Mercy Global Concern - 1999 to 2001
International World Environment Day Celebrations
to be held in Adelaide, Australia
UNEP NEWS RELEASE 00/24
NAIROBI, 7 March 2000 - The United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP) is pleased to announce that the main international World
Environment Day celebrations will be held in Adelaide, Australia
this year. Each year, based on offers from various Member States,
UNEP, the agency responsible for coordinating World Environment
Day activities, selects a host country and a main venue for
these celebrations.
"This is the first time that this important United Nations
Day will be held in the Pacific Region, and UNEP is indeed honoured
that Australia has generously offered to host this event in
Adelaide," says UNEP's Executive Director, Klaus Toepfer.
"The theme for this year's World Environment Day, 2000 - The
Environment Millennium - Time to Act, is a rallying cry to each
and every one of us to become responsible trustees of the Planet
and to renew our pledge to protect the amazing web of life that
sustains us," says Toepfer.
"World Environment Day gives us an opportunity to promote people's
participation in caring for the environment, and to raise environmental
awareness not only in Australia, but throughout the region and
around the globe," adds Toepfer.
"This is a great opportunity for Australia to demonstrate its
environmental achievements and its commitment to ecological
sustainable development and to build on the international focus
in the lead to and during the green Olympic games" said Senator
Robert Hill, Australia's Federal Environment Minister.
Considered by many to be the most important event on the environmental
calendar, World Environment Day is celebrated every year on
5 June in more than 100 countries around the world. This observance
draws attention to some of the ways in which humanity is endangering
its own habitat and to emphasize the urgent need for us to change
our attitudes and behaviours towards the environment.
World Environment Day inspires action by governments, individuals,
non-governmental organizations, community and youth groups,
business, industry and the media to improve their environment,
including clean-up campaigns, tree planting, colorful street
rallies, exhibitions, green concerts, essay competitions in
schools, recycling efforts and much more.
The day is an occasion to make more serious pledges leading
to the establishment of permanent structures that deal with
environmental management and economic planning. It also provides
an opportunity for governments to take steps to sign or ratify
international treaties and conventions.
World Environment Day is a multi-media event, which inspires
thousands of journalists and broadcasters to report critically
and enthusiastically on the environment and publicize how we
can change our behaviour. It is a visual event with television
documentaries, photo and art exhibits and poster displays. It
is an intellectual event for those who organize and participate
in green seminars, round-table meetings and symposia.
The main event, to be held in Adelaide on 4 June, will culminate
with the presentation of UNEP's Global 500 awards to individuals
and organizations who have made outstanding contributions to
the protection of the environment.
This year is also the thirtieth anniversary of Earth Day, on
22 April, just a few weeks before World Environment Day 2000.
UNEP and the Earth Day Network have embarked on a joint initiative
to connect the two days in a stream of activities for the benefit
of the planet. Among them will be the media launch, on Earth
Day at the UN Headquarters, of a global tree-planting campaign
culminating on World Environment Day.
For background information on the Day and how it can be celebrated,
interested individuals and organizations can visit the World Environment
Day web site at www.unep.org.
For more information contact:
Tore J. Brevik, Director, Communications and Public Affairs
UNEP, P.O. Box 30552, Nairobi, Kenya, Tel: (254-2) 62 3292;
Fax: (254-2) 62 3692;
Elisabeth Guilbaud-Cox, Coordinator, Special Events,
Tel: (254-2) 62 3401, E- mail: cpiinfo@unep.org
For activities in Australia, contact:
Eleanor Dean, Senior Public Relations Officer, Department of
the Environment and Heritage, Environment Australia,
Tel: (612) 6274 1817; Fax: (612) 6274 1680; E-mail: eleanor.dean@ea.gov.au
UNEP News Release 00/24
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