Earth Day Network Blog Updates

Exactly one month before Earth Day, March 22nd is World Water Day! Water is a precious resource that is necessary for all life on Earth, but our freshwater sources are under increased strain worldwide. The international observance of World Water Day is an initiative that grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro. Each year, World Water Day highlights a specific aspect of freshwater and its status in the international environmental community. Read More

Create ‘green’ art for Earth Day 2011!  Earth Day Network and the United Nations Environment Programme’s youth branch (UNEP-Tunza) are working together to encourage everyone to participate in the 20th Children’s Painting Competition for Earth Day 2011!!

Yesterday morning, in an unusual break with the planned agenda, the co-chair of the assembly planning the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development, or Rio+20, randomly chose to give the floor to representatives of each of the stakeholder groups most affected by development and the environment.  One by one, spokespeople from Business and Industry; Children and Youth; Farmers; Indigenous Peoples; Local Authorities; Non-Governmental Organizations; Scientific and Technological Community; Women; and Workers and Trade Unions got to say what they want Rio+20 to deliver.  

As we inch closer to Rio+20, the UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, Earth Day Network staff is participating in the second Preparatory Committee meeting in New York, also known as “Prepcom 2.”  As part of the Rio+20 Women’s Steering Committee of the Women’s Major Group, we are

The majority of our planet is covered in water, but we forget how precious this delicate substance is. Earth Day Network is proud to announce the success of our partners at World Water Monitoring Day™. World Water Monitoring Day is an international education and outreach program that builds public awareness and involvement in protecting water resources around the world by engaging citizens to conduct basic monitoring of their local fresh water bodies.

Our WAGE campaign is gathering steam! Today, our joint op-ed with former U.S. Under Secretary of Energy Kristina Johnson was picked up on CNN.com. Excerpt below. 

Iraq faces serious environmental problems, running the gamut from biodiversity to waste management. That’s hardly surprising. Events from 1980 to the present day have created challenges precluding Iraq from becoming a hotbed of environmentalism. Today, we feature one partner organization working hard to reverse that trend.

Engaging youth in environmental awareness and action can be a huge challenge. Be it apathy, distractions or lack of awareness, some older environmentalists look on the young generation with no small sense of disappointment.

Our international department is out in full force at the 55th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women meeting in New York this week.

In an update today, Japan announced that its initial suspension of whaling activity has been extended to the entire season's "research" whale hunt in the Antarctic, due to "persistent harassment" from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.