World Environment Day was celebrated over three packed days in Switzerland as the Geneva Environment Network (GEN) secretariat co-organised a series of events together with a range of artists and government and non-government bodies.

Geneva warmed for WED with an environment-themed pub quiz hosted by GEN in the city on 3 June. Some 120 people took part in 19 teams to have their knowledge tested on endangered species, UN jargon and acronyms, environmental disasters and other related topics in the fun and challenging event.

Awareness-raising through art

On 4 June, the UNOG library then hosted a performance installation by Maria Cristina Finucci entitled The Garbage Patch State ®, using art to raise awareness on the gyres of dangerous man-made rubbish found in the oceans.

Finucci’s performance was followed by a discussion together with Gaetano Leono, Chief of UNEP’s Mediterranean Action Plan Secretariat; Susan Brown, Director of Regional and Global Policy for the WWF and H.E Jorge Lomónaco, Mexico’s Permanent Representative to the UN.

‘Inspiring’ Virunga screening

Also on 4 June, Ciné-ONU hosted a screening of the ‘Virunga’ film to a packed room of around 600 people. The screening was followed by an interactive debate with Christine Batruch of Lundin Petroleum AB, Marc Hufty of Graduate Institute Geneva and John E. Scanlon of CITES, and was moderated by the UNDP’s Samantha Newport, former spokesperson for Virunga National Park.

The film recounts a true story whereby a small team of park rangers struggle to protect the park – one of the most biodiverse places on Earth - from dark forces seeking to control the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s natural resources.

“Watching this extraordinary documentary was an emotional experience that showed us the best and the worst in human nature,” Scanlon remarked following the screening.

“The courage showed by so many, especially the front line Rangers, was inspiring. But the final chapters of this story are yet to be written. We can leave this room tonight and, as Melanie feared, do nothing about it - or we can help to write the next chapters," he underlined.

Roundtable shows procurement can make a difference

The celebrations continued on WED itself with the traditional roundtable, this year addressing sustainability through procurement. The event, hosted by GEN and chaired by the head of the UNEP Economics and Trade Branch Steven Stone, featured Anders Aeroe of the International Trade Centre, Oshani Perera of the International Institute for Sustainable Development, Véronique Diebold of the Geneva State Service of Sustainable Development, Isabella Marras from the Sustainable UN facility and Rasmus Valanko from the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

Initiatives for promoting the transition to a Green Economy, as well as challenges and experiences along the way, were explored during the roundtable, with speakers explaining why procurement can make a difference for sustainability in a world of seven billion consumers.

UNECE hosts policy debate, documentary and exhibition

A policy debate, film screening and an exhibition were also held on 5 June as part of a high-level event organised by UNECE together with UNEP.

During the event, Professor Martin Beniston of the University of Geneva presented some of the latest knowledge on the state and future of climate change, as well as the main items for discussion at the upcoming COP21 climate talks.

In his blog for WED, the UNECE Executive Secretary Christian Friis Bach highlighted how the pan-European region has a particular responsibility regarding the well-being of the planet, representing about half of the carbon emissions coming from inland transport and domestic aviation in the world when the US and Canada are taken into account.

Yet the region “is also a leader in reducing energy intensity, in increasing the share of renewables, expanding forest areas and managing forests sustainably and in cutting down transport-related pollution,” he noted, underlining what the UNECE is doing to help countries move towards a circular economy.

Kate Amiguet’s documentary ‘Déchet’ was also screened, conveying in a striking way how our lifestyles have led to an overproduction of waste. Swiss cartoonist Tom Tirabosco furthermore opened a cartoon exhibition drawing attention to environmental problems.

For more information: diana.rizzolio@unep.org

UNEP’s Vienna office hosted a photo exhibition of unique wildlife pictures, launched a new publication and put on a film screening and discussion for WED.

Entitled ‘Great apes at the crossroads: survival or extinction?,’ some of the pictures in the exhibition were taken in rainforests in the former Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and have since been destroyed.

The display was organised together with the Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP), the United Nations Information Service Vienna and GRID-Arendal.

During the event, participants heard from eminent experts working in the field of conservation and tourism, including Dr. Johannes Refisch, GRASP Project Manager for UNEP and Dr. Michel Masozera, Rwanda Country Program Director for the Wildlife Conservation Society. The newly-released ‘African Mountains Atlas’ produced by UNEP was also launched during the event, which attracted UN staff, experts from NGOs and academia, governments officials and locally-based journalists.

UNEP’s Vienna Programme Office, which also acts as the Secretariat of the Carpathian Convention, rounded off celebrations on 8 June with a CINE ONU screening of the ‘(R)EVOLUTION’ documentary followed by a discussion with experts.

For more information: matthias.jurek@unep.org

A variety of WED celebrations took place in Brussels between 3 and 8 June, confirming the day to be the biggest call and mobilization for positive environmental action in the city.

Upon the initiative of the Brussels Region, on 7 June more than 70 associations replied to public queries from 24 000 visitors by proposing sustainable solutions for a better planet and future through workshops, exhibitions, tastings and games at the city’s Parc du Cinquantenaire.

UNEP - supported by FAO, UNESCO and UNRIC - vastly contributed and represented its work on this year’s local theme of climate change, connecting it to the global WED theme on sustainable consumption and the Green Up campaign. We provided games for children, displayed an infographic on COP21 produced by UNRIC with support from UNEP in the three most common local languages (French, English and Dutch), and organised an area for demonstrations of vertical gardening in collaboration with the Brussels-based NGO Biodrome.

The interactive games and quizzes focused on waste, the time needed for biodegradation of a number of elements, energy efficiency and sustainable consumption. Furthermore, in recognition of this year’s slogan ‘Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care,’ UNEP encouraged visitors to make a pledge for a healthier planet in support of the environmental Sustainable Development Goals. UN Special Envoy for the Syria crisis Mr Staffan de Mistura even made a surprise visit to the team with his wife (see picture).

Earlier in the week from 3 to 5 June, the World Environment Day was publicized widely in our popular information stand at Green Week, the biggest annual gathering for the environment community in Europe attracting each year over 2000 participants, once again inviting visitors to make a pledge on the official WED website.

On 8 June, UNEP joined forces with CineONU to screen the documentary ‘Merchants of Doubt’ at the prestigious Brussels Centre of Fine Arts. It was attended by 500 people. The film was followed by a lively debate between Ulf Bjornholm, Head of UNEP Liaison Office to the EU, Tom Brookes Executive Director, Strategic Communications at the European Climate Foundation, Leo Hickman, Director and Editor at CarbonBrief, former Guardian journalist, Fiona Hall, Former MEP and Vice-President of the European Forum for Renewable Energy Sources, and a highly engaged audience, which contributed without doubt to an enlightening and enriching the debate in Brussels on communicating about science, with special focus on climate change and the drivers behind climate skepticism.

For more information: alexa.froger@unep.org

Celebrations for the world’s biggest environmental awareness raising event took place right across Europe with a wide range of activities involving UN, academic, government and non-government actors and members of the general public.

In Kazakhstan, a roundtable was dedicated to WED on 5 June in the city of Almaty – the first event to be held since the Head of UNEP’s Sub-Regional Office for Central Asia, Natalia Alexeeva, took on her new role there this year.

International and regional cooperation in the field of environmental protection, the Kazakh experience of promoting environmental initiatives and contemporary issues and prospects for sustainable development were all discussed at the event, entitled ‘Environmental challenges in the context of global and regional changes’.

Participants heard about a number of initiatives taken by the Kazakh National University (KazNU) library, such as the ‘GreenCampus’ model plan for sustainable development of universities. KazNU organised the roundtable together with the UN Office in Kazakhstan and UNEP Sub-Regional office for Central Asia.

The event - which was attended by university staff and students, the Institute of Ecology and others - also paid tribute to the 70th anniversary of the United Nations and the opening of the UNEP sub-regional office in the country.

WED kicks off Summer for the Environment in Sarajevo

Meanwhile, a visit to protected areas in the Sarajevo canton, a press conference and awareness-raising on nature through art all formed part of WED events taking place in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The latter event built on the successful production of a short film about the country’s biological and landscape diversity and took place at Sarajevo’s Film Festival. As such, WED has kicked off a full programme of activities as part of the city’s Summer for the Environment.

Green Economy highlighted in Moldova

Further East, another event organized for WED saw the importance of transitioning to a Green Economy (GE) highlighted during a conference in Moldova. Attended by over 400 people - including the Prime Minister, Environment Minister, ambassadors and development partners – the conference is now expected to encourage practical implementation of GE principles and in turn achieve national GE targets.

Meanwhile, the River Bic, which passes through its main polluter - the Moldovan capital Chisináu - also enjoyed a clean-up undertaken by the National Environment Centre NGO. Even the Moldovan army joined in to help.

Albania joined in with the WED celebrations with an initiative designed to raise awareness on the use of plastic bags and their impact on the environment. Almost every item sold currently comes with a plastic bag in the country, but customers at CONAD supermarkets were from 28 May to 5 June invited to pay a voluntary contribution for those they used.

Proceeds from the project will go to a project to clean up the Ishëm river – currently home to a large amount of municipal waste originating from the country’s capital, Tirana.

Dedicated WED events being held in Moscow

A number of activities are also being organized by UNEP’s Moscow Office for WED.

On 5 June, the Office took part in an awards ceremony for the Russian National Environmental Prize, organized by the Environmental Audit Chamber of the Russian Federation. The Office also took part in the ‘Sustainable Development: National and International Priorities’ conference dedicated to WED, organised by the Commission on Environmental Protection of the Russian Civic Chamber, Sustainable Development Institute and Department of Natural Resources and Environment of the Moscow Government.

Between 8 and 19 June, the Office is furthermore organising awareness-raising thematic excursions to the city’s Zoo for disabled children from orphanages and boarding schools belonging to the Maria’s Children Foundation. A special event dedicated to WED will also be organized by the office later this month (see On the calendar).

Meanwhile, WED was promoted on over 150 electronic billboards in Paris - as is now custom - while a staff event on sustainable lifestyles coincided with the 40th birthday of the Division of Technology, Industry and Economics. A quiz was furthermore prepared for 20 Minutes, a free tabloid boasting three million readers.

For more information on events in:
Sarajevo: amina.omicevic@unep.org
Kazakhstan: natalia.alexeeva@unep.org
Moldova: AIsac@moldovapops.md
Albania: registry.al@undp.org