View of the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku. Environment Day will be celebrated in Azerbaijan in 2026 Climate and Environment
World Environment Day 2026 will be celebrated in the Republic of Azerbaijan. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Republic of Azerbaijan announced this today in the capital of the country, Baku, during the official visit of UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen.
World Environment Day, which will be held in Baku on June 5, 2026, is the largest global environmental platform. Established by the UN General Assembly in 1972, the day is celebrated by millions of people around the world who take part in online and in-person events aimed at improving the environmental situation for the sake of people and the planet. In 2026, the main theme of World Environment Day in Azerbaijan will be climate change.
“Azerbaijan, like much of the world, faces the devastating consequences of climate change and environmental degradation. World Environment Day, in contrast, gives the world millions of reasons to hope, said Mukhtar Babayev, Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Chairman of the UN Climate Conference (COP29). – In November, Azerbaijan will host the historic UN Climate Change Conference, by 2030 we will almost double the use of renewable energy sources, grow forests and solve the waste problem thanks to modern equipment. Celebrating World Environment Day is a natural choice based on our solidarity in the fight for a green world.”
In recent years, countries have united more than ever against the triple planetary crisis, associated with climate change, destruction of the natural environment, pollution and waste. At the 28th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Climate Change Convention (COP 28), countries made new commitments to protect the environment and announced the end of the fossil fuel era. The 15th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15), held in 2022, culminated in the adoption of a landmark global biodiversity conservation program that aims to halt and reverse the loss of the natural environment by 2030, so the world adopted a historic treaty about protecting life on the high seas.
“Governments, businesses, civil society and people around the world are calling for change – from ending the fossil fuel era to restoring devastated nature, reducing pollution and claiming the right to a healthy environment,” said Inger Andersen. “World Environment Day is a platform for uniting global action, so I look forward to working with the Republic of Azerbaijan to successfully combat climate change during World Environment Day 2026.”
At the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP29) of the UN Climate Change Convention later this year, significant progress is expected on the issue of financing measures aimed at combating climate change, as well as the adoption of countermeasures against desertification in during the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (COP-16). In addition, three years of international negotiations are expected to culminate in a legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution.
Next year, the Republic of Korea will celebrate World Environment Day combating plastic pollution. In 2024, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia celebrated World Environment Day, dedicated to land restoration, combating desertification and drought.