International Mother Earth Day and Earth Day - 22 April

The UN created International Mother Earth Day to celebrate and remind us how the Earth and its ecosystems provide us with life and sustenance. Earth Day, also celebrated on 22 April, started in America and is now a huge global movement. Both highlight the importance of taking actions to ensure we protect planet Earth.

International Mother Earth Day

Adopted in 2009, International Mother Earth Day recognises a collective responsibility to promote harmony with the Earth and with nature to achieve balance between the environmental, economic and social needs of present and future generations. The day acts to remind us that the Earth and its ecosystems provide us with life and provides an opportunity to raise public awareness around the world of the challenges that face the planet and all of the life that inhabits it.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement act to encourage international cooperation to help tackle to issue of climate change by providing education resources, training, public awareness and participation and public access to information.

Earth Day

Earth Day aims to build the world's largest environmental movement by diversifying, education and activating. More than 1 billion people now participate in activities to celebrate Earth Day each year, making it the largest civic observation in the world. 

The first Earth Day took place in 1970 in America. A number of groundbreaking acts followed this movement, such as the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act and Endangered Species Act. Earth Day is now a global event involving more than 190 countries and sparking a worldwide collective desire to take better care of our planet. 

Climate change is one of the largest threats to sustainable development. The unsustainable actions of humanity has direct implications on the future condition of the planet. When you’re living your day to day life it’s easy to forget that our collective home needs looking after like our own homes and we all have a responsibility to do our own bit whether it's recycling, saving water and electricity or environmental campaigning. 

It’s good to start positive environmental behaviours from a young age. There are a number of teaching resources on climate change and caring for the environment, such as Nasa Global Climate Change Resources for Educators, Oxfam Education Climate Challenge Resources for 7 – 11 year olds and Geographical Association Investigating Climate Change Resources.

Looking for ways to make your home more environmentally friendly? Take a look at these 10 ways to reduce your energy consumption to save energy and money.