Today, April 22, is the International Day for Mother Earth, to demonstrate support for environmental protection. Ever since the conference of UNESCO in 1969 that took place in San Francisco, where peace activist John McConnell proposed the idea of honouring the Earth and the peace every year, and then US Senator Gaylord Nelson fixed the date the year later at an environmental teach-in, more than 20 million people poured out on the streets, and the first Earth Day remains the largest single-day protest in human history. 

To go further on the history of this day, at first it was focused on the United States; later in 1990, Denis Hayes, took it international and organized events in 141 nations. On Earth Day 2016, the landmark Paris Agreement was signed by the United States, the United Kingdom, China, and 120 other countries. This signing satisfied a key requirement for the entry into force of the historic draft climate protection treaty adopted by consensus of the 195 nations present at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. Numerous communities engaged in Earth Day Week actions, an entire week of activities focused on the environmental issues that the world faces. On Earth Day 2020, over 100 million people around the world observed the 50th anniversary in what is being referred to as the largest online mass mobilization in history.

Earthday.org is a collective of power, with 1 billion individuals mobilized for the future of the planet, together with over 75k partners working to drive a positive action. Their success is admirable (but don’t forget that way more needs to be done), passage of landmark environmental laws in the US -Clean Air, Clean Water and Endangered Species Acts and the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency-, Climate Literacy Campaign, Green Schools, etc. 

This year 2022, goes under the slogan “invest in our world”. A livestream about Exponential Climate Summit V: Nature in the race to zero will go on today in this link. You can join to learn about some key solutions that will help us deliver the greenhouse gas reductions needed by 2030 to meet the Paris Agreement. We need to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by mid-century to keep the global temperature below 1,5°C. With this theme Earth Day is now paying more attention to ESG criteria, the most useful metric we have nowadays at firms’ level to carry out important changes that take care of our beloved planet. 

THEIR MISSION: 

To diversify, educate and activate environmental movement worldwide

THEIR VISION FOR CHANGE:

Our world needs transformational change. It’s time for the world to hold sectors accountable for their role in our environmental crisis while also calling for bold, creative, and innovative solutions. This will require action at all levels, from business and investment to city and national government.

THAT’S WHERE YOU COME IN: 

As an individual, you yield real power and influence as a consumer, a voter, and a member of a community that can unite for change.

DON’T UNDERESTIMATE YOUR POWER:

When your voice and your actions are united with thousands or millions of others around the world, we create a movement that is inclusive, impactful, and impossible to ignore. Every Earth Day can drive a year of energy, enthusiasm, and commitment to create a new plan of action for our planet.