What
is Earth Day, when is it and what has it achieved?
Millions
of people across the globe are gathering to mark Earth Day and celebrate the
environmental movement.
The event began in 1970 in the United
States, and is now marked around the world.
What is Earth Day and
when is it?
Earth Day is a global event which aims to
highlight the importance of protecting the environment.
It takes place every year on 22 April.
It was set up in 1970 by Gaylord Nelson, a
US senator and environmentalist, and Denis Hayes, a graduate student at Harvard
University.
Both had growing concerns about
environmental damage in the US, such as that caused by a large oil spill in
1969 in Santa Barbara, California.
They came up with Earth Day as a way to
engage the public and push green issues to the national agenda.
Even
the first Earth Day attracted large crowds, such as these in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania
The first Earth Day saw 20 million people
across the US take to the streets.
It became a global event in 1990, and now
involves over one billion people of all ages in nearly 200 countries, according
to organisers.
"Celebrating Earth Day is often the
first environmental action for a lot of people," says Earthday.org
president, Kathleen Rogers.
·
A simple guide to climate
change
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How the
largest environmental movement in history was born
What is happening for
Earth Day 2024?
The 2024 theme, "Planet vs.
Plastics", aims to raise awareness of the harms of plastic pollution for
human and planetary health.
Previous events have covered a range of
environmental issues, from climate change and clean energy to protecting
species and the benefits of tree planting.
This year's focus comes ahead of an
historic UN treaty
on plastics, which is expected to be agreed by the end of 2024.
More than 50 countries, including the UK,
have called for an end to
plastic pollution by 2040.
But the organisers of Earth Day want to go
further, and are calling for a 60% reduction in the production of all plastics
by 2040.
Organisers have suggested that people
could volunteer for a clean-up event or learn more about the damage done by
plastic pollution.
You can find out what's happening near
you via this map, or
organise your own event.
What has Earth Day
achieved?
Within a few years of the first Earth Day
in 1970, the US Environmental Protection Agency had been set up, and several
environmental laws - such as the Clean Air Act - had been established or
significantly strengthened.
More recent events have included planting
hundreds of millions of trees, supporting farmers with sustainable agriculture
practices, and starting climate literacy projects around the world.
Some observers also cite the importance of
Earth Day in pushing environmental issues back up national and international
agendas.
"With a host of issues driving our
environmental challenges down society's priority list, events like Earth Day
remind us of the long-term cost of short-termism," says Yvo de Boer,
former UN climate chief.
It was the first time that countries of
the world had collectively agreed targets to try to limit global warming.
What do critics say
about Earth Day?
Some critics warn that these achievements
give a false sense of progress.
Many environmental indicators - from global temperatures to species extinctions -
are changing rapidly due to human activities. Efforts to date have fallen far
short of halting or reversing these trends.
Some individuals and companies have also
been accused of using Earth Day as an opportunity to misleadingly promote their
environmental credentials, without making the real changes that are needed.
This is known as "greenwashing".
For example, campaigner Greta Thunberg
tweeted in 2022 that Earth Day "has turned into an opportunity for people
in power to post their 'love' for the planet, while at the same time destroying
it at maximum speed".
"We all know greenwashing is
happening and it is infuriating," Earth Day organiser Ms Rogers told BBC
News.
"It's not an issue we've caused, but
we know Earth Day is used cynically by some businesses to [mis]use the ethos of
sustainability for their own gain."
"Governments need to take robust
action and crack down on any business or industry lying to consumers."
