Earth Day is global reminder of environmental preservation

World Earth Day is celebrated on 22nd April every year to bring awareness to the challenges that our planet faces from climate change and other activities caused by the human beings.

This year, 2025 would mark the 55th anniversary of the World Earth Day celebration, as a global reminder of the importance of environmental preservation.

This year’s Earth Day theme, ‘Our Power, Our Planet,’ focuses on renewable energy as the solution.  It highlights the need to rapidly shift from fossil fuels to sustainable energy sources like solar, wind and hydropower.

The global goal is to triple renewable energy production by 2030. Without this transition, the future of the planet and humanity remains in serious jeopardy.

India’s achievements in energy transition: – As India accelerates its transition towards a sustainable future, its renewable energy (RE) sector has witnessed unprecedented growth. 

In 2024, the country made significant strides in solar and wind energy installations, setting the stage for ambitious targets in 2025. 

With a commitment to achieving 500 GW of non-fossil fuel-based energy capacity by 2030, India is emerging as a global leader in clean energy.  As on 20th Jan 2025, India’s total non-fossil fuel based energy capacity has reached 217.62 GW.

Solar energy remained the dominant contributor to India’s renewable energy growth, accounting for 47% of the total installed renewable energy capacity.

World scenario of Renewable Energy:- Switching to renewable energy sources is crucial for reducing greenhouse gas emissions because renewables generate electricity without producing carbon dioxide, the primary greenhouse gas. In contrast, fossil fuels are major emitters of greenhouse gases and thus are primary contributors to global warming.

According to the U.S Energy Information Administration in 2023, petroleum accounted for roughly 38% of U.S. energy consumption and was responsible for 47% of U.S energy-related CO2 emissions. Natural gas accounted for 36% of energy use and contributed to 37% of these emissions. Coal accounted for around 9% of energy consumption and 16% of energy-related CO2 emissions.

Economy benefits of Renewable Energy:- This profound and fast-moving transition to renewable energy isn’t just an environmental necessity—it’s an economic revolution. It will drive innovation across industry,  and creating millions of new jobs and opportunities, globally.

Renewable energy represents a huge economic opportunity and will create 14 million new jobs globally. In 2023, renewable energy, worldwide, was worth $1.21 trillion and is projected to grow 17.2% annually from 2024 to 2030.

According to IEA to reach net zero emissions by 2050, annual clean energy investment worldwide will need to more than triple by 2030 to around $4 trillion. This will create millions of new jobs, significantly lift global economic growth, and achieve universal access to electricity and clean cooking worldwide by the end of the decade

History of Earth Day 2025:- The first ever Earth Day was organised in the year 1970 by Senator Gaylord Nelson and Denis Hayes. Gaylord Nelson was a U.S senator who is known as the father of Earth Day.  

On Earth Day 2016, the landmark Paris Agreement was signed to limit the global temperature to well below 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The  historic draft climate protection treaty adopted by consensus of the 195 nations present at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. 

The official ambassador of World Earth Day 2025 is Antonique Smith. She is a 41-year-old American actress who has worked in films and on Broadway.  She was also nominated for a Grammy in the year 2015 as a singer and writer under the category, “Best Traditional R&B Performance” for the song ‘Hold up Wait a Minute’. As an actress, she is best known for her role as Faith Evans in the movie ‘Notorious’. 

Antonique Smith is also a renowned environmentalist working relentlessly for the betterment of the condition of the Earth. Her journey began in the year 2014. The first album ever created for environmental awareness had a song titled “Home: Heal Our Mother Earth.”

Antonique Smith was the main featured artist, and the song was released by People’s Climate Music. She is also the co-founder of the organisation Climate Revival, which contributes towards environmental concerns through the medium of art, like music and storytelling.