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Saudi Arabia Celebrates World Environment Day Under the Banner 'Our Land Our Future'

Over 150 nations participated in the celebration- SPA
Over 150 nations participated in the celebration- SPA
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Saudi Arabia Celebrates World Environment Day Under the Banner 'Our Land Our Future'

Over 150 nations participated in the celebration- SPA
Over 150 nations participated in the celebration- SPA

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) celebrated World Environment Day 2024 under the theme "Our land. Our future." Over 150 nations participated in the celebration, highlighting the vital importance of land as a fundamental pillar of life on Earth.
During his speech, the Minister of Environment, Water, and Agriculture, Eng. Abdulrahman Abdulmohsen AlFadley, emphasized Saudi Arabia's significant efforts to preserve land and reduce degradation both regionally and globally. The Middle East Green Initiative aims to enhance cooperation to mitigate land degradation while fostering vegetation cover, biodiversity, food and water security, and adapting to climate change to enhance quality of life, SPA reported.

On the global stage, during Saudi Arabia's G20 Presidency in 2020, the Coral Research & Development Accelerator Platform and the G20 Land Initiative were launched. Additionally, the recent announcement of the Global Water Organization underscores efforts to enhance international water conservation and sustainability. AlFadley mentioned that national initiatives like the Saudi Green Initiative and the National Environment Strategy aim to increase vegetation cover and achieve land degradation neutrality by 2030.
AlFadley also highlighted that in December, Saudi Arabia will host the sixteenth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). Saudi Arabia will seek to leverage this event to bring significant shifts in this international convention and bolster global action to combat land degradation and the impacts of drought, which affects over three billion people worldwide. Additionally, he announced projects for the environmental sector in Saudi Arabia, such as the Environmental Grants & Incentives Program and the National Academy of the Environment.
In her address, the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, Ms. Inger Andersen, stated that land degradation around the world is harming livelihoods and food security. She emphasized the importance of land restoration, combating desertification, and building resilience to drought as major strategies to address these issues and tackle the planet's most pressing crises: climate change, nature and land loss, and pollution and waste.
Andersen added that celebrating World Environment Day is an important event to intensify efforts and bring about positive change to address the challenges of water scarcity and the loss of arable land due to unsustainable human activities and climate change, which impacts human health and quality of life. She stressed that confronting these challenges requires collective responsibility and regional and international cooperation to enhance strategies to combat desertification and implement sustainable agricultural systems globally.
This year's World Environment Day was marked by over 4,000 environmental activities worldwide. World Environment Day on June 5 is one of the biggest international days for the environment. Led by UNEP and held annually since 1973, the event has grown to be the largest global platform for environmental outreach, with millions of people from across the world engaging to protect the planet.

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Man Says He Was behind Some of the Viral Googly Eyes on Public Art in Oregon

This image provided by the City of Bend, Ore., shows a pair of googly eyes placed on a public art sculpture in Bend. (City of Bend, Oregon, via AP, File)
This image provided by the City of Bend, Ore., shows a pair of googly eyes placed on a public art sculpture in Bend. (City of Bend, Oregon, via AP, File)
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Man Says He Was behind Some of the Viral Googly Eyes on Public Art in Oregon

This image provided by the City of Bend, Ore., shows a pair of googly eyes placed on a public art sculpture in Bend. (City of Bend, Oregon, via AP, File)
This image provided by the City of Bend, Ore., shows a pair of googly eyes placed on a public art sculpture in Bend. (City of Bend, Oregon, via AP, File)

A resident of the central Oregon city of Bend says he was the person behind some of the googly eyes that appeared on sculptures around the city in recent months and sparked a viral sensation widely covered by news outlets.

Jeff Keith, founder of a Bend-based nonprofit called Guardian Group that works to combat human trafficking, said Friday that he used duct tape to attach googly eyes to two sculptures. He said he has carried out similar pranks on other Bend sculptures before — such as adorning them with hula skirts and leis — and that they serve as a respite from the emotional toll of his work.

“It is a place for me to cope with some pretty heavy stuff,” he told The Associated Press, noting that many of the trafficking victims he has worked with have been through “unimaginable trauma.”

The city shared photos of the googly eye installations on social media in early December, saying the adhesives can damage the art. One photo shows googly eyes placed on a sculpture of two deer — which Keith described as his handiwork — while another shows them attached to a sphere. City officials at the time said eight sculptures were affected and that it cost $1,500 to remove the googly eyes.

The social media posts prompted a cascade of comments, with many social media users saying they liked the googly eyes and that the city shouldn’t spend time and money on removing them. The post and its comments were covered by news outlets, and even made it on a segment of CBS’s “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”

Keith said he didn't expect his exploits to receive that much attention, and that he went to city offices to offer to pay for any damages. The city didn't immediately respond Friday to an emailed request seeking confirmation and comment.

Bend's communications director, Rene Mitchell, told The Associated Press last month that the city regretted that its post had been misunderstood. She said there was no intent to be “heavy-handed” and that the posts were meant to raise awareness about the damage adhesives can do to the city's public art collection. The city had started treating some of the art pieces, she said, which are made of different types of metal such as bronze and steel.

Keith, who has lived in Bend for nearly two decades, said he also hopes his pranks bring some humor and joy into people's everyday lives.

“I think the biggest thing is, for me, just to get a laugh,” he said. “When I come up on these roundabouts and I see families laughing, like hysterically laughing at these, it makes for a good time.”