April 22 is the annual World Earth Day, which has entered its 54th year. The theme for 2023 is “Invest in Our Planet” hoping that in addition to responding to the activities on Earth Day, people around the world can also implement environmental protection actions in their lives, save energy and reduce carbon emissions, and cultivate eco-friendly consumption habits.
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Taipei, TAIWAN (Merxwire) – April 22 is the annual World Earth Day, and this year was the 54th year. In addition to continuing the goals for 2022, the theme for 2023 is “Invest in our Planet”. It is hoped that in addition to responding to various earth-loving activities around the world on this day, the public can also implement environmental protection awareness in their daily lives, save energy and reduce carbon, and cultivate consumption habits that do not waste.
The origin of World Earth Day
Earth Day activities originated in the United States in the 1970s. In 1969, U.S. Democratic Senator Gaylord Nelson was committed to promoting the concept of environmental protection, and held speeches on environmental issues on various campuses, hoping to arouse everyone’s awareness of protecting the earth. He advocated April 22 in 1970 as Earth Day and held various environmental protection activities in the USA. Because the number of people responding to this activity exceeded 20 million, the Earth Day event became an annual regular event, which also prompted the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency.
It was in the 1990s that the Earth Day event officially transformed into a global environmental movement. At that time, the wave of “resource recycling” was rising around the world. More than 200 million people in more than 140 countries participated in various environmental protection activities, making it impossible for government agencies to ignore this issue and demand. Therefore, in 1992, leaders of various countries gathered in Rio de Janeiro to participate in the United Nations Earth Summit, and officially defined Earth Day activities as a global “World Earth Day”. This led to the creation of the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement.
The Earth faces a daunting dilemma
So far, World Earth Day has become an international environmental protection movement. It is hoped that this event will make the world pay more attention to the balance between resource development and environmental protection, and at the same time notice various ecological issues. From various serious issues such as the greenhouse effect, climate change, prevention of animal extinction, drought, and floods, the awareness of environmental protection has become a political consensus and gained a more effective and powerful impetus.
In 2015, world leaders signed the Paris Climate Agreement, agreeing to take practical actions to control the rise in the earth’s temperature within 1.5 degrees Celsius. However, under the crisis of COVID-19 and the war between Russia and Ukraine, this goal has not yet been achieved. Therefore, starting in 2021, countries will experience abnormally high temperatures, triggering multiple ecological crises, including drought, heat waves, forest fires, and melting ice, which in turn will affect the habitats of animals and plants, resulting in a crisis of species extinction.
Thailand has set a new heat record a few weeks ago, and India has also been hit by a heat wave that has caused many deaths. Scientists warn that the global average temperature will hit a new high record in 2023 or 2024, and may cross the warming critical point within 10 years. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) also mentioned that all countries in the world need to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by half before 2030 so that it is possible to control global warming within 1.5 degrees C. Otherwise, once this critical point is crossed, serious disasters will be caused.
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Themes for World Earth Day 2023
Every year world Earth Day will set a different theme, the theme 2023 is Invest in our Planet. They hope that everyone will practice the behavior of protecting the earth in their daily lives in the harsh climate environment, and at the same time participate in activities to promote the sustainable development of the earth. Through policy and industrial transformation to the implementation of green consumption habits, we will continue to invest in the planet we live on by the following three points to achieve sustainable ecological development.
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Build An Equitable Future:In addition to continuously encouraging green enterprises and promoting clean energy, we must also improve existing fossil fuels to reduce the impact on the earth’s environment, and jointly create or transform into sustainable development industries.
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Build Our Only Home:As citizens of the world, we can firmly express our stance in our daily choices and consumption actions, and support companies that are willing to make efforts to protect the environment and climate, protect the earth, and move towards the common good of nature.
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Build A Healthy Economy:Global warming and climate change have cost us a lot, and we need to face up to the fact that sustainable development is more important than the pursuit of profit. Only by changing the status quo and creating a beautiful and sustainable living environment can human health and business prosperity be achieved.
What the whole world do on World Earth Day
Under the slogan of Extinction Rebellion, environmental groups gathered outside the British Parliament for a four-day “The Big One” event. Different from the more radical actions such as splashing paint or blocking roads in the past, it has turned into a parade and rally for the family to participate in environmental protection. About 30,000 people signed up to participate in this event to call on countries to make more positive changes to global warming.
Environmental volunteers around the world celebrated the 54th Earth Day by cleaning up trash and planting trees. Both Rome and Boston have Earth Day-related events. Major cleanups were also held in Cape Coral, Florida, which was devastated by the hurricane, and Dal Lake in Srinagar, India. Biden, U.S. President, also proposed to increase the budget to help developing countries fight climate change during the world Leaders meeting, and at the same time proposed to ban the excessive deforestation of the Amazon rainforest.
Taiwan extended the theme of “Invest in Our Planet” in 2023, listing 53 small environmental protection things that are easier for everyone to do in daily life. Let everyone practice green life in daily life, and hold an Earth Day market and many lectures.
IPCC specifically mentioned that the choices and actions we make in the next 10 years will have an important impact on the present and thousands of years in the future. Therefore, it is time to take more active actions now, so that environmental protection is no longer just a slogan, but a trivial matter in every day of life.
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