For Earth Day 2026, the network of partners, volunteers and campaigners behind Earthday.org pressed on with the slogan adopted in 2025: Our Planet, Our Power.
The continuation – not unusual for the non-profit organisation – reflects current global conditions. It also serves as an ongoing call for people and communities to take action and sustain environmental protection, stressing the knock-on effects on daily life when the call is ignored and the planet exploited.
“Environmental conditions influence food systems, water availability, energy access, disaster risk and economic resilience across all regions. Community participation has historically shaped these outcomes across countries and political systems,” Earthday.org states.
A brief history of the Earth Day movement
Earth Day started in 1970 in the US, where air pollution was rife owing to the vast amounts of leaded gas emitted by the automobile industry. The population, for the most part, were oblivious to the damage being wrought on the planet.
Senator Gaylord Nelson, a junior senator from Wisconsin, was paying attention, however. In January 1969, he was deeply moved by a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. Inspired by the anti-war student movement, Nelson wanted to merge that rebellious spirit with a rising consciousness of air and water pollution.
He organised college teach-ins with the help of Pete McCloskey, a Republican congressman with a mind for conservation, and activist Denis Hayes. They chose April 22 because it was a weekday that fell between spring break and final exams, thereby ensuring maximum student participation.
Hayes went on to recruit 85 staff to promote the events across the country to a broader audience. That's how the name Earth Day came up, a moniker that captured the nation and the media's attention. Ultimately, about 20 million Americans, 10 per cent of the population at the time, were inspired to head out into the streets and public spaces to demonstrate against the environmental impacts of industrial development.
Milestone event becomes catalyst for change
It was an important moment for many reasons. Not only did it spark a five-decade-long venture that is still ongoing, but it also brought together a range of communities. Groups that had been leading the fight on specific issues, such as oil spills and pesticide use, united under the umbrella of Earth Day.
Republicans and Democrats, people of varying social classes, big-city folk, farmers and businessmen all joined in.
It led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and paved a path for the introduction of environmental laws, including the Clean Air Act.
From America to the world
It took 20 years for Earth Day to go global, after a group of international environmental leaders approached Hayes in 1990. This led to 200 million people from 141 countries getting involved, with a focus on worldwide recycling efforts.
The internet has enabled organisers to reach out to people in the farthest corners of the planet. Today, an estimated one billion people mark Earth Day globally. More than ever, people are aware of the detrimental effects industrialisation has on our planet, and they're willing to stand up and say something about it.
Marking 50 years of Earth Day
To mark the movement's 50th anniversary in 2020, the organisers of Earth Day Network – as it was then named – chose to focus on climate action. “The enormous challenges – but also the vast opportunities – of acting on climate change have distinguished the issue as the most pressing topic for the 50th anniversary year,” reads a statement on the official website.
“At the end of 2020, nations will be expected to increase their national commitments to the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, so the time is now for citizens to call for greater global ambition to tackle our climate crisis.”
Yet, many of the events were entirely digital as populations aimed to curb the spread of Covid-19 and practise social distancing.
The Global Advisory Committee was also established in 2020. The programme enlists worldwide leaders and activists to help engage their communities. This includes actor Leonardo DiCaprio, Princess Lalla Hasna of Morocco, former president of Finland Tarja Halonen, former US Secretary of State John Kerry, actor and producer Anil Kapoor and Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson, to name a few.
