The UN Environment Programme (UNEP, or UN Environment) annually organizes events for World Environment Day, which encourages worldwide awareness and action for the protection of the environment. It is celebrated on 5 June in over one hundred countries.
This year, China will host the global World Environment Day events on the theme, ‘Air Pollution’.
The following few facts about air pollution provide a challenge for all individuals, communities and agencies:
1. Ninety-five per cent of people in the world do not breathe clean air
2. Air pollution costs the global economy approximately $5 trillion every year in welfare costs
3. Ground-level ozone pollution is expected to reduce staple crop yields by twenty-six per cent by 2030. (UN Environment statistics)
Further resources and suggestions for action can be accessed at: https://www.worldenvironmentday.global/
As Brigidines “We are called in solidarity with others … to deepen our understanding of the complexity and inter-relatedness of factors which threaten the life and well-being of our common home.” (Brigidine Congregational Forum, May 2016)
