Hello lovely readers! It’s Earth Day on the 22nd of April. Earth Day is a day set aside to champion our planet and it was first celebrated in 1970. It was born out of the concern brought to life in Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring, which was released in 1962. Environmental concerns of rising air pollution and the impact it has on human health were of little concern in America, until the publication of Silent Spring. Only 7 years later, a junior senator was concerned about impact of a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara and took it upon himself to use the increasingly motivated student population to emphasise the importance of environmental issues. This work saw millions of Americans take to the streets to protest the impact of over 150 years of industrial development and by the end of 1970 the Environmental Protection Agency was founded.
Earth Day went global in 1990, spreading across 141 countries. The 200 million people inspired by Earth Day boosted recycling efforts worldwide and prompted great action through the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. This was when three vital environmental conventions were opened for signature: the convention on climate change, convention on biological diversity, and convention to combat desertification. The Climate Change Convention is discussed annually through the Conference of the Parties (COP26, COP27, etc).
A huge part of the Earth Day organisations work is in education surrounding environmental issues and sustainability. In summer 2020 the Earth Day organisation launched a campaign to provide climate and environmental education in all schools across the globe. In order to successfully tackle climate change, we need to transition to a green economy. This will create lots of new jobs but will also involve upskilling the workforce and teaching young people skills relevant to a sustainable future. You can find out more about the campaign here.
The theme this year is “invest in our planet” and it’s about far more than just financial investment. It’s about dedicating time, resources, and energy to solving climate change and other environmental issues.
In the publication of Samsung’s new environment strategy in mid-September 2022, Samsung committed to investing over KRW 7 trillion (£4.3 billion) in green initiatives by 2030. The initiatives will include reducing process gases, conserving water, expanding electronic waste collection, and reducing pollutants.
