Mercy Global Concern - 1999 to 2001
Earth Day 2000
As you know, the thirtieth anniversary of Earth Day is approaching,
on April 22nd, jut a few weeks before
World Environment Day 2000, on June 5th. We would like to take
this opportunity to inform you of our joint initiative to connect
the two days in a stream of activities for the benefit of the
planet.
By linking these two international days for the environment,
we can launch this new millennium with global actions that build
deep public support for a sustainable future. We invite you
to join us in this important effort.
Earth Day Network is presently partnering with over 4,000 groups
in 178 countries to create environmental events, projects, and
campaigns in April 2000. The citizen mobilization for Earth
Day 2000 will dramatically raise awareness of environmental
issues world-wide, including the need for clean energy. Likewise,
the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is promoting
World Environment Day activities in more than 150 countries,
galvanizing public commitment and political attention on pressing
local and global environmental issues. The main venue for the
international observance observance of World Environment Day
will be in Adelaide, Australia.
Many Earth Day Network members are already linking their celebrations
to World Environment Day. In China, an environmental awareness
contest launched on Earth Day will culminate in an awards ceremony
on World Environment Day. In Uganda, the period between Earth
Day and World Environment Day will see a series of public education
efforts that will involve 2.5 million citizens countrywide.
We invite you to hold your own events linking Earth Day and
World Environment Day.
Whether you join:
- The UN's tree planting campaign, to be launched at UN Headquarters
on Earth Day, culminating in a global tree-planting exercise
for children on World Environment Day.
- The many groups worldwide engaged in Earth Day's Clean Energy
Campaign.
- The creative and diverse initiatives organized by groups
around the world that use Earth Day or World Environment Day
to respond to the most critical environmental issues facing
their communities.
We look forward to collaborating with you.
We also hope you will encourage your colleagues and networks
to participate and develop plans for this important opportunity.
For a growing list of Earth Day groups and events, please see
http://www.earthday.net
For more information on World Environment Day see http://www.unep.org
By connecting our two efforts, we can deepen our impact and
build broad support for necessary action on environmental issues.
We encourage you to participate in this joint campaign.
Klaus Toepfer, Executive Director, UN Environment Programme
Denis Hayes, Chair and CEO, Earth Day Network
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