Accelerating climate change does not only pose a threat to human life and health, but also to the overall health of our environment at large.
When the environment suffers, so does mankind. To ensure that the environment we live in is a safe and healthy one, the world marks Environmental Health Day every year.
World Environmental Health Day is observed annually on September 26. This year, it falls on Tuesday. It is a reminder for global communities to enhance their quality of life by enhancing the environment that they are surrounded with. The day first came into being in 2011.
The International Federation of Environmental Health (IFEH) established it to create awareness about environmental health through events and activities. World Environmental Health Day is a reminder of the essential relationship between human beings and their surroundings.
World Environmental Health Day 2023: What’s the theme?
Each year, the day is celebrated with a different theme. This year’s theme is Global Environmental Public Health, which focuses on improving health and eradicating deadly diseases. “Environmental health is one of the largest fields within public health because of the myriad ways external forces can impact how people eat, live, and grow,” the IFEH said on its official website on the occasion.
UN chief calls for climate action
“These forces can be about addressing our natural environment (as in the case for clean water or sanitation), but they can also be the consequence of human beings’ actions,” it added. On this day, green groups and organisations around the world unite to initiate dialogue on environmental health and discuss ways to protect our environment.
On Monday, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres took to the social media platform X to amplify the voices of those working to solve the worsening climate crisis. “To all those working for, marching for & championing real #ClimateAction: I want you to know that you are on the right side of history. I am with you. I won’t give up this fight of our lives,” he wrote.
