Bocconi Students for Sustainable Finance
EARTH DAY 2023
The Earth Day, also known as International Mother Earth Day, is celebrated every year on the 22nd of April. The main objective of this day is to raise awareness regarding environmental issues, such as pollution, global warming, deforestation and the destruction of our planet.
The Earth Day was firstly established by the Senator Gaylord Nelson in the 1970s. In fact, the Senator wanted to spread the sensibility about these environmental problems especially after the oil spill disaster in Santa Barbara, California, in 1969. On April 22 1970, 20 million American citizens started a huge protest across the streets of the city against environmental crises, such as water pollution, oil spills, forest fire etc. Hundreds of other cities joined, making it one of the biggest protests ever in the world.
The theme of the 2023 Earth Day has been “Invest in Our Planet”, a continuation of the 2022 campaign. This movement wants to take action on the climate as well as asking businesses to shift toward sustainable practices. In fact, in 2023 there are two additional goals to implement for this economic revolution: saving humanity from environmental crises and increasing green economies. In order to secure this achievement, it is necessary that all the countries of the world cooperate and invest together in our planet’s future.
What does “Invest in Our Planet” mean? The 2022 and 2023 Earth Days are addressing governments, institutions, companies and citizens, encouraging them to assume their responsibilities. In particular, governments have the task to create the right conditions for change through laws, incentives and tax breaks, while citizens, as voters and customers, guide such decisions.
The impacts of these initiatives are already visible in everyday life. For example, one hundred British universities have decided to divest their capital from fossil fuel as their students have fought to convince the Boards of Directors. This change, that started as a minority movement, deprived oil companies of around €20 billion of investment. Moreover, the vegan and vegetarian diet until few years ago was seen as a niche choice. However, the market of protein alternatives to meat is increasing over time and nowadays Germany has reached its lowest level of meat consumption ever since 1989. These are just two of the 52 actions that Earthday.org invites us to celebrate during the Earth Day 2023. These are simple activities by themselves, but have a huge potential if implemented on a global scale.“There is unlimited opportunity to right the wrongs of past actions and build a new version of society. But, we have a very short window of time and we need everyone to Invest in Our Planet now!” said Kathleen Rogers, President of Earthday.org. RESOURCES:
Author: Micaela Trovato
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EARTH DAY 2023
The Earth Day, also known as International Mother Earth Day, is celebrated every year on the 22nd of April. The main objective of this day is to raise awareness regarding environmental issues, such as pollution, global warming, deforestation and the destruction of our planet.
The Earth Day was firstly established by the Senator Gaylord Nelson in the 1970s. In fact, the Senator wanted to spread the sensibility about these environmental problems especially after the oil spill disaster in Santa Barbara, California, in 1969. On April 22 1970, 20 million American citizens started a huge protest across the streets of the city against environmental crises, such as water pollution, oil spills, forest fire etc. Hundreds of other cities joined, making it one of the biggest protests ever in the world.
The theme of the 2023 Earth Day has been “Invest in Our Planet”, a continuation of the 2022 campaign. This movement wants to take action on the climate as well as asking businesses to shift toward sustainable practices. In fact, in 2023 there are two additional goals to implement for this economic revolution: saving humanity from environmental crises and increasing green economies. In order to secure this achievement, it is necessary that all the countries of the world cooperate and invest together in our planet’s future.
What does “Invest in Our Planet” mean? The 2022 and 2023 Earth Days are addressing governments, institutions, companies and citizens, encouraging them to assume their responsibilities. In particular, governments have the task to create the right conditions for change through laws, incentives and tax breaks, while citizens, as voters and customers, guide such decisions.
The impacts of these initiatives are already visible in everyday life. For example, one hundred British universities have decided to divest their capital from fossil fuel as their students have fought to convince the Boards of Directors. This change, that started as a minority movement, deprived oil companies of around €20 billion of investment. Moreover, the vegan and vegetarian diet until few years ago was seen as a niche choice. However, the market of protein alternatives to meat is increasing over time and nowadays Germany has reached its lowest level of meat consumption ever since 1989. These are just two of the 52 actions that Earthday.org invites us to celebrate during the Earth Day 2023. These are simple activities by themselves, but have a huge potential if implemented on a global scale.“There is unlimited opportunity to right the wrongs of past actions and build a new version of society. But, we have a very short window of time and we need everyone to Invest in Our Planet now!” said Kathleen Rogers, President of Earthday.org. RESOURCES:
Author: Micaela Trovato
