Erick Burgueño Salas
Research expert covering climate change and the water industry
Earth Day - statistics & facts
With over 75,000 partners across more than 192 countries, Earth Day has become a worldwide movement with a mission to diversify, educate, and activate the environmental cause. Starting as a national campaign to organize teach-ins on college campuses in the U.S., it went global in 1990, giving a boost to recycling efforts and paving the way for the UN Earth Summit in 1992. Celebrated every year on April 22nd, the 2024 edition focuses on the fight against plastic pollution.
Plastic production worldwide reached a record high in 2022, surpassing a staggering 400 million metric tons. To achieve the ambitious target of reducing plastic production, the 54th edition of Earth Day is focusing on promoting public awareness of the damage done by plastic pollution, demanding policies to make fashion more sustainable, and investing in new materials and technologies for a plastic-free planet. Another important point of this year’s edition is the demand to phase out single-use plastic by 2030. EARTHDAY.ORG is aiming to push discussions leading to the last session of the Intergovernmental Negotiation Committee (INC-5) later this year, where an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution is supposed to be completed.
When it all started
The first Earth Day took place on April 22, 1970, organized by Senator Gaylord Nelson and activist Denis Hayes, mobilizing millions of U.S. Americans to protest against decades of rampant industrial development, leaving a legacy of serious environmental issues. Outrage was fueled by two major incidents that got massive media attention - a major oil spill in the Santa Barbara Channel in Southern California at the beginning of 1969 and a fire on the polluted waters of Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio. The event had an enormous political impact. By the end of that year, environmental concerns became a part of the political value system and led to the creation of the United States’ Environmental Protection Agency. The country also passed many environmental laws in the following years.Planet vs. Plastics
Each year, a specific theme gets selected to bring attention to an environmental problem or goal. On Earth Day 2024, activities and campaigns are focusing on a commitment to end the use of plastic for the sake of human and environmental health. With the motto “Planet vs. Plastics,” the Earth Day organization (EARTHDAY.ORG) is demanding a 60 percent reduction in the production of all plastics by 2040.Plastic production worldwide reached a record high in 2022, surpassing a staggering 400 million metric tons. To achieve the ambitious target of reducing plastic production, the 54th edition of Earth Day is focusing on promoting public awareness of the damage done by plastic pollution, demanding policies to make fashion more sustainable, and investing in new materials and technologies for a plastic-free planet. Another important point of this year’s edition is the demand to phase out single-use plastic by 2030. EARTHDAY.ORG is aiming to push discussions leading to the last session of the Intergovernmental Negotiation Committee (INC-5) later this year, where an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution is supposed to be completed.
Why Earth Day?
One of the main pillars of Earth Day is to not underestimate the power of the people. When millions come together as consumers, voters, and members of a community, an impactful movement is created that can change the course of negotiations regarding the future of our planet.
