Earth Day ‘putting green issues on world agenda’

The millions of people across the globe who gathered to mark Earth Day last Monday are ensuring that green issues stay high on the international agenda

Midlands green energy expert Ron Fox was commenting about the annual event which now involves more than one billion people of all ages in nearly 200 countries.

The day, which began in the United States in 1970, is now marked globally every year on April 22.

“Taking part in this movement,” said Ron, of Noreus Ltd on the University of Keele Science Innovation Park (www.noreus.co.uk), “is often the first environmental action for a lot of people and it has already achieved many successes.”

Previous campaigns have covered a range of environmental issues, from climate change and clean air and green energy to protecting species and planting hundreds of millions of trees, as well as supporting farmers with sustainable agriculture practices, and starting climate literacy projects around the world.

The theme this year is Planet vs. Plastics, which aims to raise the awareness of the harm of plastic pollution to both humans and the planet.

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 per cent reduction in the production of all plastics by 2040. They want to phase out rapidly all single use plastics, a stronger UN treaty on plastic pollution and an end to fast fashion, which is low quality clothing sold at rock-bottom prices produced by textile workers on low pay and which has an effect on the environment.

They have suggested that people could volunteer for a clean-up event or learn more about the damage done by plastic pollution. For more information go to https://www.earthday.org

The event was set up in 1970 by Gaylord Nelson, a US senator and environmentalist, and Denis Hayes, a graduate student at Harvard University, who 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.

The first event in 1970 saw 20 million people across the US take to the streets and it became a global event in 1990 and now attracts support worldwide.

In 2016, Earth Day was symbolically chosen for the official signing of the landmark Paris deal, which had been agreed in late 2015 at the United Nations Climate Change Conference.

The treaty was agreed by 196 countries and it was the first time that nations of the world had collectively agreed targets to try to limit global warming.

If you want any advice about green energy and helping fight climate change, contact Ron on 01782 756995 or go to www.noreus.co.uk

Caption: The Earth Day logo.