What does Earth Day mean? | News explained

Here’s a look at the meaning of Earth Day and what this year’s theme is.

Why is Earth Day important?

Earth Day was first celebrated in 1970, when 20 million people took to the streets to protest environmental degradation. The event was caused by the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill and other problems such as smog and polluted rivers.

For the next half century, Earth Day continued to play an important role in environmental activism. The historic Paris Agreement, which brings together nearly 200 countries to establish a common goal to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, was signed on Earth Day 2016. In 2009, the United Nations declared Earth Day declared International Earth Day.

According to Earthday.org it is Earth Day has a purpose “build the world’s largest environmental movement to create transformative change for people and the planet.” The movement’s mission is “to diversify, educate and activate the environmental movement worldwide.”

Earth Day is celebrated to remind each of us that the Earth and its ecosystems provide us with life and sustenance. This day also recognizes a collective responsibility, as called for in the 1992 Rio Declaration, to promote harmony with nature and the Earth in order to achieve a just balance between the economic, social and environmental needs of the present and future generations of humanity.

Earth Day also provides an opportunity to raise public awareness around the world of the challenges facing the well-being of the planet and all the life it supports.

What is the theme of Earth Day 2024?

This year the theme is ‘Planet vs. Plastics’. The theme highlights the threat that plastics pose to the planet and human health. It calls for an end to all plastic waste by demanding a 60% reduction in plastic production by the year 2040.

Plastic poses a serious threat to human health because it breaks down into microplastics, releasing toxic chemicals into food and water sources and circulating through the air that people breathe.

“Plastic production has now grown to more than 380 million tons per year. More plastic has been produced in the past decade than in the entire 20th century, and the industry is set to explode indefinitely,” according to Earthday.org.