World Environment Day celebration time
Wtohile June 5 World Environment Day itself was set up
encourage action and awareness to protect our environment and climate, there is plenty to celebrate.
Yes, there’s a long way to go yet, but we’re very much moving in the right direction and things are definitely getting better; awareness is increasing, consumers are making bolder choices whether it’s in the way they travel or how much meat they eat, we’re moving towards renewable energy sources daily too. In fact, there are plenty of good news stories about the environment which are cause for celebration.
Beavers are set to return to West London for the first time in 400 years thanks to conservation groups receiving funding from London Mayor Sadiq Khan. The creatures which once inhabited waterways across the UK will be rehomed in Paradise Fields, Ealing as early as this autumn.
In March this year, UN member states agreed on a treaty to protect the high seas – the two thirds of the ocean that lies outside national boundaries.
The treaty, which was years in the making establishes Marine Protected Areas to protect wildlife and encourage biodiversity. Hailed as a landmark agreement, member states will be held accountable for their participation.
In other brighter news, solar panel sales doubled in the UK from 2021 to 2022 and the market continues to grow. Electric vehicle sales are also on the rise too. At the end of April 2023, more than 1,250,500 plug in cars and over
760,000 battery electric vehicles were registered, that’s a 20 percent growth since 2021.
Wind and solar power generated 12 percent of global electricity last year, that’s up from ten percent the previous year according to clean energy think tank Ember.
Over 100 countries now have at least a partial – if not a full ban – on single use plastic bags and more than nine in ten shoppers in the UK carry their own bags with them when they go to the shops. The number of plastic bags taken from supermarkets has fallen by 85 percent – that equates to millions less plastic bags being used before being discarded.
Record numbers of people are getting involved in their local environment too, whether that’s observing ‘no mow May’ or taking part in a litter pick or beach clean. Gardens across the UK are having patches left for rewilding to encourage bugs and creatures back into urban spaces and communities are building hedgehog corridors to halt the decline of the much loved British species.
So no, we haven’t reached utopia yet where we stop burning oil and gas but we’re very much moving in the right direction. There are local heroes in our communities who are putting the environment and our world at the heart of the issues they care about and it’s starting to show. The Great Big Green Week is the UKs biggest ever celebration of community action to tackle climate change and protect nature.
Organised by Climate Coalition, it is held June 10 to 18 so you can find an event near you and celebrate our wonderful world https://greatbiggreenweek.com/.