{"id":27085,"date":"2017-06-05T22:00:55","date_gmt":"2017-06-05T22:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/?p=27085"},"modified":"2018-04-22T11:52:41","modified_gmt":"2018-04-22T15:52:41","slug":"get-outside-connect-with-the-planet-that-sustains-us-urges-un-on-world-environment-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/blog\/2017\/06\/get-outside-connect-with-the-planet-that-sustains-us-urges-un-on-world-environment-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Get outside, connect with the planet that sustains us, urges UN on World Environment Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

5 June 2017 \u2013 With the theme of this year’s World Environment Day \u2013 ‘Connecting People to Nature’ \u2013 aimed at highlighting the well-documented physical and mental health benefits of being in nature, the United Nations is today flagging the vast benefits<\/a> of such engagement, from food security and improved health to reliable water supply and climatic stability.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is our environment. It is the keystone of a sustainable future. Without a healthy environment we cannot end poverty or build prosperity,\u201d said Secretary-General<\/a> Ant\u00f3nio Guterres in a video message<\/a> on the Day, commemorated annually on 5 June.<\/p>\n

Pointing to land, water oceans, forests, and \u201cthe air that we breathe,\u201d the UN chief reaffirmed that everyone has a role to play \u201cin protecting our only home,\u201d including using less plastics, driving less, wasting less food and \u201cteaching each other to care.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOn World Environment Day \u2013 and every day \u2013 let us reconnect with nature. Let us cherish the planet that protects us,\u201d concluded Mr. Guterres.<\/p>\n

World Environment Day<\/a> is the largest global day for positive environmental action. This year, the main celebrations are hosted by Canada. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP<\/a>) says thousands of people across six continents are joining massive clean-ups of beaches and parks, countries are protecting 1,600 square kilometres of land, and over 30 iconic landmarks, including the Empire State Building, ‘Christ the Redeemer’ statue in Rio, and Niagara Falls, will light up in green.<\/p>\n

The Day’s theme encourages people to simply ‘get back outdoors’<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 2017 edition of the Day coincides with the opening at UN Headquarters in New York of The Ocean Conference<\/a>, the first-ever high-level global meeting on conservation and sustainable use of the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development. The Governments of Fiji and Sweden have the co-hosting responsibilities of the Conference.<\/p>\n

The 2030 Agenda<\/a> resolves \u201cto ensure the lasting protection of the planet and its natural resources,\u201d in particular, the Agenda’s associated Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs<\/a>) 14 and 15 focus on respectively conserving and sustainably using the oceans, seas and marine resources and on protecting, restoring and promoting sustainable use of land ecosystems<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur entire modern life, with its skyscrapers and smartphones, stands on a delicate foundation of natural systems<\/a>,\u201d said UN Environment chief Erik Solheim in remarks on the Day. \u201cToday, these foundations are shaking, undermined by man-made climate change, deforestation and extinctions. No amount of advanced technology will save us if we destroy and pollute our natural lifeblood.\u201d<\/p>\n

Billions of rural people around the world spend every working day ‘connected to nature’ and appreciate their dependence on natural water supplies and how nature support their livelihoods in the form of fertile soil. They are among the first to suffer when ecosystems are threatened, whether by pollution, climate change or over-exploitation.<\/p>\n