World Environment Day (WED), the UN's principal vehicle to encourage worldwide awareness and action for the environment, is celebrated around the world on 5 June with a call to governments, communities and individuals to improve their consumption patterns.

 

This year's theme, 'Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care', encourages people to rethink their lifestyles and, through conscious consumer decisions, decrease humanity's collective impact on nature's resources.

 

According to UNEP's International Resource Panel (IRP), if unsustainable consumption and production patterns persist, by 2050 we will be using three planets- worth of natural resources to maintain our ways of living. This means that it will take three years for the Earth to regenerate the resources we use in one year. By 2050, humanity could be devouring about 140 billion tonnes of minerals, ores, fossil fuels and biomass per year - three times its current appetite - unless economic growth rate is decoupled from the rate of natural resource use.

 

Italy is the global host for WED celebrations this year. The main celebrations will take place at Expo Milano - this year's edition of the world-famous universal exhibition. Running from 1 May to 31 October, Expo Milano supports and complements WED with its theme 'Feeding the Planet - Energy for Life', which showcases state-of-the-art technology, ideas and solutions that can help guarantee healthy, safe and sufficient food for everyone, while respecting the planet and its equilibrium.

 

The Milan Expo will witness an array of exciting WED related events, including a forum of the ministers of agriculture from countries participating in Expo themed "Agriculture To Feed The World", cooking classes by celebrity chefs using leftover food, the unveiling of the Cineambiente Mini Film Festival and the Earth Evening - an unplugged concert for piano and vocal to celebrate the WED with zero emissions music.