It’s World Environment Day! Follow live the official World Environment Day ceremony in Jeju, Republic of Korea.

It's World Environment Day! More than 2,000 events are taking place across the globe, with many focused on ending plastic pollution. Here’s a partial list of what’s coming up. 

• The official ceremony for World Environment Day in Jeju, Republic of Korea will spotlight the urgency of ending plastic pollution, a global crisis that affects much of life on Earth. Follow the live stream.
• A science and policy forum on environmental sustainability will take place in Jeju, with UNEP’s Executive Director delivering the opening remarks.
• Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, former UNEP Executive Director Elizabeth Dowdeswell and the head of UNEP’s North America Office, Rafael Peralta, will lead Canada’s official World Environment Day celebrations.
• In Colombia, government officials, UN representatives, academics, business leaders and civil society members will participate in a conversation on plastic pollution.
• Brigades of volunteers and officials will assemble in the Mexican port city of Puerto Progreso to launch a national coastal clean-up and conservation campaign.
• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Panama will host a high-level dialogue on the environment and plastic pollution.
• In Geneva, Switzerland a series of events will highlight how diplomacy is helping the world to address some if its biggest environmental challenges, including plastic pollution.
• Thailand’s Department of Climate Change and Environment will host a World Environment Day celebration in Bangkok. The event aims to raise awareness about eco-friendly alternatives to single-use plastic products.
• UNEP’s New York office will host a high-level panel discussion organized with the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the UN.
• A webinar hosted by Rotary and UNEP will showcase how people around the world are making a real difference addressing plastic pollution in freshwater ecosystems.

Check out the other events happening around the world and join the global movement to end plastic pollution.   

If there’s a message that has resonated throughout World Environment Day, it’s this: humanity needs to act, and act soon, if it’s going to end plastic pollution. In this public service announcement, which has aired around the world, we look at the task ahead of us.

During the last three decades the country has recalibrated its relationship with single-use plastic products. Here is a visual look at how that reset is helping to rein in pollution.

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From billboards in Jordan to subway screens in Mexico, advertisements for World Environment Day are popping up across the globe. In many cases, UNEP’s partners are providing the billboard space and airtime free of charge, a sign of the popular desire to end plastic pollution.

UNEP’s China Office, alongside several partners, hosted a panel discussion and artistic performance to commemorate World Environment Day. The event took place at the UN Compound in Beijing. It was supported by the China Environmental Protection Foundation, the SEE Foundation, the Meituan Lush Mountain Initiative, Poem for You and Organic Beyond.

The tiny shards have been found in everything from arterial plaque to the placentas of pregnant women. In this video, we look at how that’s happening.