In 1972, the United Nations General Assembly designated 5 June as World Environment Day. The first celebration, under the slogan “Only One Earth” took place in 1974. In the following years, World Environment Day has developed as a platform to raise awareness of problems facing our environment such as air pollution, plastic pollution, illegal wildlife trade, sustainable consumption, sea-level increase, and food security, among others. Furthermore, the day helps drive change in consumption patterns and in national and international environmental policy.
The theme for World Environment Day this year is “Only One Earth”, with focus on “living sustainably in harmony with nature”. The 2022 World Environment Day campaign ‘Only One Earth’ calls for collective, transformative action on a global scale to celebrate, protect and restore our planet.
The slogan also calls for transformative changes to policies and choices to enable cleaner, greener, and sustainable living in harmony with nature. It will focus on the need to live sustainably in harmony with nature, and our possibilities for shifting to a greener lifestyle through both policies and individual choices.
The year 2022 is a historic milestone for the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the global environmental community. It marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of UNEP as an outcome of the Stockholm Conference. It also coincides with the high-level Stockholm+50 international meeting. These emblematic events serve as an opportunity for the international community to strengthen cooperation and show leadership in the transformation toward a more sustainable society.
Each year, World Environment Day is hosted by a different country in which official celebrations take place. The host country for 2022 is Sweden.
In Afghanistan, today mostly as a result of decades of conflict, it is in a state of severe environmental crisis. Even though some improvements and regulatory advances have been made in the past few years such as the creation of the National Environmental Agency (NEPA) in 2005, and the passing of Afghanistan’s first Environmental Law in 2007, but a lot more needs to be done. The major environmental issues today for Afghanistan are soil degradation, air pollution water pollution, deforestation at an alarming rate, overgrazing, desertification, and overpopulation in its already fragile urban areas.
There are also very limited, unequally distributed, and poorly managed natural freshwater resources in Afghanistan. It is expected that the Islamic Emirate (IEA) pays particular attention to the protection of the environment and take necessary steps towards addressing water and air pollution challenges in the country. Masouda Qarizada
Only One Earth; living sustainably in harmony with nature
