By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, FEB 19, 2018: ADDRESSING the gathering at an event announcing India as Global Host of World Environment Day 2018, the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dr Harsh Vardhan, stated that the World Environment Day is not merely a symbolic celebration, but instead is a mission to protect the environment. He further stated that such objective could be achieved if the people took care to fulfil their Green Social Responsibility and undertook 'Green Good Deeds' in everyday life. He said that Indians had learnt to live in harmony with nature and so for them, environmental issues had moral significance. He also took the opportunity to discourage the use of plastic, which he said had become a serious menace.

Further elaborating upon this problem, Mr Erik Solheim, one of the speakers on the occasion, stated that plastic is a huge environmental and health issue. He claimed it to be a health issue for humans, because when big plastics degrade into small pieces, it would go into the oceans, where small plastic particles were eaten by fish. Humans would eat fish and thus the plastic would enter the human body. Also Speaking on the occasion, the MoS for Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Dr Mahesh Sharma, stated that protection of the environment is the call of the day, and it is the call of humanity for the whole world, especially in India.

Earlier, in a green initiative, Dr Harsh Vardhan launched the first electric charging facility in any UN office in India at its Lodhi Road offices. He also travelled in electric cars from the Indian headquarters of the United Nations Environment to the Ministry's premises. The World Environment Day (WED) is celebrated every year on June 5 and has always been a day of special importance for India.  The day is celebrated for re-dedication of national efforts for sustainable development, to bring environmental concerns into the mainstream of the national developmental effort and also to bring people to the front of environmental conservation. 'Beat Plastic Pollution' is the theme of the World Environment Day this year. The World Environment Day 2018 would be celebrated across India, involving all States and Union Territories, districts, local bodies and organizations. A week-long environmental awareness campaign and pollution mitigation activities, are being planned in Delhi and other parts of the country from June 1-5, 2018.