International Tea Day 2025: Know the date, history, theme and significance
Tea, produced from the Camellia sinensis plant, is the world's most popular drink after water. While the precise location of the tea plant's growth is uncertain, it is generally believed that tea originated in northeast India, north Myanmar, and southwest China, according to UN.
The General Assembly decided to designate May 21 as International Tea Day, reiterating the Intergovernmental Group on Tea's call to focus more on increasing demand, particularly in tea-producing countries.
This year, it will be held on Wednesday, May 21, 2025, on the theme, Tea for Better Lives, highlighting tea's contribution to livelihoods, sustainability, and health.
Tea cultivation and processing enable the alleviation of extreme poverty (SDG 1), combat hunger (SDG 2), empower women (SDG 5), and ensure the long-term use of terrestrial ecosystems (SDG 15).
🍵 Tea is more than a drink. It's a culture, a way of life.
In the tea sector, women play a vital role, which should be acknowledged.
On #InternationalTeaDay, let's explore, inspire and inform so that new opportunities for women-owned businesses can be developed. pic.twitter.com/iwaoNe4Guu
— Food and Agriculture Organization (@FAO) May 19, 2025
International Tea Day aims to promote and strengthen collective measures to execute activities that support the sustainable production and consumption of tea.
This day provides an opportunity to honour tea's cultural heritage, health advantages, and economic significance while striving to ensure its production is sustainable 'from field to cup' to ensure it benefits people, cultures, and the environment for generations.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NDTV
a day ago
- NDTV
Bleak Eid In Gaza: No Meat, No Joy, Families Struggle To Celebrate
Muwasi, Gaza Strip: With the Gaza Strip devastated by war and siege, Palestinians struggled Thursday to celebrate one of the most important Islamic holidays. To mark Eid al-Adha - Arabic for the Festival of Sacrifice - Muslims traditionally slaughter a sheep or cow and give away part of the meat to the poor as an act of charity. Then they have a big family meal with sweets. Children get gifts of new clothes. But no fresh meat has entered Gaza for three months. Israel has blocked shipments of food and other aid to pressure Hamas to release hostages taken in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that started the war. And nearly all the territory's homegrown sheep, cattle and goats are dead after 20 months of Israeli bombardment and ground offensives. Some of the little livestock left was on sale at a makeshift pen set up in the vast tent camp of Muwasi in the southern part of Gaza's Mediterranean coast. But no one could afford to buy. A few people came to look at the sheep and goats, along with a cow and a camel. Some kids laughed watching the animals and called out the prayers connected to the holiday. "I can't even buy bread. No meat, no vegetables," said Abdel Rahman Madi. "The prices are astronomical." The Eid commemorates the test of faith of the Prophet Ibrahim - Abraham in the Bible - and his willingness to sacrifice his son as an act of submission to God. The day is usually one of joy for children - and a day when businesses boom a bit as people buy up food and gifts. But prices for everything have soared amid the blockade, which was only slightly eased two weeks ago. Meat and most fresh fruits and vegetables disappeared from the markets weeks ago. At a street market in the nearby city of Khan Younis, some stalls had stuffed sheep toys and other holiday knickknacks and old clothes. But most people left without buying any gifts after seeing the prices. "Before, there was an Eid atmosphere, the children were happy ... Now with the blockade, there's no flour, no clothes, no joy," said Hala Abu Nqeira, a woman looking through the market. "We just go to find flour for our children. We go out every day looking for flour at a reasonable price, but we find it at unbelievable prices." Israel's campaign against Hamas has almost entirely destroyed Gaza's ability to feed itself. The UN says 96% of the livestock and 99% of the poultry are dead. More than 95% of Gaza's prewar cropland is unusable, either too damaged or inaccessible inside Israeli military zones, according to a land survey published this week by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization. Israel barred all food and other supplies from entering Gaza for more than two months. It eased the blockade two weeks ago to allow a trickle of aid trucks in for the UN to distribute. The trucks have brought in some food items, mainly flour. But the UN says it has struggled to delivery much of the incoming aid because of looting or Israeli military restrictions. Almost the entire population of more than 2 million people have been driven from their homes, and most have had to move multiple times to escape Israeli offensives. Rasha Abu Souleyma said she recently slipped back to her home in Rafah - from which her family had fled to take refuge in Khan Younis - to find some possessions she'd left behind. She came back with some clothes, pink plastic sunglasses and bracelets that she gave to her two daughters as Eid gifts. "I can't buy them clothes or anything," the 38-year-old said. "I used to bring meat in Eid so they would be happy, but now we can't bring meat, and I can't even feed the girls with bread." Near her, a group of children played on makeshift swings made of knotted and looped ropes. Karima Nejelli, a displaced woman from Rafah, pointed out that people in Gaza had now marked both Eid al-Adha and the other main Islamic holiday, Eid al-Fitr, two times each under the war. "During these four Eids, we as Palestinians did not see any kind of joy, no sacrifice, no cookies, no buying Eid clothes or anything." (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Time of India
a day ago
- Time of India
World Environment Day: Trees to plant and preserve
Aditi Kapoor believes that Bharat's fate will decide India's trajectory. And women will have to be given their due. This belief guided her through her years of journalism at The Times of India. Her work with UN agencies and international NGOs has seen her lobby and campaign on public policy in India and at international forums. For Aditi, who won the Statesman Award for Rural Reporting for her investigative stories on child labour in the carpet industry, inclusive development means giving more than just purchasing power to the "bottom of the pyramid". "Changing Frames" looks at what's happening around you -- from the lens of the less fortunate. LESS ... MORE Trees for survival is a ubiquitous cry every 5th June, the World Environment Day. The focus, however, is mostly on planting new trees while in reality, thousands of existing trees, even mature ones, are sacrificed to develop the much-required infrastructure. It is possible to save these trees via robust transplantation. In a growing economy, World Environment Days can well celebrate the survival rates of transplanted trees because these established trees grow faster and have larger canopies than planted seedlings. The importance given to growing trees is not surprising. Trees absorb carbon dioxide and give oxygen, regulate local temperatures and recharge groundwater table – contributing immensely to climate resilience. Trees improve air quality and help mitigate disasters such as soil erosion, landslides and cyclones. Trees also provide habitat, shade, food, fodder and income-generation products, especially to the more economically poor men and women. While new trees take between three to ten years to provide tangible benefits, mature trees, if successfully transplanted, sequester more carbon, filter more pollutants, provide more oxygen, better groundwater recharge and more protection from extreme weather events. Where there is a shortage of land, as in road widening in cities and while building expressways, mature trees can be moved 1-2 metres back. Dead and dried trees, which emit more carbon dioxide, can be replaced with mature trees. Trees uprooted due to natural calamities can be revived. Crooked trees can be straightened early on so that later they don't have to be cut for threatening to fall on a building or a passing high vehicle. These activities are successfully being undertaken in countries like Japan and Singapore among others. Transplanting trees has become common in India, often part of most large infrastructure development plans, including road-laying. The Delhi Tree Transplantation Policy 2020, for instance, mandates a high 80% survival rate for transplanted trees. Yet, despite third party audits, mortality rates of transplanted trees continue to be very high. For example, the survival rate of transplanted trees in the Central Vista project, New Delhi, is only about 30 per cent; it is less than 40% in the Delhi Metro project; and only 37% in the Dwarka Expressway project. In Mumbai, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India audit report shows a survival rate of 54% for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. Perhaps one of the major reasons for this poor performance is making professional tree transplantation part of the overall building contract. Contractors tend to cut corners by prioritising immediate costs to proven quality assurance. Tree transplantation is a costly, labour intensive, complex, scientific and caring business, best left to professionals who repeatedly show success. There is a need to develop a sound scientific approach and know-how for transplanting trees. It needs to be part of university curricula and skill-building courses. Our future survival lies in not just planting more trees – which is required – but also in preserving and protecting the trees we have. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
2 days ago
- First Post
Can we beat plastic pollution?
Unless we as individuals change our mindset and behaviour towards single-use plastic, neither a global treaty nor national legislation will end plastic pollution read more (File) A man collects plastic and other recyclable material from the shores of the Arabian Sea, littered with plastic bags and other garbage, in Mumbai. AP Plastic, the necessary evil, has become entangled in our web of life, spanning both tradition and modernity, from plumbing to healthcare, from home to Parliament. Invented in 1860, and the first synthetic plastic, Bakelite, was produced in 1907, the suitability, affordability and availability of the plastic have generated a colossal quantity of plastic waste that is choking the very survival of the living Planet. The plastic pollution is so alarming that the UN has called on a second time in two years (last in 2023) on World Environment Day to end the plastic pollution. Strategically, the World Environment Day's repeat theme of 'beat the plastic pollution' is to ignite the countries to agree on plastic pollution during the forthcoming UN Ocean Conference (June 9-13, 2025) and second part of fifth Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic in Geneva (August 5-15, 2025). Similarly, India steps up its campaign for 'one nation, one mission- End Plastic Pollution'. Can we overcome the intricate dependence on single-use plastic (SUP) or end plastic pollution? STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD While plastic has been increasingly and immeasurably integrated in our daily lives for the last several decades, littering of SUP items in our ecosphere has severe adverse and hostile effects on terrestrial, aquatic and marine ecosystems. Plastic has become so intertwined that our ecosphere has evolved into a 'plastisphere' – an ecosystem consisting of human-made plastics. The use, abuse and misuse of plastic has become the single most significant and dominant contribution of humankind that transforms the geological era, which is famously termed as Anthropocene- the age of humans. Meanwhile, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) estimates that the world produces approximately 413.8 million tonnes of plastic annually (in 2023). Two-thirds of which (more than 280 million tonnes) are short-lived plastic products that quickly become waste, filling the ocean and, often, finding their way into our food chain. Of the more than 8 billion tonnes of plastic waste generated globally to date, less than 10 per cent has been recycled at a snail's pace. About 22 per cent of plastic waste worldwide is neither collected nor properly disposed of, or ends up as litter. However, recycling plastic is not without its risks. One of the recently released studies, Forever Toxic: The science of health threats from plastic recycling, found that this process not only increases the toxicity of plastics but also poses a threat to the health of consumers, frontline communities, and workers in the recycling sector. Is the hype surrounding plastic recycling veering towards myth? Whereas global plastic waste generation has increased more than sevenfold in the past four decades to 360 million metric tonnes per year, projections indicate that waste generation by 2040 will be double the current quantity and may exceed 615 million metric tonnes. Many of us use plastic products every day without even considering where they end up. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Are we truly aware that one million plastic bottles are purchased every minute worldwide, while up to five trillion plastic bags are used globally each year? In total, half of all plastic produced is designed for single-use purposes — used just once and then discarded. We are so addicted to single-use plastic that it seems unthinkable to eliminate it immediately. According to the UNEP, plastics contain over 13,000 chemicals, with more than 3,200 of them known to be hazardous to human health, while the safety of the remainder has not yet been assessed. More intriguing is how 75 to 199 million tonnes of plastic end up in the oceans to date. Every year, two million metric tonnes of plastic enter the ocean. The sorry state of plastic pollution can be assessed with the most intriguing photo by photographer and naturalist Justin Hofman depicting a seahorse in the ocean near Sumbawa Island, Indonesia, clinging to a bright pink plastic cotton swab. It is projected that if we don't change our behaviour towards the use of plastic, we may seriously intervene with our aquatic ecosystems, with a projected 23-27 million tonnes per year of plastic waste by 2040. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD India's one nation, one mission to end plastic pollution Plastic is ubiquitous in India. India has become the world's largest contributor to plastic pollution, accounting for nearly 20 percent of the total global plastic waste. With 9.3 million tonnes of plastic waste generated annually in India, a staggering 3.5 million tonnes of plastic waste are mismanaged. Among the States and Union Territories, Tamil Nadu has produced the largest plastic waste, while Sikkim generated the lowest in 2023. India's per capita plastic consumption has grown to approximately 11 kg per year and is expected to rise significantly with the increasing consumerism. However, India has been specifically addressing the plastic menace through various policy initiatives domestically and globally by engaging in two important treaty negotiations- a global plastic treaty and the Open Seas Biodiversity treaty. Unilateral 'casual' measures date back to the early 2000s when states had imposed a ban on plastic bags. Those state-wide initiatives failed due to a lack of awareness and unpopularity, and non-enforceability. However, the Plastic Waste Management Rules (PWMR), 2016, provide the statutory framework for plastic waste management in the country. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Meanwhile, India has banned 19 identified single-use plastic items, which have low utility and high littering potential, since 1st July 2022 through the Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021. India also prohibits the manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of plastic carry bags having a thickness less than seventy-five microns from September 2021, and having a thickness less than one hundred and twenty microns from December 2022. The Guidelines on the Extended Producer Responsibility for plastic packaging instruct mandatory targets on recycling of plastic packaging waste, reuse of rigid plastic packaging and use of recycled plastic content. Even so, we keep on using and abusing our surroundings and asking vendors to provide the banned products. Simple awareness programs are not yet effective. Therefore, who will oversee the enforcement of the implementation of the ban on identified single-use plastic items and on plastic carry bags? We must not expect the special task forces of states and Union Territories and the National Level Taskforce to monitor and implement successfully a complete ban on single-use plastic. When estimated against a business-as-usual scenario by one billion Indians in 2022-23 to 2027-28, the impact of LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) actions can be significant in ending 375 million plastic waste if using a cloth bag instead of plastic. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD What is India's position on the global plastic treaty? In the meantime, India's official position from the beginning of the intergovernmental negotiating committee (INC), the group established to negotiate an international agreement on plastic pollution, has been to ensure the 'fairness, equity, shared responsibility, collective commitments and consensus-based actions' rather than majority-based decision making. India argues, as a common strategy in all multilateral environmental negotiations, that it must be acknowledged that countries have different levels of development, unique circumstances and differential contribution to plastic pollution as we are witnessing now. Therefore, India prefers a mix of both global mandates and largely voluntary approaches to tackle the plastic menace. Many external stakeholders have commented that India, with other countries, has become obstructionist to a global legally binding plastic treaty. After US President Donald Trump reversing the federal push away from plastic straws in February this year, all eyes will be on India during the UN Ocean Conference and final meeting on plastic in Geneva for a successful global plastic treaty. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD In the meantime, a multi-prong strategy both within and beyond can be justified to end plastic pollution. Ultimately, it has been reflected in various goals under SDGs- responsible consumption and production (Goal 12), climate action (Goal 13), life below water (Goal 14), life on land (Goal 15), to end the plastic pollution. Meanwhile, the UN Human Rights Council has adopted a resolution, in its 58th session (April 4, 2025), recognising, for the first time, the critical connection between plastic pollution, ocean protection and the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. To reach a successful global treaty, countries must thrash out principles of reuse, reorient, regulate and diversify the dependence on plastic. The ambitious treaty, expected to progress during the final meeting in Geneva in August, may anchor on provisions for re-designing and rethinking the way we package, affordable and accessible alternatives to plastics, improving the waste management infrastructure, the principle of polluters pay, a predictable financial mechanism and access to technology and so on. Likewise, it is time to change how we produce, consume and dispose of the plastic we use. This is possible when we change our mindsets and behaviours. Let's start with reducing our dependence on single-use plastic from this World Environment Day onwards. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Dr Avilash Roul, International Advisor on Transboundary Water and Climate Change Risk, is a Senior Fellow at the Society for the Study of Peace and Conflict (SSPC), a Delhi-based think tank. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost's views.
