2020 marks 50th anniversary of International Mother Earth Day

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The international community will Wednesday commemorate the 2020 International Mother Earth Day, celebrated every April 22, to raise global public awareness on challenges to the well-being of the planet and all the life it supports. This year’s celebration marks the 50th anniversary of the day’s commemoration.

The Earth Day reflects the interdependence existing among human beings, other living species and the planet. The theme of this year’s celebration is ‘climate action’ – aimed at achieving a just balance among the economic, social, and environmental needs of present and future generations, which brings to the fore the necessity to promote harmony with nature and the earth.

Earth Day was first observed in 1970 by 10% of the U.S. population who unimaginably took to the streets, college campuses and hundreds of cities to protest environmental ignorance and demand a new way forward for our planet. The campaign is now recognized as the planet’s largest civic event responsible for a wave of actions, including the passage of landmark environmental laws such as the clean air and water, endangered species acts, as well as the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the United States, which has been adopted by many countries.

Since then, efforts to conserve the environment had experienced an exponential growth which include the declaration of 2008 as the International Year of Planet Earth by the UN. “This day therefore provides an opportunity to raise public awareness around the world to the challenges regarding the well-being of the planet and all the life it supports, remind each of us that the Earth and its ecosystems provide us with life and sustenance and to take unified response to our environment in crisis,” said the UN.

According to the UN, more than 33% of the earth’s soils are already degraded while as high as 90% could become degraded by 2050. Also, by 2050 there will be more than 9 billion humans on earth hence the world will need to produce 60% more food. These statistics calls for urgent action by world leaders to protect, improve and sustain the planet as well as meet the needs of present and future generation.