It's about time we all came to the party. Earth Day here, Save the World Day there - how about joining the largest, straight to the point celebration of all, feted in over 100 countries -- World Environment Day (WED). Born from a proposal by the United Nations General Assembly to create the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), WED couldn’t be a more all-encompassing title for an all encompassing effort. Every year since 1972 this day is celebrated on June 5 in a different host country featuring a different theme. What could be more fitting than the 2008 celebration, the theme of which is ‘Kick the Habit! Toward a Low Carbon Economy’, being hosted by the sustainably committed New Zealand? Fresh off a 2007 pledge by Prime Minister Helen Clark to become a carbon neutral country, measures include greater energy efficiency and a move towards cleaner and renewable forms of electricity generation and transport systems. With this theme, the focus will be on solutions and opportunities for countries, communities and companies to de-carbonize their economies and life-styles. And because forestry is such an important New Zealand industry, attention will be paid to the role of forests in countering rises in greenhouse gases while highlighting the role of technologies and forestry management in conservation.

With a myriad of activities ranging from speeches, inductions, contests and awards, plays, films, tree planting and concerts to seminars and parades, the purpose of the day is to draw attention to environmental issues and stimulate political action, all the while educating and empowering the citizens of the world and fostering a sense of unity among nations. Lofty goals that in the end hope to provide a safer and more prosperous future for all nations and peoples. As part of WED, in Nigeria, the Developmental Association for Renewable Energies will hold debates between secondary schools in Kaduna on environmental issues. They will then plant trees at winning schools. The Arbre De Vie organization in Benin, Africa plans to hold a cross-country bicycle race in a small village with the farmers, women and children. The motto of the event will be: “One World, Together for Our Environment”.

And what have been the results so far? Well, the UNEP, working with 2 Indian banks has developed a household consumer credit market that has brought solar power to 100,000 people on the subcontinent. The initiative is now self-financing and set to be piloted elsewhere. Another example of a successful UNEP project includes the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol in 2006 which mobilized investment in renewables and energy efficiency projects worth close to $6 billion.

The WED website offers a great deal of informative materials, including “The World Environment Day Alphabet” illustrating 80 ways to celebrate as well as a 12 Step Program for CO2-aholics. Need to work all day and forego the fun? Download their handbook on helpful tips and info or register your own activity to take place during that week or even month. After all, it’s not just a day, it’s a lifetime. In 2006, Algiers launched a UNEP publication, Global Desert Outlook under the theme Deserts & Desertification: Don’t Desert Drylands, which was announced by a hot air balloon marked with the slogan. Options for action are limited only by the imagination. This is a day in which heads of state, Prime Ministers and Ministers of Environment deliver statements and commit themselves to care for the Earth. It provides an opportunity to sign or ratify international environmental conventions. It is a day when things actually do start to get done.

For more on how to get involved, go to UNEP.org