land) hold immense importance in our collective journey toward a sustainable future.
SDG 13 calls for urgent climate action, urging us to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. It’s time we prioritize sustainable practices and make a positive impact on our environment.
SDG 14 emphasizes the significance of our oceans, seas, and marine life. Protecting marine ecosystems, reducing pollution, and promoting sustainable fishing practices are essential to preserving the beauty and diversity of life below water.
SDG 15 highlights the need to conserve and restore terrestrial ecosystems. Let’s safeguard our forests, protect wildlife habitats, and combat land degradation. Together, we can create a healthier planet for all living beings.
This World Environment Day, let’s reflect on our individual actions and commit to making a difference. Whether it’s reducing our carbon footprint, supporting sustainable initiatives, or raising awareness, we each have a role to play. Together, we can achieve these Sustainable Development Goals and ensure a thriving and resilient planet for generations to come. 🌍🌿
Solutions to plastic pollution
More than 400 million tonnes of plastic is produced every year worldwide, half of which is designed to be used only once. Of that, less than 10 percent is recycled.
An estimated 19-23 million tonnes end up in lakes, rivers, and seas annually. That is approximately the weight of 2,200 Eiffel Towers altogether.
Microplastics – tiny plastic particles up to 5mm in diameter – find their way into food, water, and air. It is estimated that each person on the planet consumes more than 50,000 plastic particles per year –and many more if inhalation is considered.
Discarded or burnt single-use plastic harms human health and biodiversity and pollutes every ecosystem from mountain tops to the ocean floor.
With available science and solutions to tackle the problem, governments, companies, and other stakeholders must scale up and speed up actions to solve this crisis.
This underscores the importance of this World Environment Day in mobilizing transformative action from every corner of the world.
Did you know?
*Some 11 million tonnes of plastic waste flow annually into oceans. This may triple by 2040.
*More than 800 marine and coastal species are affected by this pollution through ingestion, entanglement, and other dangers.
*A shift to a circular economy can reduce the volume of plastics entering oceans by over 80 percent by 2040; reduce virgin plastic production by 55 percent; save governments US$70 billion by 2040; reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent; and create 700,000 additional jobs – mainly in the global south.
Fifty years celebrating World Environment Day
Led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and held annually on 5 June since 1973, World Environment Day is the largest global platform for environmental public outreach and is celebrated by millions of people across the world. In 2023, it is hosted by Côte D’Ivoire.
Why take part?
Time is running out, and nature is in emergency mode. To keep global warming below 1.5°C this century, we must halve annual greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Without action, exposure to air pollution beyond safe guidelines will increase by 50 percent within the decade and plastic waste flowing into aquatic ecosystems will nearly triple by 2040.
