Protecting the environment
June 5, 2026 was observed as World Environment Day, a United Nations’ principal platform for raising environmental awareness and call for climate action. Hosted by Azerbaijan in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), this year’s observance has as theme: “Inspired by Nature. For Climate. For Our Future.” It highlighted the urgent signals from […]
June 5, 2026 was observed as World Environment Day, a United Nations’ principal platform for raising environmental awareness and call for climate action. Hosted by Azerbaijan in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), this year’s observance has as theme: “Inspired by Nature. For Climate. For Our Future.” It highlighted the urgent signals from the earth and how humanity responds including working towards nature-based solutions, climate resilience, ecosystem protection, and steering toward a sustainable future.
The day was commemorated with cascade of events, campaigns, and creative actions across continents – on screens, in streets, and in communities. The activities centred on campaigns that nature is central to addressing climate challenges, just as they encouraged efforts on building global momentum for environmental action and ecosystem restoration. The campaigns urged people to register local initiatives, plant trees, clean up areas, reduce waste, and promote sustainable practices.
UNEP’s 2026 campaign emphasised that the planet is “sending us urgent signals” which demands a shift from whether climate change is happening to how fast society should implement practical, people-centered climate solutions to save and secure the earth. The campaign also reminded mankind to understand that protecting nature remains vital for human existence as healthy ecosystems serves as the frontline defence against natural disasters and displacement.
Established by the UN General Assembly in 1972, the day originated from the 1972 Stockholm Conference and has been celebrated since 1974 as the largest global platform for inspiring and celebrating environmental engagement and action by millions of people across the world, who participate online and in-person activities in order to accelerate environmental progress for people and planet.
This is imperative as the world is at a tipping point with preponderance of rising temperatures, collapsing ecosystems, and disruptive weather extremes. But we at Daily Trust believe that humanity is not powerless in the face of the environmental challenges as the 2026 theme underscores not just about reducing carbon emissions, but a call for all to rethink the symbiotic systems that power global economies and repairing mankind’s coexistence with the environment in order to secure a safer, healthier, and more just future for humanity.
Therefore, this newspaper calls on UN member nations to respect the landmark, unanimous ruling of July 23, 2025 by International Court of Justice (ICJ) which affirms that States have binding international law obligations to protect the climate system and that failing to honour these duties constitutes an “internationally wrongful act” that triggers legal responsibility.
Under the ruling, climate treaties including the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) create binding legal obligations rather than mere political pledges.
Moreover, the ruling stated that all States are bound to prevent significant harm to the environment and are required to conduct thorough environmental impact assessments and must consult in good faith with other nations when considering activities that risk significant transboundary harm. The Court also solidified the intersection of international human rights law and climate matters, establishing that States have a legal obligation to protect human rights by safeguarding the climate.
Based on the ICJ ruling, the UN General Assembly adopted its May 20, 2026 resolution calling on “all UN Member States to take all possible steps to avoid causing significant damage to the climate and environment, including emissions produced within their borders, and to follow through on their existing climate pledges under the Paris Agreement.” It urges governments to “cooperate in good faith and continuously coordinate efforts to tackle climate change globally and ensure that climate policies safeguard the rights to life, health, and an adequate standard of living.”
We, therefore, call on national and global leaders to understand that climate change has gone beyond being a hypothetical challenge to one of the most important science and environmental questions of the 21st century. In addition, the totality of the health of mankind depends on the environment, which is an integral part of everyday life.
The situation requires that issues of climate change and necessary action should not be responded to with denial, delay in implementing agreements or being seen as distraction. Indeed, climate issues should no more be noise to policy makers but call to action toward sustainable, circular innovations that reduce resource depletion. Cases of droughts, flooding, rising seas, raging wildfires, heatwaves, melting glaciers are real which demand new momentum for people to get involved and move together in order to embrace the change needed to stop it from becoming an existential threat to humanity. It is not too late for policy makers at national and global levels to work to stop natural resource exploitation and general habitat loss which exacerbated the situation.
Daily Trust insists that this year’s World Environment Day must remind us of the need for governments, businesses, groups with corporate social responsibility mandates and individuals to join efforts in rescuing the environment. We equally call on the Nigerian government to lead in amplifying Africa’s weight and voice in international climate negotiations as this would signals to investors and global partners that the country is engaged.
We call on all the tiers of government to intensify efforts towards quality waste management, school and community afforestation programmes through awareness and sensitization activities. This is very important as the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) last week announced that El Niño has officially returned, warning that it could be severe as climate change is making it worse.