Regional Network
EARTHDAY.ORG – Middle East and North Africa
EARTHDAY.org – Middle East and North Africa
Invest in our planet 2022
At EARTHDAY.ORG™, Invest in Our Planet means that the the time is now for the unstoppable courage to preserve and protect our health, our families, our livelihoods. An impressive grand total of 20 countries of the MENA region including Pakistan participated in Earth Day 2021. In each of these countries, we are tackling climate change head-on, engaging in scientific education campaigns, working on biodiversity and restoration projects, curbing plastic waste and pollution, and highlighting climate literacy to inspire the next generation of environmental advocates. We can’t do this work alone. MENA and Pakistan are an integral part of the global EARTHDAY.ORG™ network, and we are calling on everyone to rise up and come together to act and make sustainable changes to protect the earth that we all live on. Earth Day is not a day, but a movement.
HISTORY
Throughout the last decade, EARTHDAY.ORG™ has organized countless activities and built remarkable partnerships in each country of the Middle East and North Africa region.
EARTHDAY.ORG™ eliminated all the challenges during the Arab Spring and arranged many environmental workshops in Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya. Those events engaged local officials, NGOs, environmental activists, and more.
In recent years, EARTHDAY.ORG™ motivated the Ministry of Education in Oman to call upon all its schools in the Sultanate for environmental actions. Additionally, Morocco, Israel, Palestine, UAE, Azerbaijan, and Pakistan have all showcased real action to save our mother Earth.
Together We invest in our planet
Earth Day is a unique opportunity to again create a catalytic moment that will advance real solutions and protect the environment for ourselves and future generations.
To restore our Earth, we have to make big changes. The global COVID-19 pandemic has illuminated the necessity for environmental movements, and with your support we can work to prevent the next environmental disaster.
In the MENA region, we’ve seen lives uprooted by COVID-19, but also deforestation, desertification, water pollution, and, of course, climate change. Climate change has led to drought, monsoons, flooding, food insecurity, and more.
In the light of the coronavirus outbreak, Earth Day 2020 was the first digital Earth Day in history. EARTHDAY.ORG™ taught individuals, organizations, students, and governments new virtual methods and techniques to take environmental actions. A year after the first digital Earth Day in history, Earth Day 2021 furthered the success and boasted impressive participation worldwide. In the MENA and Pakistan region, the overall goals of Earth Day 2021 were to focus on combining civic education and climate literacy to create green jobs as well as give citizens the opportunity to participate with their governments in combating climate change.
Restore Our Earth 2021 Success
The widespread engagement in EARTHDAY.ORG™ campaigns over MENA and Pakistan serve as a wake-up call for governments to further efforts towards restoring our Earth. Many governments took ambitious steps forward during Earth Day 2021. For instance;
- Lebanon doubled down on its climate ambition for the next ten years by raising both its GHG emission reduction targets and renewable-energy-sourced power generation targets.
- Saudi Arabia announced that it will produce half of the country’s electricity from renewable and clean energy by 2030, achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, and plant 10 billion trees locally.
- Egypt has launched a program to integrate environment and climate literacy into all schools with various curriculums and resources.
- Pakistan will host World Environment Day.
EARTHDAY.ORG™ continued the innovation of Earth Day 2020 by reinvigorating the digital experiences while also integrating in-person events. With the help of over 5000 volunteers, more than 290 different events in MENA and Pakistan were offered, including Zoom sessions, tree planting, cleanups, poster making, and artwork displays. In addition to the myriad of events offered, we also saw more women taking part in Earth Day since last year.
Get Involved
In conjunction with youth climate groups, EDO is organizing mobilizations around the world with sister marches in hundreds of cities. Clergy across the globe, inspired by the youth climate movement, are engaging in worship services that bring creation care themes and the moral imperative to act on climate change to the forefront.
EDO is also creating millions of avenues for civic engagement in the Middle East and North Africa countries and working with decision-makers, including policy makers, local, regional and national governments and corporate sector leaders, to reach a diverse network of citizens around the world.
Education is the key to progress. The environmental education has been the fuel of the movement since first Earth Day 1970. Teach-ins empowers individuals and communities with knowledge to take action and promote sustainable solutions. It also create a platform for students and educators in the Middle East to always learn new methods and techniques to tackle local environmental issues and engaging in possible resolutions. EARTHDAY.ORG develops various downloadable, customizable resources to advancing all efforts to Restore Our Earth 2021. Learn more here.
EARTHDAY.ORG is working to grow the environmental movement among the next generation of leaders – college students.
MobilizeU is bringing the environmental education efforts to university and college campuses around the world. Learn more here.
Earth Challenge 2020 seeks to become the world’s largest coordinated citizen science campaign by developing a new mobile application for data collection, and a platform for global citizen science data. Through the mobile app, Earth Challenge 2020 empowers people around the world to monitor threats to environmental and human health in their communities. Learn more here.
The Great Global Cleanup is campaign in the Middle East and North Africa region to remove thousands of pieces of trash from neighborhoods, beaches, rivers, lakes, trails, and parks reducing waste and plastic pollution, improving habitats, and preventing harm to wildlife and humans. Learn more here.
Since 1970, the endeavor for moral, religious, and justice issues has become inextricably linked to the protection of our environment. EDO has engaged faith partners world-wide through a variety of campaigns.
From organizing an interfaith dialogue on climate change between Christian, Jewish, and Muslim clergy, working with India’s Sikh community to reduce plastic consumption and waste in their temples, to our work with the Vatican, EARTHDAY.ORG is committed to further engaging communities of faith for Earth Day 2021.
Learn more here.
Artists for the Earth is a collaborative campaign for artists that are using the power of their art to heighten awareness, increase relevance in everyday lives, mobilize action and illuminate the pathway to change for our planet and hope for the future. Learn more here.
Contact EarthDay.org – MENA
Rusul Al Shihab
Director for Earth Day in Middle East and North Africa
[email protected]
What can you do
Help build the largest, most diverse global mobilization in defense of the environment.
EDO will feature and highlight the actions of all groups and individuals working on Earth Day activities leading up to, on and after Earth Day 2021.
