22 April 2023

Earth Day is commemorated every year on April 22nd. Earth Day is the last day of Earth Week. The global organizer of Earth Week and Earth Day is EARTHDAY.ORG. The mission of this non-profit organization is to diversify, educate and activate the environmental movement worldwide. Currently, EARTHDAY.ORG works together with more than 150,000 partners in over 192 countries, to drive positive action for our planet. EARTHDAY.ORG was established in 1970, and has since then been commemorating Earth Day every year.

During Earth Week, but especially on Earth Day, EARTHDAY.ORG as well as many other organizations and individuals around the world dedicate extra resources, time, and energy to organize different events, such as cleanups, direct-action movements, marches and rallies, aimed at increasing awareness and positive action at all levels for the protection of the Earth.

The theme chosen for Earth week 2023, “Invest in our planet” remained unchanged from the previous year, as it is deemed to be just as relevant. With this theme, EARTHDAY.ORG focuses on encouraging and activating everyone -governments, businesses, and citizens- to do their part and invest the much-needed resources, energy and time to solve climate change and other environmental issues.

According to EARTHDAY.ORG, it is time for everyone to be held accountable for their role in our environmental crisis, while everyone should also be accounted for. The organization stresses that dealing with the climate crisis and seizing the vast opportunities of a zero-carbon future calls not only for ambition, bravery, and creativity, but also for equitable implementation of bold and innovative solutions.

Businesses globally are called to put sustainability first in their daily operations and supply chains. For example, the negative effects of industry upon the world’s canopy leads to 10 million hectares of forest being lost every single year. Therefore, it is imperative that businesses take forest conservation and other environmental issues seriously, and take an active role in replenishing the natural resources that have been and are still being compromised.

Government representatives worldwide are called to invest in our planet by adhering to the Commitments of the Paris Agreement, and transition to renewable energy by 2030. Moreover, governments should make sure that the necessary policy measures to combat,  mitigate, and adapt to climate change are duly complied with by each and everyone, especially businesses and government entities.

The need for the implementation of immediate and drastic climate change policies measures  is underscored by the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its recently published Assessment Report (AR6 Synthesis Report). In this report, the IPCC states that human activities have unequivocally caused global warming, principally through emissions of greenhouse gases, with global surface temperatures in 2011-2020 reaching 1.1°C above those in 1850-1900.

In addition, human-caused climate change is found with high confidence to have widespread adverse impacts on, among other things, food and water security, human health, and nature. Bringing about the necessary changes will only be possible with immediate and deep emissions reductions across all sectors, particularly in the energy sector. However, a projected trend from implemented policy measures shows that it is not likely that these efforts will suffice to maintain global warming below 1.5°C by 2030, nor below 2°C in the period thereafter. (See Figure I for details.)

Figure I  The trend from implemented policies would make it likely that global warming will exceed 1.5°C by 2030, and also make it harder to limit warming below 2°C after 2030

This Earth Day, but also every day, let’s all commit to taking the wellbeing of our planet seriously. Let’s invest our time, resources, energy, but also our dedication and love to doing all we can to restore and preserve our planet. We do not have another planet as a backup. Therefore, let’s make every day a day in which the Earth’s wellbeing is at the forefront of everything we do. Let’s invest in our planet’s wellbeing, as this is crucial to our own wellbeing also!

Sources:

• https://www.earthday.org/
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC); IPCC SIXTH ASSESSMENT REPORT (AR6) “CLIMATE CHANGE 2023” SYNTHESIS REPORT

Visit www.earthday.org/earth-day-2023/ for a toolkit with many ways in which you can get involved in the environmental movement, and invest in our planet!