The 40th anniversary of Earth Day is marked today in a year that is also celebrated to promote biodiversity. Global awareness of the need to protect the environment has grown exponentially since 20 million people in the United States marked the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970. That environmental teach-in was staged in protest over US government inaction on the destruction caused by an oil spill along the coast of southern California. For 10 days in January 1969, a busted platform of Union Oil had spewed up to 10,000 barrels of crude oil into the ocean, fouling up coastal communities, killing marine life and about 10,000 birds.
Despite the increase in global environmental awareness, serious problems remain. Climate change continues to pose a threat to public health, livelihood, food security and the survival of many species and human communities. Last year the Philippines experienced the devastating consequences of environmental degradation during the cataclysmic flooding triggered by storms Ondoy and Pepeng. There is no assurance that the destructive flooding will not occur again this year.
Developing countries are torn between the need to use cheap but dirty fossil fuels for economic growth to alleviate poverty and the need to shift to clean but more expensive energy and environment-friendly technology. Several advanced economies themselves are not rushing to join global initiatives to cut carbon emissions.
The Philippines, which is home to rainforests and coral reefs, including a sea passage classified by experts as the center of the center of marine shore fish biodiversity in the world, has a special role to play in preserving the remaining natural wealth of the planet. The country’s forests have been depleted and the reefs destroyed.
Over a billion people in some 190 countries are expected to take part in activities marking Earth Week. In the Philippines, about 5,500 people participated last Sunday in a fun run and more joined the annual bicycle “Tour of the Fireflies” to kick off activities marking Earth Week. Fireflies have all but disappeared from urban centers and have become a rare sight even in rural areas because of the destruction of their habitat. Beyond the symbolic activities, the government and concerned sectors must see to it that the many laws that have been passed to protect the environment are effectively enforced. Each country must act responsibly and do its share in saving the planet.