World Cleanup Day, established by the UN General Assembly in December 2023, will be held annually on September 20, starting in 2024. This year’s event will be organised by UN-Habitat, GRID-Arendal, and the Norwegian Retailers’ Environment Fund (NREF). The event’s purpose is to show the need for collective action in protecting our planet from waste and plastic pollution, with the aim to engage people worldwide to participate in voluntary cleanup activities, raising awareness of the urgent need to reduce pollution, and clean up waste from nature.

The Inaugural World Cleanup Day in Tromsø will focus on the theme of “Arctic Cities and Marine Litter”, marking a step forward in efforts to protect vulnerable and remote ecosystems from pollution. Norway’s national cleanup initiatives serve as a model for environmental stewardship, combining government funding, voluntary participation, and professional management to achieve tangible results. This year’s theme highlights the global vulnerability to plastic pollution, with a special focus on the Arctic, an ecologically significant and highly sensitive region.

“We are honoured and proud to be elected to host the world’s first UN Cleanup Day,” says Cecilie Lind, Chief Executive Officer of the Norwegian Retailers’ Environment Fund. “We look forward to sharing our knowledge, experience and results with the world. Additionally, we hope to inspire and enable other countries to adopt and expand our model of nationwide professional cleanups, like our ‘Cleanup Norway in Time’ initiative.”

Since 2015, the Norwegian government has supported national cleanup efforts. NREF’s "Cleanup Norway in Time" program, the world’s first professional national cleanup initiative, cleared 40% of Norway's outer coastline from plastics between 2021 and 2023, with a target of reaching 55% by 2024.

The results to date are staggering:

• 23,874 kilometres of coastline cleaned (more than half the length of the Equator).

• 3,311,681 kg of plastic and waste removed from nature.

• 249,961 hours of paid cleanup work.

UN-Habitat, the United Nations agency dedicated to promoting sustainable urban development and improving living conditions, has been entrusted with leading the global observance of the newly established World Cleanup Day. As the facilitator of this important UN day, UN-Habitat will leverage its expertise in waste management, sustainable development, and environmental advocacy to drive coordinated global action.

“Our world is facing an environmental crisis. Around 40 per cent of global municipal waste, 2.3 billion tonnes, is not properly managed. By mobilising cities and communities in clean-up initiatives, UN-Habitat wants to raise awareness about the pressing issue of waste pollution and promote sustainable approaches to waste disposal and treatment,” said Michal Mlynár, Deputy Executive Director of UN-Habitat.

GRID-Arendal, an environmental non-profit communication organisation based in Norway, is co-organising the event in Tromsø. A key focus of the organisation is contributing to the development of policies that mitigate marine litter and plastic pollution, supporting the development of sustainable waste management practices.

“World Cleanup Day presents us with a tool to spread awareness and empower the public in the fight to prevent waste from ending up in nature,” remarks Karen Landmark, Managing Director at GRID-Arendal. “We think it will also provide an additional incentive for those participating in the final Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee negotiations to achieve something truly remarkable – a comprehensive global plastics treaty.”

The goal is to make World Cleanup Day a powerful reminder of our shared responsibility to protect the planet.

Event Details:

• Date: 20 September 2024

• Location: Fram Centre, Tromsø, Norway

• Organizers: UN-Habitat, GRID-Arendal, Norwegian Retailers’ Environment Fund (NREF)

The event is organised in collaboration with the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development of Norway, Tromsø Municipality, Let’s Do It World and Fram Centre.

For more information and updates on World Cleanup Day, visit the official UN-Habitat World Cleanup Day webpage.

For further information, please contact:

Katerina Bezgachina

Chief of Communications

UN-Habitat

ekaterina.bezgachina@un.org

Maria Dalby

Head of Media Relations

GRID-Arendal

+47 9064 0556

Stian Kallekleiv

Head of Communications

Norwegian Retailers’ Environment Fund

+47 9180 5087