How to celebrate World Environment Day on Virgin TV

Every year on 5 June, the world marks World Environment Day – the United Nations’ most important global platform for raising awareness and inspiring action on the issues that matter most to our planet. First celebrated in 1973, it has grown into one of the largest environmental events in the calendar, bringing together governments, businesses and people from more than 150 countries around a single, urgent cause.

This year, the summit takes place in Baku, Azerbaijan, and is focused on climate action, specifically on the signals the Earth is sending us and the signals we choose to send back. In a world where action has never felt more crucial, it’s a moment to stop, look at the natural world around us and think carefully about our relationship with it.

To mark the occasion, we’ve partnered with Sky to bring all our customers a curated series of documentaries to Virgin TV Showcase (CH 100) at no extra cost on Friday 5 June from 8pm, with a repeat on Saturday 6 June from 5pm.

Here’s a look ahead at the World Environment Day programmes you can watch on Virgin TV Showcase.

Keep reading for more information about these fascinating documentaries that mark an important day in the calendar for raising environmental awareness.

Friday 5 June, 8pm, Virgin TV Showcase (CH 100). It is repeated on Saturday 6 June, 5pm, Virgin TV Showcase (CH 100)

Islands are like our planet in miniature form – a microcosm where evolution plays out at superspeed, right before our eyes. This stunning episode of Evolution Earth journeys from the Galápagos to the edge of Antarctica in search of animals responding to our changing planet in extraordinary ways. Darwin’s finches are adapting their beaks. Marine iguanas are shrinking to survive. And on the island of Zanzibar, one man’s act of community conservation is rippling out across an entire continent.

Friday 5 June, 9pm, Virgin TV Showcase (CH 100). It is repeated on Saturday 6 June, 6pm, Virgin TV Showcase (CH 100)

In May 2015, an extraordinary conversation took place at the White House. Barack Obama – then President of the United States – sat down with Sir David Attenborough for an intimate, candid discussion about the future of the planet, their shared passion for the natural world and what can realistically be done to protect it. The world’s most powerful man interviewing the world’s most beloved naturalist proved to be an inspiring, revealing and surprisingly moving hour of television.

Friday 5 June, 9.55pm, Virgin TV Showcase (CH 100). It is repeated on Saturday 6 June, 6.55pm, Virgin TV Showcase (CH 100)

Since the Harry Potter films ended, Bonnie Wright (who played Ginny Weasley) has reinvented herself as an author, activist and Greenpeace ambassador. In this series, she joins drag artist and celebrated eco-adventurer Pattie Gonia on a journey of discovery in the form of a scenic road trip from LA to Portland to learn about eco-friendly ways to live. In this episode, the pair meet Greenpeace activists and get an insight into how the North Chumash Tribe in California are aiding ocean conservation efforts. A reminder that environmental action doesn’t always look like seismic change; sometimes it means small actions we can all make.

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