World Earth Day 2025: History, theme, significance - All you need to know about the need to protect the planet
As the world celebrates "Earth Day' on April 22, the festivities mark a consciousness occasion to raise awareness about concerning environmental issues and address the associated problems that impact our planet.
Earth Day Network, which is now known as EARTHDAY.ORG, is credited with establishing the day as an initiative to mobilise the environmental movement worldwide to address concerning issues such as climate change, pollution and deforestation. 'EARTHDAY.ORG's founders created and organized the very first Earth Day on April 22, 1970. Since then, Earth Day Network also known as EARTHDAY.ORG has been mobilizing over 1 billion people annually on Earth Day, and every other day, to protect the planet," the website states.
The world's first Earth Day was observed in 1971 on April 22 when UN Secretary-General U Thant held a special ceremony at UN Headquarters in New York.
In 1962, US Senator Gaylord Nelson lobbied the federal government to observe Earth Day, considering that the 'planet is at risk'. This day aims to make an impact as it demonstrates support for environmental protection through a range of events. To educate the masses across the globe, numerous events, rallies, and campaigns are organised on this day.
The theme for Earth Day 2025 is 'Our Power, Our Planet.' It focuses on measures to achieve 'triple clean electricity' goal by 2030 using renewable energy. The day advocates protection of natural resources such as air, oceans, soil, ecosystems, wildlife, and human health by harnessing renewable sources of energy. Solar, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal, and tidal energy are in focus to create clean, inexpensive, and unlimited energy for the entire planet.
This year, Earth Day marks its 55th anniversary with global activations aimed at mobilising a billion people worldwide to take transformative action for our planet for a sustainable future. Invest in energy-efficient systems.
Reduce wastage of energy at home like electricity.
Participate in clean-up drive.
Plant a tree.
Reduce plastic use.
Adopt the concept of reduce, reuse, and recycle in daily life.
Use clean energy.
Promote sustainability.
First Published: 22 Apr 2025, 08:10 AM IST
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NDTV
a day ago
- NDTV
Sugar Rs 5,000, Oil Rs 4,000: Gazans Blame Israel, They Say It's Hamas
New Delhi: On the morning of Eid al-Adha, prayers across the Gaza Strip were conducted not in mosques, but in the rubble of what used to be homes, schools, and religious institutions. A ceasefire is not in sight, and neither is a meal. The traditions that usually mark this holiday, sacrificial meat, communal feasts, and gifts for children, are unrecognisable now. Instead, a singular item dominates conversations: food, or the lack of it. A recent viral post from Gaza featuring the biscuit, Parle-G, claimed that they are being sold at over 24 euros, which is approximately Rs 2,400. Like the biscuits, most goods sold in Gaza's markets have become unaffordable to nearly everyone. A list obtained by NDTV from inside Gaza documents the going rates for basic staples. Converted into Indian rupees (1 new Israeli shekel = Rs 24.57), it reads like this: 1 litre of cooking oil: 170 shekel (approx. Rs 4,177) 1 kilogram of sugar: 200 shekel (approx. Rs 4,914) 1 kilogram of milk powder: 35 shekel (approx. Rs 860) 1 kilogram of flour: 60 shekel (approx. Rs 1,474) 1 kilogram of salt: 20 shekel (approx. Rs 491) 1 kilogram of okra: 45 shekel (approx. Rs 1,106) 1 kilogram of duck meat: 30 shekel (approx. Rs 737) 1 kilogram of tomatoes: 45 shekel (approx. Rs 1,106) 1 kilogram of onions: 180 shekel (approx. Rs 4,423) 1 kilogram of potatoes: 80 shekel (approx. Rs 1,966) 1 kilogram of brinjal: 35 shekel (approx. Rs 860) 1 kilogram of lemon: 60 shekel (approx. Rs 1,474) 1 kilogram of lentils: 35 shekel (approx. Rs 860) 1 cup of coffee: 180 shekel (approx. Rs 4,423) 1 box of goat meat: 200 shekel (approx. Rs 4,914) Prices like these are unthinkable in a territory where virtually no one has an income. Israel Say It's Hamas Israel insists Hamas is hijacking aid. Speaking exclusively with NDTV, Israeli embassy spokesperson Guy Nir said, "There are masked gunmen who are Hamas, who are shooting at the Gazans because Hamas doesn't want this operation to succeed. The thing is, for the first year and a half, most of the aid trucks that went into Gaza were looted. Hamas looted about 80 per cent of all trucks." According to Mr Nir, Hamas is selling the contents to civilians at inflated prices. This system, he claims, allowed Hamas to exert economic and political control over the population. In northern Gaza, Israel issued a warning on Friday that it would launch "intensive operations" in areas from which rockets had reportedly been fired. The military said four of its soldiers died earlier in Khan Younis when explosives collapsed a Hamas compound. Five others were injured. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) now projects that by September, nearly 500,000 people in Gaza will be experiencing "catastrophic food insecurity", the highest level of hunger categorisation before famine. "The amount of humanitarian aid that came into Gaza during the first year and a half was astronomical," Mr Nir said. "We delivered over 3,500 calories per person per day. If everybody ate everything we brought in, they would be fat.
NDTV
2 days 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
2 days 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.
