Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Africa water, Sanitation May-June2015 Vol. 10 No.3 | Page 19

What is WED?
Celebrate the biggest day for positive environmental action!
World Environment Day (WED) is the United Nations’ principal vehicle for encouraging worldwide awareness and action
for the environment. Over the years it has grown to be a broad, global platform for public outreach that is widely celebrated
by stakeholders in over 100 countries. It also serves as the ‘people’s day’ for doing something positive for the environment,
galvanizing individual actions into a collective power that generates an exponential positive impact on the planet.
The WED theme this year is “Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care.” The well-being of humanity, the
environment, and the functioning of the economy, ultimately depend upon the responsible management of the planet’s
natural resources. And yet, evidence is building that people are consuming far more natural resources than what the planet
can sustainably provide.
Many of the Earth’s ecosystems are nearing critical tipping points of depletion or irreversible change, pushed by high
population growth and economic development. By 2050, if current consumption and production patterns remain the
same and with a rising population expected to reach 9.6 billion, we will need three planets to sustain our ways of living and
consumption.
Consuming with care means living within planetary boundaries to ensure a healthy future where our dreams can be realized.
Human prosperity need not cost the earth. Living sustainably is about doing more and better with less. It is about knowing
that rising rates of natural resource use and the environmental impacts that occur are not a necessary by-product of economic
growth.

Milan Expo
The 2015 WED celebrations will be organized at the
world famous Universal Exhibition, which attracts over 20
million visitors. Expo Milano 2015 will run from May 1 to
October 31 and is expected to include over 140 countries
plus a significant number of international organizations.
One of three UN Days that the UN Expo Team has
chosen to mark at the Milan Expo this year, WED will
support and complement the Expo theme of ‘Feeding the
Planet - Energy for Life’, which showcases state-of-the-art
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Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene • May - June 2015

technology, ideas and solutions that can help guarantee
healthy, safe and sufficient food for everyone, while
respecting the planet and its equilibrium.
In collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, Land
and Sea of Italy, the UN Expo Team and the Milan Expo,
this year’s WED programme will involve various activities
organized with partners such as FAO, International
Fund for Agricultural Development, UNESCO World
Water Assessment Programme, Slow Food, WWF Italy,
Cinemambiente and the Green Film Network, and the
national delegations and other international organizations
that will be present at the Expo.