World Environment Day was established in 1972 by the United Nations General Assembly and its commemoration is entrusted to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) with its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya.

The World Environment Day is considered as one of the most important events on the environment calendar and is celebrated every year on 5th June in more than 100countries. The event seeks to give a human face to environmental issues, empower people to become active agents of sustainable and equitable development, promote an understanding that communities are pivotal to changing attitudes towards environmental issues, and advocate partnerships.

Virtually all population growth in the next quarter century will be in urban areas of the less developed countries. Deteriorating standards of basic services, expanding slums, increasing poverty, rising traffic congestion, increasing pollution, lack of green spaces, lack of educational and health facilities, etc. are some of the major challenges of urbanization.

The World Environment Day theme for 2005 focusses on Green Cities: Plan for the Planet. It emphasizes that with careful planning our cities can be places where people can live in a clean and healthy environment and be the showcases of Sustainable Development.

The UNEP has devised an innovative model in the international environmental cooperation. For the first time, there is an environmental cooperation among cities instead of nations and-the Green City Declaration that is being signed by world's 100 largest and environmentally innovative cities is going to bring in a new form of cooperation.

The Urban Environmental Accords signify a new concept in the framework of international environmental cooperation. Unlike nearly all other international efforts on this issue, the Accords forge a cooperative framework among cities instead of nations. Thus, the vision for the Accords is that by creating a grassroots political movement through Mayors and local government, cities can work together to solve and implement common-sense solutions to common problems. The Accords will become a living and dynamic process that incorporates mechanisms for ongoing follow up, technology transfer and information exchange.

At the National level, the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India is implementing an ambitious scheme called Ecocities in identified heritage cities. This was conceptualized for improving environment and achieving sustainable development through a comprehensive urban improvement system. The scheme is currently being implemented in the cities of Puri, Vrindavan, Ujjain, Tirupati, Kottayam and Tanjavore.

The Department of Posts is happy to issue a commemorative postage stamp on 'Green Cities' on the occasion of World Environment Day.

Source : Information Folder issued by Indian Posts & Telegraph Department, Government of India