Earth Day 2020 comes at a pivotal moment for our planet. This is the first time since the global celebration was launched 50 years ago where Earth Day events are only digital. COVID-19 has affected the whole world, driving home how connected we are while also keeping us apart in a time of required social distancing.
This is a time for solidarity and support for all those impacted by the current health crisis. It is also a moment for reflection and for planning, as we know that the coronavirus is only one of several global threats that we need to collaborate on for the sake of the one planet we call home. Climate change, biodiversity loss, and other challenges await our continued action and collective problem-solving, with more urgency than ever before.
This Earth Day, we invite you to watch the short films below and learn more about GEF-supported efforts to safeguard the global commons: a stable climate, clean air and water, healthy forests, oceans, biodiversity, and other natural resources we all share and rely on for life.
In order to protect our global commons and turn the tide against dangerous climate change and biosphere degradation, humanity must develop new ways of doing business to deliver transformational change in food, energy, urban, and production and consumption systems. It will take coalitions that bring together governments, businesses, finance, and citizens to realize this goal.
This video takes you to Tigray, a remote region in Ethiopia where the GEF, together with the World Bank, is undertaking a successful land management project, supporting local farmers in the efforts to conduct sustainable agriculture, benefiting landless youth and providing a healthy, sustainable environment.
All around the world, oceans and coastal communities are threatened by climate change, pollution, acidification, and overfishing. With funding from the GEF and Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA), the province of Bataan in the Philippines is working to implement sustainable development strategies, reforest its mangroves, and support small scale fisheries with assistance from the private sector.
Many global environmental issues - as well as their solutions - take place in cities. The GEF’s Sustainable Cities Program supports cities in their pursuit of sustainable urban planning and further enhances the knowledge and experience shared through the Global Platform for Sustainable Cities (GPSC). In this video, visit Bhopal, India, where the GEF, together with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), invested in the relocation of a 40-year-old toxic dumpsite.
As the largest and most biodiverse tropical forest on the planet, the Amazon plays an important role in regulating the climate. Learn about the GEF’s Amazon Region Protected Areas Program (ARPA), as well as the Good Growth Partnership, a GEF initiative to encourage sustainable and deforestation-free food production. By addressing market forces alongside conservation, the GEF aims to turn good practice into business as usual.
