World Environment Day

From United Nations Environment Programme

Resource type: Event

Price band: Free

Key stage: KS1, KS2, KS3, KS4, KS5

Region(s): All of UK

World Environment Day takes place annually on June 5^th. First celebrated in 1973, World Environment Day is run by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as a global platform to encourage action to protect and restore our planet. The focus for World Environment Day 2024 is land restoration, desertification and drought resilience.

Cost: Free

About UNEP: The United Nations Environment Programme was set up to serve as a global advocate for the environment, providing leadership and encouraging partnership amongst member states of the United Nations. Its mission is to raise awareness and advocate for effective environmental action.

Further resources:

Bring the world’s largest tropical rainforest into your classroom with a free virtual tour of The Eden Project’s Rainforest Biome on Tuesday 4th June.
Join Mr Dilly and authors Liz Flanagan, Huw Lewis Jones, Pari Thomson and Patricia Daniels to learn more about the environment and positive ways to make a difference in this inspirational online event to celebrate World Environment Day on Wednesday 5th June. Suitable for pupils aged 7+.
Challenge your primary pupils to design a Play Street that encourages children to play outside and creates space for nature with the Planet Play competition. Download the free assembly pack and sign up for a free online workshop on Tuesday 4th June for tips and inspiration. The competition is open to pupils aged 7+ and the deadline is 28th June.
Books for Topics have an Awesome Planet Earth booklist as well as recommendations to cover environmental sustainability and plastic pollution.
Book review site Toppsta have put together a World Environment Day list of recommended reads for children of all ages.
Explore a range of nature themed poems on the Children’s Poetry Archive.
Listen to recordings of authors Vashti Hardy, Gill Lewis and Hannah Gold talking about their environmentally-themed books in the ReadingZone Bookclub archive.
Find a selection of author videos, recommended booklists and activities themed around the environment from Scottish Book Trust.
Ensure your pupils can keep up to date with environmental issues by taking out a school subscription to a junior newspaper or nature magazine. Find a selection here.
Topical Talk provides free resources to encourage and stimulate discussion about current affairs and the news for KS2 and KS3 pupils. Find a selection of their climate-related resources here.
Talk for Writing have a selection of English units with an environmental theme available to download for free from their website.
Discover Usborne’s Quicklinks to carefully selected websites with tips on how you and your pupils can help wildlife and planet Earth.
Schools can sign up for the Earth School Programme from TED-Ed and the UN Environment Programme to access videos and quizzes that explore how our planet works and the action needed to protect it.
Find curriculum linked resources and real-world activities that explore environmental issues for KS2 and KS3 pupils on the WWF website.
Oxfam provides a range of free teaching resources covering environmental issues for ages 7-14. Find them here.
Explore the different resources available from The Regenerators initiative from BBC Bitesize.