We can no longer exploit the resources of this earth — the trees, the water, and other natural resources — without any care for coming generations. Common sense tells us that unless we change, we won’t survive. This Earth Day let’s resolve to live in harmony with nature.
Dalai Lama
Whilst Covid-19 has caused a severe international health and economic crisis, failure to tackle climate change may threaten human wellbeing, ecosystems and economies for centuries.
World Meteorological Organisation
Last Wednesday marked the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. It was on this day in 1970 that 20 million Americans demonstrated across the United States against the adverse impact on human health of 150 years of industrial development. The rallying call was for action to be taken to protect the environment. To mark the occasion, the UN Secretary-General stated that while the impact of the virus on global society had been ‘immediate and dreadful’, there was ‘another, even deeper emergency – the planet’s unfolding environmental crisis’. According to an EU Climate Monitoring Service, eleven of the 12 hottest years to date occurred since 2000. The worldwide coronavirus lockdowns across the world have also seen the skies clearing of pollution, especially in China and India, where the snow-capped Himalayan mountain range now becomes visible in several parts of northern India.
