Earth Day 2025: a day dedicated to safeguarding the planet

Earth Day 2025 is being celebrated today, 22nd April, in the fifty-fifth edition of this event dedicated to safeguarding planet earth.  This year’s theme is ‘Our Power, Our Planet’ : a strong message to everyone that collective action is required if we are to meet the environmental challenges facing the entire planet.

This day has taken on particular significance in Italy, thanks to the Festival of Sustainable Development promoted by Earth Day Italy, which brings together schools, institutions, businesses and ordinary citizens as they work together to find solutions.

Earth Day: from its origins to today

Earth Day started in America in 1970, as a result of growing awareness of environmental issues.  On 22nd April that year, millions of citizens staged demonstrations in support of environmental protection, marking the start of a movement which would later lead to significant legislative and cultural change.

Since then, Earth Day has evolved into a global event celebrated in over 190 different countries, involving large numbers of peope in projects designed to raise awareness and take tangible steps to safeguard the planet.

The chosen theme of Earth Day 2025 ‘Our Power, Our Planet’ emphasises the importance of collective power in dealing with environmental challenges.  This slogan invites individuals, communities, businesses and governments to accept their responsabilities and realise their capacity to have a positive influence on the world’s future.  The aim is to promote direct action such as:

• mitigation of the effects of climate change;
• protection of biodiversity;
• ensure a sustainable future for the next generations.

Main events at the Italian Festival

As mentioned above, Earth Day is being celebrated in Italy with a series of events, including the Sustainable Development Festival, organised by Earth Day Italy.

Since 2017, The event has played a key part in the campaign to spread awareness about the 2030 Agenda (the program of goals aproved by the UN’s General Assembly), through the involvement of schools, businesses, government agencies, universities, researchers and the media in one big workshop of ideas and solutions.

The Festival includes activities and events designed to increase awareness and engage citizens.  One of the most recent was an educational event entitled ‘Most of all, I remember the future’, held at Nuvola di Fuksas in Rome on 3rd April 2025.

Aimed mainly at high school students, it offered the chance to take part in a training project about green jobs, organised in collaboration with the Conference of Italian University Rectors and the Griffoni Innovation Hub.

On April 10th and 11th, the ‘Village for the Earth’ event was held at Villa Borghese in Rome.  This event allowed students and teachers to take part in free workshops and sports-based activities, providing an engaging, interactive educational experience.

The Festival has also launched a competition called ‘#I care’, aimed at school pupils of all ages.  This contest encourages students to express their ideas about the 2030 Agenda through artwork, their own news reports and other innovative projects, reflecting the active efforts made by young people in the challenge to make the world a better place.

The importance of education about sustainability

As part of Earath Day 2025, the Festival of Sustainable Development highlights the importance of education as a fundamental tool to promote new lifestyles which respect the environment and world populations.

Thanks to the active involvement of formal, informal and non-formal education providers, the Festival promotes cross-community collaboration, including public sector companies, ordinary citizens, charitable organisations, universities, research centres, IT experts and cultural organisations.

Their shared purpose is to highlight the interdependence of problems and solutions, by hosting meetings and events which bring together different kinds of awareness and experience.

The participation of government agencies and private businesses is essential to encourage real, lasting change.  While the former must adopt policies and regulations which favour environmental protection, the latter have the responsability to introduce innovative production processes and implement ecological practices.

Ordinary citizens also play a crucial role to play in promoting sustainability.  Through the adoption of responsable behaviours and active participation in events like the Festival, citizens can make a significant contribution to protecting the world.

Environmental challenges and solutions proposed at Earth Day 2025

Earth Day 2025 is being held in a context of unprecedented climate emergency.  Global temperatures continue to rise, extreme weather events are becoming increasingly frequent and biodiversity loss is reaching allarming levels.  Nevertheless, today’s event should be viewed as an opportunity to celebrate the progress and innovative solutions currently emerging in the drive to face these challenges.  These include:

• the green energy transition and reduction of emissions: one of the key elements of today’s event is the importance of the energy transition. Governments around the world are accelerating the switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources.  Widespread use of solar energy, investment in wind farms and green hydrogen and improvements to the energy efficiency of buildings are all key strategies in reducing greenhouse gases;
• the circular economy and the fight against waste: the concept of the circular economy is gradually gaining ground, in attempts to reduce the use of virgin raw materials and maximise the reuse of materials. The fact that projects aimed at reducing plastic pollution are at the heart of the Earth Day 2025 event, is indicative of the growing number of companies who have already chosen to use biodegradable packaging, as well as the increasing popularity of new technologies for advanced recycling;
• conservation of biodiversity and the protection of ecosystems: deforestation and habitat loss are causing a dramatic decline in global biodiversity. In order to tackle this crisis, the event is promoting reforestation projects and the protection of natural ecosystems.  Schemes are already underway to replant forests and conserve coral reefs and wet zones, which are essential for life on earth to flourish;
• sustainable mobility: events dedicated to sustainable mobility are taking place in cities around the world today, with ‘car free’ days and the promotion of the use of bicycles and public transport. The transport sector is undergoing huge change, with the rise of electric vehicles and the development of alternative fuels such as hydrogen.

Translated by Joanne Beckwith