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🗞️ Driving the news: Earth Day 2025 is marked globally today under the theme “Our Power, Our Planet”, calling for a tripling of global renewable energy capacity by 2030
• This aligns with the COP28 pledge made in 2023, but progress is currently lagging, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA)
• The event, now celebrated in nearly 200 countries, mobilises over a billion participants each year
🔭 The context: Earth Day originated in 1970 in the United States, spurred by environmental disasters like the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill
• It rapidly became a platform for environmental advocacy, contributing to the creation of the US Environmental Protection Agency and legislation such as the Clean Air Act
• Since becoming a global event in 1990, it has expanded its focus to include climate change, biodiversity loss, and sustainable development
🌍 Why it matters for the planet: Earth Day acts as both a symbolic and practical focal point for environmental action, catalysing policy shifts, awareness campaigns, and grassroots mobilisation
• However, critics warn that symbolic gestures can overshadow urgent systemic reforms
• With global renewables still falling short of the 11,000 GW target for 2030, Earth Day 2025 underscores the gap between ambition and implementation
⏭️ What's next: Organisers are urging governments to strengthen regulatory frameworks and scale up investments in solar, wind, and other renewables
• Public and private sectors are expected to ramp up commitments throughout the year, particularly ahead of COP29
• Meanwhile, watchdogs and civil society groups are intensifying scrutiny of greenwashing, calling for greater accountability in corporate sustainability claims
💬 One quote: “Celebrating Earth Day is often the first environmental action for a lot of people,” — Kathleen Rogers, President, Earthday.org.
📈 One stat: Global renewable energy capacity is forecast to reach nearly 9,800 GW by 2030—falling short of the COP28 goal of 11,000 GW (IEA, 2024)
See on illuminem's Data Hub™ the sustainability performance of companies like Greenpeace
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