SEVEN BILLION DREAMS. ONE PLANET. CONSUME WITH CARE.
World Environment Day (WED) is the United Nations’ principal vehicle for encouraging worldwide awareness and action for the environment. It also serves as the ‘people’s day’ for doing something positive for the environment, galvanising individual actions into a collective power that generates an exponential positive impact on the planet.
The World Environment Day theme this year is “Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care.” The well-being of humanity, the environment and economies ultimately depends on the responsible management of the planet’s natural resources. Evidence is building that people are consuming far more natural resources than what the planet can sustainably provide.
Many of the Earth’s ecosystems are nearing critical tipping points of depletion or irreversible change, pushed by high population growth and economic development. By 2050, if current consumption and production patterns remain the same and with a rising population expected to reach 9.6 billion, we will need three planets to sustain our way of life.
Consuming with care means living within planetary boundaries to ensure a healthy future where our dreams can be realised. Human prosperity need not cost the earth. Living sustainably is about doing more and better with less. It is about knowing that rising rates of natural resource use and the environmental impacts that occur are not a necessary by-product of economic growth.
Website Link: http://www.unep.org/wed/