Today is International Mother Earth Day. The General Assembly designated 22 April as International Mother Earth Day through a resolution adopted in 2009.
The day is celebrated by an estimated one billion people around the world across more than 190 nations.
The theme in 2020 is climate action.
It was celebrated for the first time in 1970, making 2020 the year of its 50th anniversary.
United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres has said the recovery from the pandemic must be turned into a real opportunity to do things right for the future.
While the impact of COVID-19 was both “immediate and dreadful” and countries must work together to save lives and lessen the consequences of the pandemic, he said there was “another, even deeper emergency – the planet’s unfolding environmental crisis”.
“Biodiversity is in steep decline. Climate disruption is approaching a point of no return.
“We must act decisively to protect our planet from both the coronavirus and existential threat of of climate disruption.”
