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The world celebrates each year on the fifth of June the "World Environment Day"; the celebration of this important event dates back to the year 1972 which marked the Declaration of the General Assembly of the United Nations, on the sidelines of the Stockholm United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, that led to the establishment of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) - in December of the same year.
The Declaration set had (UNEP) as the principal organ of the international organization concerned with global environmental affairs. Since that time, the environmental system acquired global, international and regional momentum; and has had an increasing influential role in dealing seriously with the various environmental issues.
The year 1972 marked a turning point in the development of international environmental politics; and in the march of global environmental action. Since the Declaration of the 5th of June as the World Environment Day, the different fields of environmental work has become a regular global platform able to develop respect environmental agenda of global concerns, and create an ideal annual forum to mobilize international consensus and views on environmental concerns and developments.
The Stockholm Conference 1972, witnessed the launching of the first global plan of action on the environment that helped develop a framework for environmental policies which later contributed to the evolution of environmental laws and regulations during the period of the seventies and eighties.
Many environmental events and gatherings rolled after with, even some bright spots, which spurred an effective shift in the process of global environmental action; recalling, for example, the Nairobi Declaration (May 1982), which reviewed the achievements and progress of the United Nations in implementing the Stockholm Action Plan, In addition to the major challenges faced by the international community in the light of experience gained during the seventies.
In the same context, the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro (June 1992) formed an important turning point in national and international policies in the integration of environmental dimensions into economic and developmental objectives, which in turn contributed to the Declaration of the General Assembly of the United Nations for the establishment of the International Commission on Sustainable Development in December of the same year.
The World Summit on Sustainable Development, in Johannesburg (August -2002), was meant to help advance management of global environmental affairs, where the conference sought to highlight the need to improve the rates of use of natural resources, and to review the consumption and production patterns adopted by the States. The Conference also adopted a document on the Agenda for the 21st Century set by the Earth Summit, in addition to the international development goals contained in the Millennium Summit Declaration issued by the United Nations in 2000.
The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) consistently selects a particular topic to be the focus theme of the celebration of World Environment Day. This time the choice stems from the nature of the risks and challenges associated with the global environment, as UNEP decided on "Forests: Nature at Your Service" to be the focus theme of the celebration this year.
India will be for the first time ever the global host of World Environment Day 2011 (WED) on 5 June. This year’s theme ’Forests: Nature at Your Service’ underscores the intrinsic link between quality of life and the health of forests and forest ecosystems. The WED theme also supports this year’s UN International Year of Forests.
The choice of India came in support of its endeavor to monitor the enduring threats faced by forests in India, to embrace the process of a transition to a green economy and shore up awareness-raising efforts adopted by the Indian government to reduce those risks and threats.
The (UNEP) through a series of celebrations of World Environment Day, has been able to work on streamlining environmental issues to become accessible to the understanding of individuals, in addition to widening the narrow confines of responsibility towards the environment; to include efforts and contributions of each individual as a partner in the global efforts towards attainment of sustainable development.
Forests cover about 31 per cent of the total land area. Forests provide livelihoods and living conditions for approximately 1,600 million people around the world. About 300 million people around the world live in forests. The total volume of global foreign trade in forest products amounted to more than $ 400 billion (2006). Forests covered about 6.3 of the total area of the Arab World in (2005) compared to 9.5 in (1980).
The Arab growing interest in environmental issues has coincided with a significant transition regarding global environmental concerns in 1972; as the Stockholm Conference has had evident impact are on national policies in a number of Arab countries. Many Arab countries rushed to join more than 75 international and regional environmental accords, in addition to the adoption of ambitious strategies for the protection of the environment.
The most prominent step in the process of joint Arab action was the establishment of the "Council of Arab Ministers Responsible for the Environment (CAMRE)" in September 1987, in order to enhance Arab cooperation in environmental concerns, identifies main environmental problems in the Arab world and priorities for action. The joint Arab efforts in the field of environment, culminated in the announcement of the Arab Initiative for Sustainable Development at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002.
In contrast, the "Environment Outlook for the Arab Region (EOAR): Environment for Development and Human Well-being" report, published by the UNEP in 2010, showed the limited role of the environment-concerned national entities and institutions, in the promotion of sustainable development approaches in the Arab Region in general.
The report attributed this to the newness of some institutions, the weakness of the institutional systems in others, lack of expertise and technical personnel and the complexity of functions and roles in other institutions. "The relative marginalization of the environmental institutions within the Arab decision-making process, form the main obstacle to the anticipated effectiveness of the role of these institutions, in the surge towards attainment of sustainable development, "the report said.
Water is classified as the most important natural resource in the world, and as one of the most crucial determinants of economic and social development. The issue of water in the Arab Region is of particular importance, specially that the larger percentage of the Arab lands lie within the dry desert areas, in addition to the dwindling share of Arab countries from the rainwater, high evaporation rates and the increasing invasion of fresh surface or ground water by salt water, which is also known as sea water intrusion, due to sea-level rise.
All this has made the region as part of the world’s most water-scarce areas. Things are getting complicated in the light of the continued increase in demand for and consumption of water, in addition to the inefficiency of water management in the Arab Region in general, saluting that most government aquatic policies focus on the supply side by increasing the amounts of produced water, with no real incentives for consumers to rationalize the use of water; as revealed by the (UNEP) report on the Arab Environment.
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