World Earth Day for the global awareness

World Earth Day is a date recognised on the official calendar of the United Nations (UN) and was established in 1970 by US Senator Gaylord Nelson.

Its objective was to create a common awareness of the problems endangering the survival of the planet: overpopulation, conservation of biodiversity, pollution, among other factors.

It is a day to pay tribute to our planet and recognise Earth as our home and our mother, just as various cultures have expressed it throughout history, highlighting the interdependence between its many ecosystems and the living beings that inhabit it.

The official theme for 2022 is Invest In Our Planet.

Since World Earth Day was first celebrated a little more than half a century ago, environmental awareness has gone from being a marginal issue to becoming a shared concern around the world.

Climate change is affecting all ecosystems, causing new health problems and affecting the global economy. We have the opportunity to restore Mother Earth and address these problems. And we should do this not only because we care about the natural world, but because we live in it. A healthy planet is not an option, it is a necessity.

In 1969 at a UNESCO Conference in San Francisco, peace activist John McConell proposed a day to honour the Earth and the concept of peace, to first be observed on March 21, 1970, the first day of the spring in the northern hemisphere. This day of nature’s equipoise was later sanctioned in a proclamation written by McConnell and signed by Secretary General U Thant at the United Nations. A month later a United States Senator Gaylord Nelson proposed the idea to hold a nationwide environmental teach-in on April 22, 1970. More than 20 million people poured out on the streets, and the first Earth Day remains the largest single day protest in human history. Key non-environmentally focused partners played major roles. Under the leadership of labour leader Walter Reuther, for example, the United Auto Workers was the most instrumental outside financial and operational supporter of the first Earth Day.

On World Earth Day 2016, the landmark Paris Agreement was signed by the United States, China, and some 120 other countries. This signing satisfied a key requirement for the entry into force of the historic draft climate protection treaty adopted by consensus of the 195 nations present at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris.

Numerous communities engaged in Earth Day Week actions, an entire week of activities focused on the environmental issues that the world faces.

On Earth Day 2020, over 100 million people around the world observed the 50th anniversary in what is being referred to as the largest online mass mobilization in history.

Invest In Our Planet is the theme of Objectives of the World Earth Day concern more to climate change issues and methodologies to reduce the negative effects. That means the causes of climate change so far identified are subject to bring into control.

We see, growing consumption of fossil fuel, deforestation and over utilization of soil and use of chemical fertilisers are some such causes. The effects of climate changes have been seen in droughts, floods, landslides and off season effects in vegetation mainly. Such actions bring negative consequences to the Earth and human both. People of under developed and developing countries face such consequences frequently in different magnitude which is at an increasing ratio. As such Earth needs to be protected from being undue utilization.

The world community has been habitual to exploit the Earth ignoring results experienced and possible to take place soon. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been studying the causes and effects in fine details. The findings forecast that the world community including developed, developing and under developed countries will have to face more serious natural calamities as climate change effects.

Therefore, possible measure should be taken into action without delay to reduce the negative effects. But the big and big countries are not much serious to invest for climate causes. That means the conservation of Earth may be travel slow for the lack of adequate investment.

In Nepal, the federal government has been considering to establish chemical fertilizer plant in the country to avoid untimely and inadequate deliveries of chemical fertilisers. Moreover, Nepal should be reconsidering promotion of bio-fertiliser which is soil nutrition friendly and without chemical effects to the crops as well.

Also to be noted is that the federal government spends much on subsidizing imported chemical fertilizer. The private sector entrepreneurs who produce organic fertilisers from their large size bio-gas plants are not getting any financial support from the government.

Moreover, Nepal can establish such plants in hundreds in number to produce enough bio-fertilisers with supports from the government to fill up national requirement. Moreover, that will sure to increase livestock keeping in a massive number for waste to generate to use in the bio-gas plants as raw material. That can create a sustainable economic scenario as well.

Similarly, support to farmers effectively and efficiently is another scope the government has to reconsider to strengthen so as real farmers – small or big – can enjoy a dignified farmers’ lifestyle which does not mean to be lavish but well off for her or his family. Irrigation, seeds, fertilser, insurance and sales of products should be guaranteed for them to hassle free farming.

A number of institutions and organized interactions and dialogue programmes on the occasion of World Earth Day 2022. Environmental Camps for Conservation Awareness (ECCA) organised various functions on the occasion. The event management and preparation was carried out by Counsellors (Professional Volunteers) of ECCA. Before the main day event an online poem competition was held on the slogan of Earth Day-”Invest in our planet.” The poems were submitted online and a selected few were invited to the event. Addition to this, some of the participants who submitted their poem online shared their poem to the audience. The main highlights of the day’s event were: Poem Competition winner announcement, games, exhibition and face painting.  Also, funds were collected through these activities for the “Support a child campaign” which will be used later for the welfare of child/student. (The Nepal Weekly)

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A poem on the World Earth Day

– By Sachin Kumar Singh

“Invest in Our Planet”

Today I saw horizon red

Chirping birds, trees with shade

Fragmented flowers giggling and

Wild plants rigging

Today i saw shore of hope

Chambers of beauty and nature’s trope

Dancing peacock and gossiping crow

smiling elephant and kingfishers glow

But suddenly an alarm rang

I sprang out of bed and doors bang

As I walked down the road

Birds and flowers were on hoarding boards

Roads were fogged with smoke of cars

Restaurants clubs and dancing bars

Polythene floating everywhere

Steels and irons heavy ware

Sobbing cows, wounded dogs

Burnt forests and feces bogs

And something soft dragged me down

Showed the youths and their contribution to town

I wiped her eyes and gave my oath

We will shake these unmannered loath

We will return your beautiful chute

Flowers, pigeon, lions and fruits

Friends lets come out of bar

Mother is crying stop these war

She needs our help, calling us

Lets save her drop this fuss.

(Courtesy :Environmental Camps for Conservation Awareness)