World Environment Day: 5 June 2012!

Bonn 5 June 2012 - World Environment Day (WED), being celebrated around the world on 5 June each year, is the biggest and most widely celebrated UN global day for positive environmental action.

WED celebrations began in 1972 and this year, Brazil as host of the Rio+20 Summit, is preparing to lead what promises to be the largest WED celebrations in the event’s four-decade history.

Under the WED 2012 theme “Green Economy: Does it Include You?” people across the world are set to carry out thousands of environmental activities promoting the central role of communities in the transition to a low-carbon, resource-efficient and socially inclusive green economy. So far, more than 9,000 activities from Wellington to Warsaw have already been registered for WED 2012.

WED 2012 officially launches the Rio+20 Summit in Brazil, which will take place just over one week later and where the Green Economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication will be one of the central themes.

Highlights of the WED 2012 in Brazil will, for example, include the planting of the first of 50,000 new trees with the UNEP Goodwill Ambassador Giselle Bündchen.

Other highlights will be the Global Launch of the UNEP Global Environment Outlook 5 (GEO) on 6 June 2012, which is one of the most comprehensive UN global environmental assessment reports.

World Environment Day (WED) was established by the UN General Assembly in 1972 to mark the opening of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. Through WED, the UN Environment Programme is able to give a human face to environmental issues, empower people to become active agents for change in support of sustainable and equitable development and advocate partnerships which will ensure that all nations and peoples enjoy a safer more prosperous future.

To mark WED 2012 the United Nation's Champions of the Earth 2012 Award, was also presented to six individuals whose actions and leadership have demonstrated commitment to building a sustainable future for the planet through their work and who have had a positive impact on the environment.

For more information and to learn how you can participate, please visit the WED campaign website: www.unep.org/wed