Earth Day 2024: Key Insights

Happy Earth Day 2024. The following articles have been curated by the TBG Purpose team, which provides customized sustainability solutions and enables corporations & SMBs/SMEs to meet their Sustainability/ESG objectives in line with global reporting standards and frameworks. Click here to schedule a free assessment.

EarthDay.org: “Planet vs Plastics”

The 2024 Earth Day theme is Planet vs. Plastics, which “unites students, parents, businesses, governments, churches, unions, individuals, and NGOs in an unwavering commitment to call for the end of plastics for the sake of human and planetary health, demanding af 60% reduction in the production of plastics by 2040 and an ultimate goal of building a plastic-free future for generations to come”. To “achieve a 60% reduction by 2040, EARTHDAY.ORG’s goals are: (1) promoting widespread public awareness of the damage done by..” (continue)

USA Today: “Why You Should Celebrate Climate Change Optimism”

Climate change may still be an existential threat to humanity, but as Earth Day 2024 rolls around on Monday, some of the people most concerned about the planet aren't peddling doom – they're spreading optimism.

There's plenty to feel good about, they say: Huge strides towards fighting climate change, decades of work that have led to other environmental disasters being averted – and the reality that hope can help fuel the actions needed to keep tackling the climate crisis.” (continue)

The Conversation: “Earth Day 2024 — Green Muscle Memory and Climate Education Drive Behavior Change”

This year, organizers of Earth Day are calling for widespread climate education as a critical step in the fight against climate change.

A new report, released in time for global attention for Earth Day on April 22, highlights the impact of climate education on promoting behaviour change in the next generation. Despite people’s deep connection to their local environment — whether it’s blackouts in Toronto caused by raccoons, communities gearing up for a total solar eclipse lasting only minutes, chasing northern lights or hundreds of Manitoba kids excited about ice fishing — there remains….” (continue)

UNEP: Five Ways you Can Help Save the Environment this Mother Earth Day

It is easy to get discouraged by the state of the planet.  

Humanity is breaking all the wrong records on global warming. Fragile ecosystems face enormous pressure. More than 1 million plants, animals and other living things are at risk of being wiped out. Dirty air and chemical pollution threaten our land, ocean and health. But International Mother Earth Day, on 22 April, is a reminder that there is a lot we can do, as individuals, to tackle the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste. 

“Every action, however big or small, matters to the planet,” said… (continue)

ABC: “Earth Day 2024 Report Card: Experts Address America's Climate Change Action”

Earth Day offers an annual opportunity for citizens, experts and lawmakers to not only celebrate the planet, but examine our impact on the changing environment and demand a push toward a sustainable future.

To make a united step forward, awareness of the mounting climate crisis is vital, Dr. Virginia Burkett, chief scientist for Climate and Land Use Change at the U.S. Geological Survey, told ABC News ahead of Earth Day. "The global Earth observations community has characterized a triple planetary crisis of interconnecting stressors: climate change….” (continue)

Space.com: NASA Picks 6 New Airborne Missions to Study our Changing Planet

Just in time for Earth Day, NASA has announced that it's full speed ahead with six new aircraft-driven missions to study our changing planet.

In a media briefing on Friday (April 19), NASA officials announced six new airborne missions that will focus on arctic coastal change, weather created by wildfires, urban air pollution, impacts of changing weather patterns on landscapes, retreating glaciers and agriculture.

Altogether, NASA will spend about $120 million on the six missions, which will deploy from 2026 to 2029.  (continue)