Enviro News Asia, Baku — Governments, businesses, communities, and individuals around the world marked World Environment Day 2026 on Thursday with a renewed call for urgent climate action, as rising global temperatures and the anticipated return of El Niño threaten to intensify extreme weather impacts. Azerbaijan hosted this year’s official commemoration under the theme #NowForClimate.
With global temperatures hovering near record highs and the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C threshold increasingly likely to be temporarily exceeded, world leaders emphasized the need for rapid emissions reductions and stronger adaptation measures.
In his World Environment Day message, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warned that the past eleven years had been the hottest on record.
“The world is heading for a temporary overshoot above 1.5 degrees. Our task is to make that overshoot as small, as short, and as safe as possible—and rapidly bring temperatures back down,” Guterres said.
He called for accelerated transitions away from fossil fuels, faster deployment of renewable energy, reductions in methane emissions, stronger protection of forests and oceans, enhanced adaptation efforts, and fulfillment of climate finance commitments to developing countries.
At the official ceremony in Baku, Azerbaijan’s Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, Rashad Ismayilov, stressed that every fraction of a degree of warming threatens lives, livelihoods, and ecosystems.
“Azerbaijan is committed to nearly doubling its renewable energy capacity by 2030 and implementing a climate action plan aligned with the 1.5°C target,” Ismayilov said.
The country has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2035 and aims to raise renewable energy’s share to 30 percent by 2030. Azerbaijan previously hosted the UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) and the World Urban Forum.
UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen said the planet had been sending warning signals for years and urged collective action to build safer, healthier, and more equitable societies.
More than 2,000 events were registered worldwide to commemorate World Environment Day. Activities ranged from a high-level event at the United Nations headquarters in New York to edit-a-thons organized in Chile and Kenya to strengthen environmental information and combat misinformation on Wikipedia.
Ahead of the celebration, more than 50 cities joined UNEP’s new “50@50” initiative to address extreme heat, one of the world’s fastest-growing climate risks. Participating cities included Paris, Melbourne, Lagos, Antalya, Mendoza, and Yangzhou.
UNEP also released a policy brief titled Cheaper. Cleaner. Unstoppable., highlighting how declining costs and growing public support are accelerating the adoption of clean technologies such as solar energy, electric mobility, and sustainable cooling systems.
Meanwhile, the agency launched the world’s first Climate Dance Challenge, encouraging people to share videos using the hashtags #NowForClimate and @UNEP. The campaign features the song Deep Down by Brazilian DJ and UNEP Goodwill Ambassador Alok and has received support from celebrities including Jason Momoa, Dia Mirza, and Karry Wang.
Conservation efforts also took center stage. In Kazakhstan, the Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative reintroduced eight wild horses to the steppe after an absence of more than 200 years, helping restore ecosystems and reduce wildfire risks.
World Environment Day celebrations in Baku included a special acoustic performance by Korean-Canadian artist Mark Lee of NCT and SuperM, whose unreleased song was inspired by Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve.
Iconic buildings in Brussels, Geneva, and Osaka were illuminated in green, while climate awareness messages appeared on billboards and public screens across several countries, underscoring a growing global movement demanding faster action to confront the climate crisis. (*)
