Each year on April 22, the world celebrates Earth Day with various activities, statements, and commitments to put in place measures to restore the fast- deteriorating state of the planet. At least superficially there is a show of concern for man’s current habitat even for a day—while the rest of the year is spent furthering those activities that endanger all life forms in it.
Earth Day 2021, themed “Restore our Earth,” is very timely and apt following an over yearlong pandemic that has claimed over 1 million humans, a series of unimaginably destructive natural disasters—hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, forest fires, typhoons and other catastrophes, zoonotic diseases—and continued exploitation to exhaustion of God-given natural resources and the continued upgrading and production of arms that can annihilate all creatures in the planet.
Token concerns for Earth like tree planting, fiery speeches to promote greener technologies, commitments to reduce greenhouse gases and minimize carbon footprints by most of world leaders and cleaning up of lakes, rivers and other bodies of water that had been enveloped by millions of tons of plastic wastes and residential effluents and industrial wastes are usually undertaken in this single important day—which humanity should embrace as yearlong mission to pursue their vision of a sustainable and livable planet.
Humankind is the greatest and fiercest destroyer of whatever lives and breathes on Earth. But it would also be humankind that would suffer most from the backlash of their degenerative actions.
Celebrations
In the Bronx, political leaders and community members marked Earth Day with a cleanup of some of the borough’s streets, organized by Assemblyman Chantel Jackson of New York’s 79th district.
The NY City Department of Sanitation provided shovels, trash pickers and bags for the event on Concourse Village East and East 156th Street in South Bronx.
State Senator Luis Sepulveda, who joined in, told the volunteers “this is our neighborhood, no one is going to take care of it like us.”
In Colombia, 11-year- old environmental activist and founder of Guardians for Life tree planting group said “we can all be guardians for life and we are the hope of all society, of all humanity basically, because in our hands is not only the future, many say children are the future, we are also the present. Today there are millions of children who are demanding a healthy and dignified environment, a dignified present and this is precisely why our causes and agenda, what we do is the present, not only the future.”
Vera and his fellow climate activists have planted more than 200 trees in Colombian cities for Earth Day to inspire action against the climate crisis.
In the Philippines, meanwhile President Duterte, in a video message, urged the people to turn the Philippines into a “climate-resilient” and “climate-smart” nation as he reminded them of their “inherent responsibility to take care of our planet.”
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He also reminded the public that a healthy nation depends on a healthy natural environment.
“This Earth Day, let us work with renewed vigor to engage our people, our local communities and industries, and all other stakeholders in our efforts to achieve a climate-resilient and climate-smart Philippines,” he said.
‘A disgrace’
Environmental activist, Greta Thunberg sought to shame US lawmakers during a House hearing on fossil fuel subsidies calling tax breaks for that industry “a disgrace” and said history would judge those in favor of them harshly.
Thunberg said "Unlike you, my generation will not give up without a fight. How long do you honestly believe that people in power like you will get away with it? How long do you think you can continue to ignore the climate crisis, the global aspect of equity and historic emissions without being held accountable? ... We, the young people, are the ones who are going to write about you in the history books. We are the ones who get to decide how you will be remembered."
The hearing fell on the day President Joe Biden began a virtual two-day Earth Day global climate summit with the leaders of 40 countries and said the United States - the world's second-leading emitter - would cut greenhouse emissions by 50 percent by 2030 from 2005 levels.
Later, at a White House briefing, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry told reporters that the U.S. will likely exceed that pledge.
China - the world's top emitter - said it would begin phasing out coal.
And Brazil announced its most ambitious environmental goal yet, saying the country would reach emissions neutrality 10 years earlier than its previous target. Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro had sought to closely align with the United States under former President Donald Trump, who did not criticize Brazil's environmental policy despite a major surge in Amazon rainforest deforestation and fires.
But the Biden administration appears to have forced a realignment in relations by placing the environment at the center of U.S.-Brazil talks.
Pope Francis in Italian said “Now is the time to act. The planet is at the brink and that humanity had to avoid the path of ‘self-destruction.”
Our worsening climate patterns, the ferocity of their landfalls and the destruction they leave are enough reasons for us to give a deeper concern for our environment and for the sustainability of our planet. Otherwise, where else do we live, if our Earth is irreparably damaged?