Join EFDN in celebrating World Environment Day 2020

Join EFDN in celebrating World Environment Day 2020

World Environment Day (WED) is celebrated each year on the 5th of June and is the United Nation’s principal vehicle for encouraging worldwide awareness and action to protect our environment.

It was first celebrated back in 1974 with the slogan “Only One Earth”. Since, it has been a flagship campaign for raising awareness on emerging environmental issues from marine pollution, human overpopulation, and global warming, to sustainable consumption and wildlife crime. To urge our governments and our global society, to focus on this important subject and take action!

The 2020 World Environment Day theme is biodiversity, which affects every aspect of human health, including clean air and water, nutritious foods, scientific understanding and medicine sources, natural disease resistance, and climate change mitigation.

The current COVID-19 pandemic and the 2019 bushfires that devastated Australia, Brazil and the USA, show us how extremely interdependent our ecosystem is. When we destroy biodiversity, we destroy the system that supports human life.

It is estimated that every year coronaviruses are the cause of about one billion cases of illness and millions of deaths. About 75% of all emerging infectious diseases in humans are transmitted to people by animals. (Please watch the video below for more information).

World Environment Day and the football community

World Environment Day presents a call to action for the football community to come together and combat the greatest environmental challenges of our time. Let’s show why the football community is #Morethanfootball!

Here are some examples of what our member clubs all over Europe have been doing, to raise awareness of several environmental issues around the world:

• Bayer 04 Leverkusekn have taken part in the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) “Earth Hour” climate protection campaign by switching off the lights of the BayArena for an hour on the 28th of March.
• Everton FC has launched the “Everton for Change”, to raise environmental awareness and explore new ways to make a positive impact on the planet
• Chelsea FC Vegan Kitchen at the club’s Stamford Bridge stadium will provide a range of plant-based alternatives served on reusable cups, in order to avoid single-use plastics.
• Fundación Real Betis has joined the environmental organization OKPlanet and took part in the “Limpiemos el Guadlquivir” initiative to clean the river that crosses Sevilla.
• Saints Foundation have pledged to the  Southampton City Council’s Green City Charter, to make the city a cleaner, greener, healthier.

Athletic Club

The Athletic Club Foundation is commemorating World Environment Day by launching a new competition on its website that poses a challenge every month based around themes such as sustainability, social welfare, gender equality and culture.

Through this initiative, participants will be able to make visible the small but important role we all play individually in preserving and improving our environment.

The competition is also open to everyone! The Foundation will reward the social commitment of the participants by presenting the winner with an official Athletic Club shirt. In addition to, all supporters of the Foundation (Club Athletic ) who accept the challenge will then be eligible for a special surprise gift. Read more here.

🌍 What a better date than #WorldEnvironmentDay to launch the new #AthleticClubFundazioa contest.

♻️ Every month, a different challenge on Sustainable Development to make our environment a better world.

All the details 👇https://t.co/4cqJ7XRiyW

— Athletic Club (@Athletic_en) June 5, 2020

Promote Sustainability with Supporter of Each Other

With the campaign Supporter of Each Other, EFDN aims to inspire people, clubs, leagues, FAs and all interested organisations to look out for and support each other. Through the campaign channels, we are communicating tips on how to stay healthy and physically active whilst staying at home and informing society about the activities and initiatives taken by people, players, clubs, leagues and FAs from all around Europe.

Show that you are a ‘Supporter of Each Other’ by sharing how you are supporting your community and doing your bit to protect the environment on your social media channels, using the hashtags #SupporterofEachOther / #WorldEnvironmentDay. Be sure to tag Supporter of Each Other, EFDN and your team so, we can all support each other and continue to protect the environment, during this difficult time. 

We will share your content on EFDN/ Supporter of Each Other media accounts:

• Twitter: @EFDN_tweets / @supporterofeach
• Instagram: @efdnfoundation / @supporterofeachother
• Facebook: European Football for Development Network / Supporter of Each Other

More than 90 clubs, leagues, FAs and organisations have already become Supporters. To learn more about how to become a Supporter of Each Other, you can visit this page.