Republic of Korea leads this year’s World Environment Day, spotlighting international efforts to end plastic pollution.

5 JUNE 2025 – This year’s World Environment Day, hosted by the Republic of Korea in Jeju Province, brings the global spotlight to one of the most pressing and fixable environmental challenges: plastic pollution. Under the theme #BeatPlasticPollution, the 2025 observance calls for urgent, collective action to curb plastic waste and accelerate the shift towards sustainable materials and practices.

Plastic waste has become pervasive across all ecosystems—from oceans and rivers to soil and even human bodies. Scientific studies have shown that microplastics are now found in drinking water, food supplies and the air. Despite the scale of the problem, solutions are within reach. This year’s campaign promotes concrete actions such as refusing unnecessary plastics, rethinking design, and improving recycling systems.

About The Host Country

The Republic of Korea, which last hosted the global event in 1997, has made significant strides in environmental management over the past 28 years. Today, the country is recognised for its full life-cycle plastic strategy, which unites government, industry and consumers to address plastic use from production through to disposal. The initiative supports the broader transition to a circular economy by limiting waste at its source and enhancing reuse and recycling.

Jeju Province, the event’s host location, exemplifies this commitment. With a goal of becoming plastic pollution-free by 2040, Jeju is the only province in South Korea where all household waste must be processed through designated recycling centres. Jeju was also the first province to implement a disposable cup deposit system in the Republic of Korea, encouraging sustainable consumption behaviours.

About World Environment Day 2025 Theme

This year’s World Environment Day aligns with international momentum to address the global plastic crisis. The Republic of Korea hosted the fifth session of treaty negotiations in 2024, with follow-up talks set to continue in August 2025 in Geneva, Switzerland.

The annual cost of plastic pollution is estimated at between US$300 billion and US$600 billion, encompassing environmental damage. Tackling plastic pollution is essential to addressing the triple planetary crisis: climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution.

World Environment Day 2025 serves as both a reminder of the urgency and a platform to drive action towards a cleaner, safer and more sustainable planet.

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COP26 ended with global agreement to accelerate action on climate this decade after two weeks of intense negotiations that finally complete the agenda of the Paris Rulebook

FOR the first time COP agreed on a position to phase down unabated coal power. The Glasgow Climate Pact caps two years of diplomacy and rising  ambitions for action on climate change. Nearly 200 countries agreed to keep the 1.5C alive and finalise the outstanding elements of the Paris Agreement.

Climate negotiators ended two weeks of intense talks with a consensus on urgently accelerating climate action. The Glasgow Climate Pact, combined with increased ambition and action from countries, means that 1.5C remains in sight, but it will only be delivered with concerted and immediate global efforts.

The Glasgow Climate Pact will speed up the pace of climate action. All countries agreed to revisit and strengthen their current emissions targets to 2030, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), in 2022. This will be combined with a yearly political roundtable to consider a global progress report and a Leaders summit in 2023.

The Paris Rulebook, the guidelines for how the Paris Agreement is delivered, was also completed after six years of discussions. This will allow for the full delivery of the landmark accord, after agreement on a transparency process which will hold countries to account as they deliver on their targets. This includes Article 6, which establishes a robust framework for countries to exchange carbon credits through the UNFCCC.

And for the first time, heeding calls from civil society and countries most vulnerable to climate impacts, the COP agreed action on phasing down fossil fuels. COP decisions went further than ever before in recognising and addressing loss and damage from the existing impacts of climate change.

There were also commitments to significantly increase financial support through the Adaptation Fund as developed countries were urged to double their support to developing countries by 2025.

The final COP26 text follows two years of intense diplomacy and campaigning undertaken by the UK Presidency to raise ambition and secure action from almost 200 countries.

Work focussed on driving short term reduction of emissions to limit temperature rises to 1.5C, mobilising both public and private finance, and supporting communities to adapt to climate impacts.

New National Targets
When the UK took on the COP26 mantle, in partnership with Italy, nearly two years ago, only 30% of the world was covered by net zero targets. This figure is now at around 90%. Over the same period, 154 Parties have submitted new national targets, representing 80% of global emissions.

The UK Presidency has also been focused on driving action to deliver emissions reductions. We have seen a huge shift in coal, with many more countries committing to phase out unabated coal power and ending international coal financing. 

Alongside this, we have seen a marked commitment to protect precious natural habitats, with 90% of the world’s forests covered by a pledge from 130 countries to end deforestation by 2030.

While on the world’s roads, the transition to zero emissions vehicles is gathering pace, with some of the largest car manufacturers working together to make all new car sales zero emission by 2040 and by 2035 in leading markets. Countries and cities are following suit with ambitious petrol and diesel car phaseout dates.

Current policies would leave us on a path to a devastating temperature rise. But work done by independent experts Climate Action Tracker show that with the full implementation of the fresh collective commitments could hold temperature rise to 1.8C.

Even with the action committed both during and before COP26, communities around the world will continue to feel the impact of our changing planet.

Reflecting on the task ahead, COP26 President Alok Sharma said: “We can now say with credibility that we have kept 1.5 degrees alive. But, its pulse is weak and it will only survive if we keep our promises and translate commitments into rapid action. I am grateful to the UNFCCC for working with us to deliver a successful COP26.

From here, we must now move forward together and deliver on the expectations set out in the Glasgow Climate Pact, and close the vast gap which remains. Because as Prime Minister Mia Mottley told us at the start of this conference, for Barbados and other small island states, ‘two degrees is a death sentence’.

It is up to all of us to sustain our lodestar of keeping 1.5 degrees within reach and to continue our efforts to get finance flowing and boost adaptation. After the collective dedication which has delivered the Glasgow Climate Pact, our work here cannot be wasted.”

Increasingly people across the world are being challenged by the devastating outcomes of climate change. Now, more than ever, even more serious and sustainable measures need to be taken to stop the clock from ticking for irreversible damage

WITH climate change intensifying and scientists warning that humanity is running out of time to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, 2021 has been a highly fraught year

for the planet. As shared by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP)  website Emissions Gap Report 2021 reveals that new national climate pledges combined with other mitigation measures put the world on track for a global temperature rise of 2.7°C by the end of the century. That is well above the goals of the Paris climate agreement and would lead to catastrophic changes in the Earth’s climate. To keep global warming below 1.5°C this century, the aspirational goal of the Paris Agreement, the world needs to halve annual greenhouse gas emissions in the next eight years.

If implemented effectively, net-zero emissions pledges could limit warming to 2.2°C, closer to the well-below 2°C goal of the Paris Agreement. However, many national climate plans delay action until after 2030. The reduction of methane emissions from the fossil fuel, waste and agriculture sectors could help close the emissions gap and reduce warming in the short term, the report finds.

Gathered together at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow on 31 October – 12 November 2021, world leaders on the frontline of climate change sought to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Amongst the countries represented at the event were some of the world’s leading emitters of carbon.

As revealed by the data put together by scientists the “Tipping point” in this Climate Crisis is about to come if not looked into with greater seriousness than ever before. Tipping point, for the uninitiated refers to the irreversible point in the Climate System, locking in further global heating. What was hard to concede for the worried leaders was the failure of achieving the primary goal of Paris Agreement 2015 which was to limit rising global temperature to 2 degrees celsius and cap heating to 1.5 degree celsius. Though over 190 nation-states participated in the Paris Conference, the commitment to cater to the urgent need for Climate protection wasn’t fully accomplished. This has spurred concerned leaders from around the across the globe to once again come together and address the issue to bring workable solutions into action.

The Conference of Parties (COP)26  was initially scheduled to take place in 2020 but was rescheduled because of the coronavirus pandemic, for 31st Oct to 12th Nov 2021in Glasgow (Scotland), The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The presidency is held by the UK in partnership with Italy. With about 30,000 delegates  attending the conference with more than 190 countries taking part, leaders from the People’s Republic of China, Russian Federation and Turkey however failed to attend the conference in person.

The Glasgow meet emerged out of two significant conferences held in Milan, Italy this year itself. The ‘Youth4Climate: Driving Ambition‘ (28th-30th Sept 2021) and The Pre-COP 26 Summit called ‘All4 Climate’ (30th Sept- 2nd Oct 2021). These conferences were part of the United Nations Climate Change Conference of Youth.

COP 26 and its Objectives:
The formation of COP 26’s objectives was created out of two International frameworks. The first was the Kyoto Protocol 1997 and the second the Paris Agreement 2015. COP 26 was tasked to fill in the gaps that existed in implementation of the aforementioned frameworks. ASEAN, for example, had reason to repeatedly push into consideration Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

Showstopper of COP26
The highlight of this conference was the idea of “Climate Financing” wherein multiple nation-states have been seen making a commitment to contribute their part in the form of climate investment. A unique initiative introduced at the event by Singaporean Minister for Sustainability and Environment, Ms. Grace Fu was the idea of “Climate Governance” ahead of the conference within her country’s Parliament. This idea was much welcomed and was discussed further in the on-going COP26 Conference.

NDCs (Nationally Determined Contributions) are an essential component of COP26 discussions as it was one of the premier stones of the Paris Agreement. It is because of the NDC provision of the Agreement that head of the nation-states can be held accountable today.

Four key objectives marked the COP 26 Conference this year:

• To secure Global net zero by mid century (2050) and keep 1.5 degree within reach. This includes actions like phase out coal, deforestation, speed up to switch e-, encourage investment in renewable energy.
• To adapt to protect communities and natural habitats including protection and restoration of ecosystems, build defence, warming systems, resilient infrastructure and agriculture.
• To mobilize Finance. COP 26 calls for the Developed countries to come forward and mobilize at least $100 Billion in climate finance per year.
• To Work Together. Finalising Paris rulebook and encouraging collaboration between government, businesses and civil society are both essential agendas of this action.

Leaders have their say

The UK
 In his opening address at COP26 UK Prime minister Borris Johnson pointed out that: ‘It’s one minute to midnight on that doomsday clock and we need to act now. If we don’t get serious about climate change today, it will be too late for our children to do so tomorrow.’

The three goals that the UK has set itself are:

1. Accelerate transition from coal to clean power
2. Protect and restore nature for the benefit of people and climate
3. Accelerate transition to zero emission vehicles

The focus right now is on climate action along with economic progression or growth. Its self-set targets include – net zero carbon emission 2050, To double International Climate finance to help developing nations with 11.6 billion pounds a year by 2025.In collaboration with Egypt, Bangladesh, Malavi, Netherlands, Saint Lucia and United NAtions Development Programme (UNDP)  the UK has co-developed “Adaption Action Coalition”. It has also highlighted the need for public and private financing.

CHINA
While President Xi Jingping, was not there personally to attend the conference he had sent a written official statement saying : ‘ I hope all parties will take stronger actions to jointly tackle the climate challenge and protect the planet, the shared home for us all’, as reported by Xinhua News (state news agency in China). Furthermore President Xi shared that: ‘China would vigorously” develop renewable energy and build wind and solar power stations and that China would “rein in the irrational development of energy intensive and high-emissions projects.’ To be noted, however, was that China failed to make any new commitments on climate change. China’s target for net zero is also well beyond the 2050 target.

USA
US President Joe Biden in his opening speech spoke of how “in an age where this pandemic has made so painfully clear that no nation can wall itself off from borderless threats, we know that none of us can escape the worst that’s yet to come if we fail to seize this moment.’ Further he talked about the significance of seeing this as an opportunity to strive towards a cleaner future but also for more economic progression. He was of the belief that investing in innovation can solve both purposes as well as create and make more jobs accessible to the people. President Biden has set short and long term sprints to achieve. One of these was for America to quadruple Climate finance support for developing countries by 2024. The country was also targeting to achieve zero emissions by 2050. President Biden emphasized. Its “Build Back Better World” initiative in partnership with other G-7 partners was looking at investing $555 billion along with the Bipartisan Infrastructure deal. It is estimated that these two together can reduce greenhouse gas pollution by over 1 gigaton in 2030. America has also contributed $3 billion to the adaptation funds.

INDIA
According to Prime Minister Narendra Modi India had ‘delivered both in letter and in spirit’ on its Paris commitment. He pledged to reach a net zero carbon emission by the year 2070. His speech included 5 climate related pledges including meeting 50% of its energy needs 2030. Prime Minister Modi also said that India would reduce carbon emission by 45%.

RUSSIA
Though he did not personally attend the conference Russian President Vladmir Putin sent a recorded video statement saying that ‘I am convinced the conservation of forest and other natural ecosystems is a key component of International efforts to tackle global warming and reduce greenhouse gas emissions’. He said Russia also aims for carbon neutrality by the year 2060 although almost a decade later to the global deadline. In reference to this he stated ‘Russia is committed to achieving a carbon neutral economy by 2060 at the latest and is relying , among other things, on unique natural resources of its forest ecosystem and their significant capacity to absorb CO2 and produce O2.’

JAPAN
Japan makes a promising comeback in the climate change summit. The Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida pledged to fund more than $10 billion in over 5 years to aid Asia reach the goal of net zero carbon emissions. In a statement he further stated that Japan would double its assistance to $14.8 billion to help other countries adapt to climate change and prevent disasters. Eventually, it will invest in a $100 million project to develop hydrogen or ammonia fired emissions which are non-carbon based alternatives to energy production. “I assure that Japan aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 46% in the fiscal year 2030 from its fiscal year 2013 levels, and that Japan will continue strenuous efforts in its challenge to meet the lofty goal of cutting its emissions by 50%.’  Kishida stated.

SINGAPORE
Singapore committed to phasing out unabated coal power by 2050, as announced by the PMO on November 4, 2020. The declaration came as Singapore announced its membership of the Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA) at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow. ‘The burning of coal is putting billions of people at immediate risk. This is why Singapore has decided to join the Powering Past Coal Alliance,”’ said Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu at the COP26 Energy Presidency Event . ‘We will transform our industry, economy, and society to be more energy and carbon-efficient, and to adopt more low-carbon energy in support of the goals of the Paris Agreement,’ she said. 

For all COP26 official statements click :

Emissions by Country

THE world’s countries produce varying amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The overall emissions level in a country can be explained by the size of its population, its GDP, its energy mix, and more.

In 2017, global carbon dioxide emissions from fuel combustion reached 32.8 billion tons in 2017 according to the International Energy Agency. China, the largest contributor, was responsible for 28% of these emissions, followed by the United States (14%), the European Union as a whole (10%), India (7%), Russia (5%), Japan (3%), Korea (2%), Canada (2%), Indonesia (2%), and Iran (2%). All other countries produced about 25% of emissions.

The 20 countries with the highest carbon dioxide emissions (in million tons (Mt)) are:

1. China (9,300 Mt)
2. The United States (4,800 Mt)
3. India (2,200 Mt)
4. Russia (1,500 Mt)
5. Japan (1,100 Mt)
6. Germany (718.8 Mt)
7. Korea (600 Mt)
8. Iran (567.1 Mt)
9. Canada (547.8 Mt)
10. Saudi Arabia (532.2 Mt)
11. Indonesia (496.4 Mt)
12. Mexico (446.0 Mt)
13. Brazil (427.6 Mt)
14. South Africa (421.7 Mt)
15. Australia (384.6 Mt)
16. Turkey (378.6 Mt)
17. United Kingdom (358.7 Mt)
18. Italy (321.5 Mt)
19. France (306.1 Mt)
20. Poland (305.8 Mt)

The inaugural e-conference gets enthusiastic response as speakers give a broad range of areas where sustainability issues can be applied

View the Speakers’ Presentations

ACCELERATING Green, a series on Sustainability organised by IN Diplomacy, supported by the Diplomatic & Consular Corps (DCC) Singapore and sponsored by Olam International, received an enthusiastic response for its inaugural virtual conference on 29th July 2021.

Ms. Nomita Dhar, founder of Sun Media Pte. Ltd the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of IN Diplomacy, in her welcome highlighted the spread of speakers who are keen to share thoughts on the subject of sustainability. They included H.E. George Tumur the Dean of the DCC and Ambassador of Mongolia; Mr. Douglas Foo, the President of the Singapore Manufacturers Federation; the ambassadors/high commissioners of Australia, Chile, South Africa and Uzbekistan as well as the Director of Various Renewable Energy from Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources. They were complemented by experts in the private sector who shared their insights in specific areas (see accompanying section on speakers).

In her introduction Ms Nomita said: “Accelerating green is urgent.  Never in history, the answer to a simple question – “How is the weather?” has been as important and critical as it is now. We all have only one Home, this Earth, of which we are all custodians and we are all responsible to preserve it and do everything possible to keep it from deteriorating any further. “

She also added: ” While each one of us can contribute, through collaboration we can Accelerate our Green efforts.  As a media company, we wish to be a catalyst for conversations and collaborations between countries, corporations and communities in our circle of influence, and beyond. 

Programme Highlights
ACCELERATING GREEN was officially launched by H.E. George Tumur, the Dean of the DCC and Ambassador of Mongolia. He also spoke on how important the Sustainability cause is to the country: “I am happy to share that Mongolia is one of the first countries to adopt the Sustainable Development Goals. Six months following the adoption of the SDGs by the global community, the Parliament of Mongolia approved its long-term development strategy (Mongolia’s Sustainable Development Vision 2030).

The Hon. Douglas Foo  is the President of Singapore Manufacturing Federation (SMF) and vice chairman of Singapore Business Federation and Vice president of Singapore National Employer’s Federation. He is one of Singapore’s three Appointed Representatives at the ASEAN Business Advisory Council.

He outlined programmes and measures for Sustainability undertaken by the SMF to meet the business challenges arising  but said this was a necessity in the long term. One of the examples he highlighted: “SMF has incorporated in our operations is the establishment of our Manufacturing Alliance Transformation Office, or MATO for short. MATO is the product of collaboration between the SMF, Enterprise Singapore and other trade associations and chambers, or TACs to come together to drive transformation and innovations in many critical industries of Singapore including the food sector, the precision engineering sector and the electronics sector, to name just a few.”

“In this collaboration, the SMF identifies companies that require assistance to update their technologies and processes and partner with our partnering TACs to recommend solution providers to these companies. These companies can then tap on the available support to implement these solutions, which in turn will increase their output and by extension, increase these companies’ contributions to Singapore’s GDP. This is a circular system but one that has proven to be effective.”

Australian High Commissioner Will Hodgman who is also the former Premier of Tasmania (the state achieved Zero Emission in 2018) said: “Australia is working with Singapore to share expertise and reduce emissions with priority areas in hydrogen, carbon capture, use and storage, renewable energy trade, measurement and verification of emission reporting. The latest development was the joint launch by the Australian and Singapore Prime Ministers this year a $30 million dollar partnership to accelerate the deployment of low emission fuels and technologies and to trial the use of clean hydrogen and ammonia in port operations.”

The other heads of missions also gave highlights of their countries’ progress in the area of Sustainability while experts from the private sectors weighed in with direct insights related to its application in sectors like property development (Ms Esther An of CDL); the soil’s impact on climate change (Dr Christopher Stewart of Olam International); Earth 300 project  – symbol and showcase of research for sustainability solutions (Mr Aaron Olivera of Earth 300) and what can be done to plan and build up safe, equitable  and sustainable cities (Ms Lauren Sorkin of Resilient Cities Network).

Panel 1: Global Sustainability and Eco Wakening in Asia

+ H.E. Will Hodgman
    High Commissioner of Australia 
    Cooperation in Low-Emission Tech & Renewable Energy (Hydrogen & Solar)

+ H.E. Ignacio Concha
    Ambassador of Chile
    Cooperation in Green Hydrogen

+ Chrisnawan Aditnya, S.T.,M.T., 
    Director for Various Renewable Energy, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Indonesia
    Renewable Energy Resources

Panel 2: Supply Chain and Sustainable Business

+ H.E. Modise Casalis Mokitlane
    High Commissioner of South Africa
    The Leap Forward WITHOUT Climate Change

+ Dr Christopher Stewart
    Chief Sustainability Officer, Olam International
    Circular Systems in Food Chain

+ Ms Esther An
    Chief Sustainability Officer, CDL
    ESGs & Competitive Advantages of Sustainability

Panel 3: Circular Economy and Thinking Out-of-the-Box

+ H.E. Kakhramon Shakirov
    Ambassador of Uzbekistan
    Integrating Sustainable Development Goals into National and Regional Development Strategies and Programmes

+ Mr Aaron Olivera
    Founder & CEO of EARTH 300
    The Earth 300 Odyssey – Making a Difference

+ Ms Lauren Sorkin
    Executive Director, Resilient Cities Network
    Clean Energy, Climate Change and Conservation Risks and Opportunities