World Environment Day 2025: Date, theme and significance
The inception of World Environment Day dates back to 1972, following discussions at the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm. The first official celebration took place in 1973 with the theme 'Only One Earth.' Since then, it has been hosted by various countries, each bringing attention to different environmental challenges and showcasing their commitment to sustainable development.advertisement'At The Body Shop, sustainability is at the heart of everything we do, from how we source our ingredients to how we package our products. Our long-standing partnership with Plastics For Change has enabled us to support over 2,000 waste collectors with fair prices, better working conditions, and access to education and financial services. Together, we've helped build a more inclusive, ethical waste management ecosystem in India.", said Harmeet Singh Chief Brand Officer, The Body Shop - Asia SouthHe added that this World Environment Day, we reaffirm our belief that business can be a force for good, not just through what we sell, but in how we source, produce, and impact the world around us.SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DAYWorld Environment Day serves multiple critical functions:Awareness: It educates the public about environmental issues, from climate change to biodiversity loss.Action: The day motivates individuals, communities, and governments to take concrete steps toward environmental preservation.Policy influence: By highlighting specific themes annually, it influences policy decisions and encourages political leaders to prioritise environmental concerns.Global collaboration: It fosters international cooperation in addressing environmental challenges that transcend national boundaries.The 2025 theme, 'Ending Plastic Pollution,' underscores the necessity of reducing plastic waste, promoting recycling, and encouraging the development of sustainable alternatives to plastic products. This focus aims to mitigate the detrimental effects of plastic pollution on marine life, wildlife, and human health.advertisement"Sustainability in beauty is not just about keeping up with trends, it's about safeguarding the future. The beauty industry, once driven purely by aesthetics, is now embracing responsibility by re-evaluating its environmental footprint. Consumers today expect more than just performance from their beauty products; they expect purpose. Brands are responding by rethinking their formulations, packaging, and processes. For instance, Swiss Beauty is gradually moving towards vegan formulations, reflecting a broader industry shift towards conscious, cruelty-free beauty. It is a small but significant step in ensuring that what makes us feel good shouldn't come at the cost of the planet," Vidushi Goyal- Chief Marketing Officer at Swiss BeautyWorld Environment Day 2025 calls upon everyone to reflect on their plastic consumption habits and to participate actively in efforts to reduce plastic pollution.By embracing sustainable practices and supporting policies aimed at environmental conservation, individuals and communities can contribute significantly to the health and longevity of our planet.Must Watch
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NDTV
14 hours ago
- NDTV
USAID Cancelled Rape Survivor Kits For Congo Amid Rising Conflict
US President Donald Trump's administration cancelled a major contract to supply emergency kits for rape survivors in Congo as violence surged in the east this year, leaving thousands without access to life-saving medication, the United Nations and aid groups said. The emergency kits include medication to prevent HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, as well as unwanted pregnancies. The decision to cancel the contract for around 100,000 post-rape kits has not been reported previously. The US Agency for International Development contract was intended to resupply Congo's war-ravaged eastern provinces for the year, and left thousands of health centres without provisions when fighting was escalating. The State Department, which manages USAID, did not respond to repeated requests for comment by email and text message. Reuters spoke to officials at the United Nations and four other aid groups that treat rape survivors in eastern Congo for this story. A team also visited a site in South Kivu province to speak directly to healthcare workers and survivors. "When you look into the eyes of a rape victim, you get the impression that her gaze is dead," one health worker in Congo, who declined to be named for fear of reprisals, said. "You never forget standing in front of that person and telling them that you don't have any medicine, that you don't know how to help them, and asking them to leave." Rwanda-backed M23 rebels swept across the east of the country in January, seizing two major cities, in an escalation of a decades-long conflict. The UN has said that some 67,000 incidences of rape have been recorded since then with many more likely going unreported. Sexual violence as a weapon of war in the Congo has been documented by generations of UN experts and aid groups. Pipeline Disrupted Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid after taking office in January and halted grants by USAID. USAID's contract with a supplier for the kits was in the pipeline when billionaire Elon Musk, who at the time was spearheading a department to improve US government efficiency, said he was shuttering the agency in January. According to the UN and other aid organisations, USAID immediately cancelled the contract, which would have resupplied thousands of health centres by March. Reuters has agreed not to name the supplier to avoid compromising its sensitive operations in Congo. "When USAID decided to terminate the large funding they had for this American NGO, this American NGO immediately stopped all activities," said Noemi Dalmonte, the deputy representative in Kinshasa for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). "The pipeline got disrupted at a very unfortunate time." The post-rape kits come in a box containing HIV medication to prevent infection within 72 hours, antibiotics and testing for sexually transmitted diseases and emergency contraception. The supplies paid for by USAID were meant to reach over 2,000 facilities. "This kit is truly important to reassure the woman who has been really traumatized that she won't get AIDS, that she won't have an unwanted pregnancy, and that she won't contract venereal diseases," said Amadou Bocoum, the country director of CARE International. The UNFPA shared a document with Reuters that indicated that only seven out of 34 health zones in North Kivu have a minimal supply of post-rape kits left. Less than one-in-four survivors' needs are currently being met. Only 13% of survivors that request help receive medication to prevent HIV within the recommended 72-hour window. While the US State Department has said it will continue to support life-saving programs worldwide, the contract to supply post-rape kits to survivors remains cancelled. Trump has said that the US pays disproportionately for foreign aid and he wants other countries to shoulder more of the burden. The US disbursed $65 billion in foreign assistance last year, nearly half of it via USAID, according to government data. The UNFPA and other aid organisations are trying to raise around $35 million to cover the loss of funding from the United States from donors such as the Gates Foundation and other Western nations. The consequences of the cancellation include survivor deaths, the spread of HIV, unwanted pregnancies, and unsafe abortions with high maternal-mortality risk, the UNFPA document said.
NDTV
14 hours ago
- NDTV
Donald Trump's Foreign Aid Cut Risks Causing 14 Million Deaths: Study
More than 14 million of the world's most vulnerable people, a third of them small children, could die by 2030 because of the Trump administration's dismantling of US foreign aid, research projected on Tuesday. The study in the prestigious Lancet journal was published as world and business leaders gather for a United Nations conference in Spain this week hoping to bolster the reeling aid sector. The US Agency for International Development (USAID) had provided over 40 percent of global humanitarian funding until Donald Trump returned to the White House in January. Two weeks later, Trump's then-close advisor -- and world's richest man -- Elon Musk boasted of having put the agency "through the woodchipper". The funding cuts "risk abruptly halting -- and even reversing -- two decades of progress in health among vulnerable populations", warned study co-author Davide Rasella, a researcher at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal). "For many low- and middle-income countries, the resulting shock would be comparable in scale to a global pandemic or a major armed conflict," he said in a statement. Looking back over data from 133 nations, the international team of researchers estimated that USAID funding had prevented 91.8 million deaths in developing countries between 2001 and 2021. That is more than the estimated number of deaths during World War II, history's deadliest conflict. HIV, Malaria To Rise The researchers also used modelling to project how funding being slashed by 83 percent -- the figure announced by the US government earlier this year -- could affect death rates. The cuts could lead to more than 14 million avoidable deaths by 2030, the projections found. That number included over 4.5 million children under the age of five -- or around 700,000 child deaths a year. For comparison, around 10 million soldiers are estimated to have been killed during World War I. Programmes supported by USAID were linked to a 15-percent decrease in deaths from all causes, the researchers determined. For children under five, the drop in deaths was twice as steep, at 32 percent. USAID funding was found to be particularly effective at staving off preventable deaths from disease. There were 65 percent fewer deaths from HIV/AIDS in countries receiving a high level of support compared to those with little or no USAID funding, the study found. Deaths from malaria and neglected tropical diseases were similarly cut in half. Study co-author Francisco Saute of Mozambique's Manhica Health Research Centre said he had seen on the ground how USAID helped fight diseases such as HIV, malaria and tuberculosis. "Cutting this funding now not only puts lives at risk -- it also undermines critical infrastructure that has taken decades to build," he stressed. A recently updated tracker run by disease modeller Brooke Nichols at Boston University estimates that nearly 108,000 adults and more than 224,000 children have already died as a result of the US aid cuts. That works out to 88 deaths every hour, according to the tracker. 'Time to scale up' After USAID was cut, several other major donors, including France, Germany and the UK, followed suit in announcing plans to slash their foreign aid budgets. These aid reductions, particularly in the European Union, could lead to "even more additional deaths in the coming years," study co-author Caterina Monti of ISGlobal said. But the grim projections are based on the current amount of pledged aid, so could rapidly come down if the situation changes, the researchers emphasised. Dozens of world leaders are meeting in the Spanish city of Seville this week for the biggest aid conference in a decade. The United States, however, will not attend. "Now is the time to scale up, not scale back," Rasella said. Before its funding was slashed, USAID represented 0.3 percent of all US federal spending. "US citizens contribute about 17 cents per day to USAID, around $64 per year," said study co-author James Macinko of the University of California, Los Angeles. "I think most people would support continued USAID funding if they knew just how effective such a small contribution can be to saving millions of lives."
Time of India
15 hours ago
- Time of India
‘Time to scale up': Over 14 million people could die due to slashing of US aid cuts, study reveals
AP file photo By 2030, more than 14 million people, including 4.5 million children under the age of five could die as a result of massive cuts to US foreign aid, according to a new study published in 'The Lancet' reported AFP. The study, released alongside a United Nations conference in Spain, warns that the rollback of humanitarian funding initiated under Donald Trump could erase two decades of health gains in the world's most vulnerable regions. The study was published as world and business leaders across the globe gathered in Spain for a United Nations conference on Tuesday. The cuts in funding can reverse back or even halt 'two decades of health among vulnerable population' said David Rasella, a researcher at the Barcelona Institue for Global Health (ISGlobal), who co-authored the study. "For many low- and middle-income countries, the resulting shock would be comparable in scale to a global pandemic or a major armed conflict," warned Rasella in a statement. "Now is the time to scale up, not scale back," Rasella said. The international team of researchers gathered data from over 133 nations and assessed that between 2001 and 2021 USAID funding had prevented 91.8 million deaths in developing countries. That figure exceeds the projected death toll of World War II, the deadliest conflict in human history. Until Donald Trump took office in January, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) had provided for 40 percent of global humanitarian funding. Two weeks later, Elon Musk, then a close advisor to Trump and the world's richest man, claimed he had run the agency 'through the woodchipper.' Researchers also projected how the funding, which has been announced to be slashed by 83 percent, could lead to more than 14 million avoidable deaths by 2030. This figure includes 4.5 million children under the age of five, amounting to 700,000 child deaths a year. Researchers found that programmes funded by USAID were associated with a 15% overall reduction in mortality. Among children under five, a steep 32% drop was witnessed. The funding proved especially effective in preventing deaths from treatable and avoidable diseases. The aid also helped in combating diseases such as HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis, as per the study's co-author Francisco Saute from Mozambique's Manhica Health Research Centre. "Cutting this funding now not only puts lives at risk, it also undermines critical infrastructure that has taken decades to build," asserted Saute. An updated tracker by Boston University disease modeller Brooke Nichols estimates that US aid cuts have already resulted in the deaths of nearly 108,000 adults and more than 224,000 children, a toll equivalent to 88 deaths every hour. Major donors like France, Germany and the UK also decided to slash their foreign aid and budgets after the USAID was gutted. "US citizens contribute about 17 cents per day to USAID, around $64 per year," said co-author James Macinko of the University of California. Despite the grim projection, researchers have assured that if support is provided, the situation could improve quickly.
