Established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972, the day is marked in over 100 countries with thousands of events bound by a common theme.
This year's theme is "Your Planet needs You! Unite to combat climate change". It is a topic that reflects individual responsibility to protect the planet and comes with a strong call for environmental action just six months before the crucial United Nations climate change talks in Copenhagen.
In the meeting in Copenhagen in December, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change will come up with a new treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol that expires in 2012.

UAE Environment Minister Dr Rashid Ahmad Bin Fahd, said that "effects of & climate change will be dangerous as they will pose [a] threat to all the ecological systems and geographic sectors and zones. They will also hamper development worldwide, particularly [in] the developing countries, who most lack resources and technologies to face this tough challenge".
On June 9, Environment Agency Abu Dhabi will organise a discussion via video-conference between UAE youth and youngsters from Canada, South Africa and India. 
The topic of discussion will be "How ready and willing are youth to unite for climate action".
A quiz on climate change will be organised tomorrow at the Khalidiya Mall. The recently launched first independent comprehensive report on the state of the Arab environment warned that the region will likely face the full impact of climate change.
Climate change will have serious implications on the region, despite the region contributing just 4.2 per cent towards the phenomenon, according to the Arab Environment Future Challenges Report.

The Arab Forum for Environmental Development prepared the report, which was released last month in the capital. It identifies fresh water scarcity, desertification, air quality and marine pollution as the key challenges facing the region.
"Expansion of water-intensive projects like grass golf courses cannot go on unchecked, especially with meagre investments to develop sustainable desalination technologies". 
"These critical problems facing the region will intensify because of climate change implications," emphasises the report.
"While contribution of Arab countries to the causes of global climate change might be very less, the impact on the region will be disastrous," said Najeeb Sa'ab, Secretary General of AFED.
Water usage

The Arab Environment Future Challenges Report criticises UAE water usage saying, "Most of the current and planned golf courses are in Egypt and in the Gulf region particularly in the UAE, where water resources are already low, even by regional standards."

"Expansion of water-intensive projects like grass golf courses cannot go on unchecked, especially with meagre investments to develop sustainable desalination technologies".

A 2007 report released by the international consultants KPMG estimated the use of water for each golf course in the region at an average of 1.16 million cubic metres per year, reaching 1.3 million cubic metres in Dubai.