World Environmental Health Day 2025: Why It Matters

The Philippines is an archipelago exposed to climate extremes (typhoons, flooding, and sea level rise). Environmental degradation can exacerbate these risks.

When storms or floods hit, poor infrastructure or eroded ecosystems (e.g., mangroves, forests) increase damage, health risk, displacement, and loss of life. Improper waste management remains a widespread challenge; thus, many urban areas suffer from air and water pollution.

Diseases connected to environmental factors (like waterborne diseases, dengue from mosquitoes, and respiratory illnesses due to air pollution) are frequent.

Clean water, proper sanitation, clean air, and safe food are still not uniformly guaranteed.

Here are three ways on how you can celebrate World Environmental Health Day with this year's theme:

1.  Advocacy and education 📢 – Everything starts with being informed. Share information in your barangay, school, or online about air pollution, what causes it, and how to reduce it.

2.  Participate in community clean-ups or tree planting 🌱– Even small collective actions can help reduce local pollution, improve green cover, buffer against flooding, etc.

3. Adopt cleaner habits 🚲– Use bikes as public transport, walk when possible, reduce burning of waste and use of plastics, and improve household hygiene to avoid indoor pollution, among other things.

World Environmental Health Day 2025 is an opportunity to put the spotlight on how clean air, clean water, safe waste and chemical handling, and responsive governance are all essential to our health. It's a call to action for all of us to protect and improve environmental health so we can all live healthier.