The First World Environment Day

On June 5, 1973, the United Nations held its first World Environment Day, under the theme "Only One Earth." It followed directly from the UN Conference on the Human Environment, held in Stockholm from June 5 to 16, 1972, where governments first agreed as a group that pollution and environmental damage crossed borders and needed a coordinated response. The inaugural World Environment Day was hosted in Geneva, Switzerland. It has run every June 5 since, each year built around a different theme meant to focus attention, from marine pollution to wildlife crime to sustainable development. It is a UN observance, not a law, so its power has always come down to one modest thing: getting enough people talking about the planet on the same day that governments notice.