Today marks World Earth Day. It is a bit unsettling that this day is being observed at a time when the world is on the brink of World War III. We are living in a time when the world’s superpower has threatened to erase an entire civilisation. And how will that happen? Weapons and bombs used to obliterate entire countries will end up hurting the entire world. This is a reminder for us to be more vocal about stopping wars and demanding our leaders to stop this destruction. While the uber-rich may either have already secured a second home in Mars or access to deep bunkers, billions of people see only Planet Earth as their home. This year’s Earth Day’s theme ‘Our Power, Our Planet’ reflects the same truth: environmental progress doesn’t depend on any single administration or election. It is sustained by the daily actions of communities, educators, workers and families protecting where they live and work.
Not just that. Besides stopping wars, countries should also reflect on what they pass as development and progress work. In search of superintelligence, we have set up power-hungry data centres that require tonnes of water for cooling. Our ambitions of smart cities have led to the production of chips that require minerals settled deep inside the earth. This means that we need constant digging and drilling to extract minerals that can help countries get more revenue. Oceans are being encroached to develop artificial islands and sell them at inflated prices. Fertile lands are being razed down to construct housing societies. The new benchmark of development is skyscrapers and concrete jungles. Wildlife is being intentionally displaced and ignored to make for new highways.
This is not the tale of one country. This is how the world is behaving to meet its development goal. If people were asked today about the last time they heard the sound of crickets at night, they would probably remain silent for far too long. People may have forgotten how the nightingale sang or how the pigeon cooed. This is because we are increasingly turning our cities into artificial setups that do not coexist with nature. Countries’ recklessness has led to disasters. The year 2025, for example, saw 358 natural hazard-related disasters, resulting in over 16,000 fatalities, affecting 110.2 million people and causing $169.68 billion in economic losses, according to the Emergency Events Database maintained by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (Cred) at one of the oldest universities in Europe. Every individual has the power to create change. People should rise up to the challenge and peacefully protest against actions that hurt our environment. We have to say no to bombs and environment-averse development and protect our planet.
