World Environment Day 2021: UNEP report to launch today. All you need to know

The flagship report of the UNEP and the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) -- #GenerationRestoration: Ecosystem Restoration for People, Nature and Climate is scheduled to launch online on Thursday. During the virtual launch, a panel of authors and experts will provide the latest data on restoration in selected ecosystems prior to the formal launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration on World Environment Day on June 5.

All you need to know

The theme of World Environment Day 2021 is 'Reimagine. Recreate. Restore.' as this year marks the beginning of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. The global host for the day to magnify the importance of ecosystem restoration this year is Pakistan.

The United Nations has designated June 5 to be celebrated as World Environment Day to highlight the significance of its protection. The General Assembly in 1972, following the first major conference based on environmental issues, called the Conference on the Human Environment or the Stockholm Conference, adopted resolution (A/RES/2994 (XXVII) to mark June 5 as the World Environment Day.

The resolution was adopted urging the "Governments and the organizations in the United Nations system to undertake on that day every year world-wide activities reaffirming their concern for the preservation and enhancement of the environment, with a view to deepening environmental awareness.”

"The UN Decade is a global push to halt and reverse the degradation of our precious ecosystems so that they can continue to support humanity’s survival," according to the international agency.

Speakers during the event on June 3 include Inger Andersen, executive director, UNEP, Maria Helena Semedo, deputy director-general, FAO, Eduardo Mansur, director, Environment, Climate and Biodiversity Office, FAO, Luc Gnacadja, Chair, Report Steering Committee and Barney Dickson, lead author, Nature for Climate Branch, UNEP.

Pakistan kick-started the festivities on Wednesday with a cycling event to raise awareness pertaining to ecosystem restoration.

Meanwhile, Delhi’s environment minister Gopal Rai said that this year on the occasion of World Environment Day, the state government will plant 33 lakh saplings of trees and shrubs. A large number of roadside shrubs will be planted in an attempt to control the air pollution levels in the national capital, the minister said.