MOSCOW, June 5 (RIA Novosti) - This Thursday marks World Environment Day (WED), the UN–run initiative held every year on June 5, since 1973 to raise awareness of environmental issues.
The UN General Assembly proclaimed 2014 the International Year of Small Islands, and this year’s WED is focusing on the theme of “Small Island Developing States and Climate Change.” The official slogan is “Raise Your Voice, Not the Sea Level.”
"Planet Earth is our shared island, let us join forces to protect it," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at the launch of the 2014 International Year of Small Islands and Developing States.
The host of this year’s landmark inter-governmental event is Bridgetown, the capital of Barbados, a small Caribbean island that leads the way in solar energy.
According to Barbados Prime Minister Freundel Stuart, the country’s goal in celebrating WED this year is “to be heard loudly and clearly, maintaining the place of Barbados firmly in the mainstream of the discourse and action on the future of Small Island Developing States.”
Barbados is considered highly vulnerable to the consequences of climate change and rising sea levels, and has taken significant steps to develop clean and renewable energy.
Alternative energy development is one of the many environmental issues on the World Environment Day 2014 agenda.
The issues discussed by WED participants, such as climate change, air and water pollution, rising of sea levels, renewable energy and other ecological challenges, are topical globally.
The New Zealand Herald reported Thursday that atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions also have a negative effect on the ocean, as it absorbs carbon dioxide through microscopic marine organisms at its surface.
“By absorbing carbon emissions from the atmosphere, the seas avert climate damage worth up to $222 billion every year,” the paper reported Thursday citing a study by the Global Ocean Commission, which coincided with World Environment Day.
China’s carbon dioxide emissions, which are considered the main cause of global warming today, have risen sharply in the recent years, generating concern from environmentalists around the world.
The chairman of China's Advisory Committee on Climate Change, He Jiankun, told a conference in Beijing Tuesday that an absolute cap on carbon emissions is to be introduced in the country for the first time.
The US is another top contributor to the global emissions epidemic. Washington has recently announced a new effort to tackle the problem of climate change, by implementing new rules to regulate emissions from power plants. US President Barack Obama took personal charge of the climate change regulations campaign, which promises to cut 30% of carbon dioxide emissions by 2030.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on his twitter Thursday that the combined efforts of governments and people are needed to create a cleaner and greener planet.
"Along with government efforts, people's participation can make a big difference in creating a cleaner and greener planet," he said.
