World Environment Day Quiz

On which date is World Environment Day observed every year?

• 22 April
• 5 June
• 16 September
• 2 February

Answer: 5 June. World Environment Day falls on 5 June. 22 April is Earth Day, 16 September is World Ozone Day and 2 February is World Wetlands Day.

Which United Nations body leads the World Environment Day campaign?

• UNESCO
• WHO
• UNEP
• FAO

Answer: UNEP. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) runs World Environment Day, picks a theme and a host country each year, and coordinates events worldwide.

World Environment Day marks the opening day of the 1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment. In which city was it held?

• Rio de Janeiro
• Kyoto
• Paris
• Stockholm

Answer: Stockholm. The Stockholm conference opened on 5 June 1972, which is why the day falls on 5 June. Later that year the UN General Assembly designated the day and set up UNEP.

In which year was World Environment Day celebrated for the first time?

• 1973
• 1968
• 1985
• 1992

Answer: 1973. The first World Environment Day was held in 1973 with the theme "Only One Earth", a year after the Stockholm conference.

India was the global host of World Environment Day, with the theme "Beat Plastic Pollution", in which year?

• 2010
• 2018
• 2021
• 2024

Answer: 2018. India hosted the global celebrations in 2018 under the theme "Beat Plastic Pollution". Plastic returned as the focus in 2023 and 2025.

UNEP, the UN agency behind World Environment Day, has its headquarters in which city?

• Geneva
• New York
• Nairobi
• Vienna

Answer: Nairobi. UNEP is headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, making it one of the few UN bodies based in the Global South.

Which country was the global host of World Environment Day 2026, with a worldwide focus on climate action?

• Azerbaijan
• Brazil
• Kenya
• Japan

Answer: Azerbaijan. UNEP chose Azerbaijan to host the 2026 edition, with main events in Baku and climate action as the focus. The 2025 host was the Republic of Korea, focused on ending plastic pollution.

Which tree-planting campaign, launched on World Environment Day 2024, asks people to plant a tree in honour of their mother?

• Har Ghar Jal
• Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam
• Mission Amrit Sarovar
• Swachh Bharat

Answer: Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam. Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam began on 5 June 2024, when the Prime Minister planted a peepal sapling at Buddha Jayanti Park in Delhi.

Which of these gases is NOT a greenhouse gas?

• Carbon dioxide
• Methane
• Nitrogen
• Nitrous oxide

Answer: Nitrogen. Nitrogen makes up about 78% of the air but does not trap heat. Carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide all absorb heat and warm the planet.

The Chipko movement, in which villagers hugged trees to stop them being felled, began in the 1970s in which present-day state?

• Kerala
• Uttarakhand
• Rajasthan
• Odisha

Answer: Uttarakhand. Chipko began in 1973 in the Garhwal Himalaya, then part of Uttar Pradesh and now Uttarakhand. 'Chipko' means 'to cling' in Hindi.

Which chemicals, once common in fridges and aerosol sprays, were the main cause of damage to the ozone layer?

• Carbon monoxide
• Sulphur dioxide
• Ammonia
• Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)

Answer: Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). CFCs release chlorine high in the atmosphere, which breaks down ozone. The 1987 Montreal Protocol phased them out, and the ozone layer is slowly healing.

The Paris Agreement aims to keep global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius and to pursue efforts to limit it to what?

• 1 degree Celsius
• 1.5 degrees Celsius
• 2.5 degrees Celsius
• 3 degrees Celsius

Answer: 1.5 degrees Celsius. Adopted in 2015, the Paris Agreement sets the 1.5 degree goal because impacts like heatwaves and sea-level rise get much worse beyond it.

"Silent Spring" (1962), the book that exposed the harm done by pesticides such as DDT, was written by whom?

• Jane Goodall
• Wangari Maathai
• Greta Thunberg
• Rachel Carson

Answer: Rachel Carson. Rachel Carson, an American marine biologist, wrote Silent Spring. It helped spark the modern environmental movement and led to DDT bans.

India's Environment (Protection) Act was passed in 1986, prompted largely by which disaster?

• The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami
• The 2013 Kedarnath floods
• The Bhopal gas tragedy
• The 1999 Odisha cyclone

Answer: The Bhopal gas tragedy. The December 1984 gas leak at a pesticide plant in Bhopal killed thousands and pushed Parliament to pass an umbrella environment law in 1986.

Mission LiFE, India's global push for climate-friendly daily habits, is short for what?

• Living in Forest Ecosystems
• Life is For Earth
• Low-impact Fuel Energy
• Lifestyle for Environment

Answer: Lifestyle for Environment. LiFE stands for Lifestyle for Environment. It asks people to make small everyday choices, like saving water and energy and cutting waste, that add up.