World Environment Day (WED) is a United Nations initiative to encourage awareness and action to protect our environment. It is an opportunity for people to do something positive for the environment. Over the years, it has grown into a global platform for public outreach that is celebrated by stakeholders in more than 100 countries.

WED aims to spread the message that it is our responsibility to be agents of change and take care of the earth. Through decades of WED celebrations, hundreds of thousands of people from countries all over the world and from all sections of society have participated in individual and organized environmental action.

The theme for World Environment Day 2018 is Beat Plastic Pollution – an urgent call to immediately phase out plastics and to find and support sustainable alternatives.

As the world’s population grows, so does the amount of garbage that is produced. Plastics are especially harmful because they are composed of major toxic pollutants. They have been found everywhere from Mount Everest to the bottom of the sea, causing air, water, and land pollution and creating problems for plants, wildlife, and humans.

As in the past years, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) will celebrate WED on 5 June 2018. It aims to:

• Raise awareness about environmental issues among the public
• Encourage people from different communities to actively develop environmental safety measures
• Encourage people to join the campaign and work toward a safer, cleaner, and more prosperous future

Internal Programme

• Message from the Director General
• Newspaper articles on the theme “Beat Plastic Pollution”
• Godavari landscape journey and a forum for stakeholders
• Mega Cleaning and awareness campaign in Godavari
• Tree planting and clean kitchen demonstration at the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Demonstration Project in Nuwakot
• Knowledge Forum Organized in Collaboration with Royal Norwegian Embassy