WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY HONOURS TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME
Press Release
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WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY HONOURS TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME
19970529 NAIROBI, 29 May (UNEP) -- On 5 June, more than 100 countries will celebrate World Environment Day, a commemoration which seeks to focus global attention on environmental action and awareness. The Day, whose theme this year is "For Life on Earth", will also honour the twenty-fifth anniversary of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).World Environment Day 1997 is special. This year, the world celebrates a number of significant milestones since the creation of UNEP 25 years ago at the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. It also marks the tenth anniversary of the historic negotiation of the Montreal Protocol on preservation of the ozone layer, 10 years since the ground-breaking Brundtland report, and five years since world leaders gathered in Rio de Janeiro for the Earth Summit.
As the United Nations programme responsible for coordinating activities for the Day, UNEP each year selects a city to be the main venue for the international celebrations. This year, that special event is taking place in the Republic of Korea, a country of emerging importance in a region of dramatic change.
"Today, as South Korea and its neighbours in the Asia-Pacific region are being shaped and animated by the innovations of their technocrats and by the social awakening of their people, it is imperative that the tectonic strains on their environment not be ignored", says Elizabeth Dowdeswell, UNEP's Executive Director.
As host of World Environment Day 97, the Republic of Korea has made a concerted effort to promote environmental awareness and action -- nationally, regionally and internationally -- by organizing a series of important events. Those include the following: an international media conference on environment and development; an environment and ethics conference, which will launch the "Seoul Declaration"; a global youth forum, with 200 young people from 45 countries; and the Asia-Pacific Parliamentarians Conference on Environment and Development.
The main event will be held on 5 June at Seoul's Olympic Stadium. It will culminate with the presentation of UNEP's Global 500 awards to 21 environmentalists, from every corner of the world, who have made outstanding contributions to the protection of the environment.
"These environmentalists are members of a broad and growing environmental movement that is flowering around the world", Ms. Dowdeswell says. "They have taken the path that most of us hesitate to take for want of time or caring, and in honouring them UNEP seeks inspiration from their extraordinary deeds."
World Environment Day, established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972, is a people's event with Governments and communities organizing clean-up campaigns, tree planting, street rallies, bicycle parades, green concerts, essay competitions in schools, recycling efforts and much more.
In many countries, this annual event is used to enhance political attention and action. Heads of State, Prime Ministers and Ministers of Environment deliver statements and commit themselves to care for the earth. Serious pledges are made which lead to the establishment of permanent governmental structures dealing with environmental management and economic planning. This observance also provides an opportunity to sign or ratify international environmental conventions.
The Day is also a multimedia event which inspires thousands of journalists and broadcasters to report enthusiastically or critically on the environment. It is a visual event, involving television documentaries, photo exhibits and displays. It is also an intellectual event for those who organize and participate in seminars, round-table meetings and symposia.
"On this World Environment Day, let us examine the state of our environment", Ms. Dowdeswell says. "Let us consider carefully the actions which each of us must take and then address ourselves to our common task of preserving all life on earth, in a mood of sober resolution and quiet confidence."
The full text of messages on the Day by the Secretary-General and by UNEP's Executive Director are available.
For more information, contact: Tore J. Brevik, UNEP Chief of Information and Public Affairs, Nairobi (tel: 254-2-62-3292, fax: 254-2-62- 3927, e-mail: Tore.Brevol@unep.org); Elisabeth Guilbaud-Cox, Coordinator of Special Events, Nairobi (tel: 254-2-62-3401/3128, fax: 254-2-62-3692, e-mail: Elisabeth.Guilbaud-Cox@unep.org); or Jim Sniffen, Information Officer, New York (tel: 1-212-963-8094/8210, fax: 1-212-963-7341, e-mail: sniffenj@un.org).
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