Why natural capital is key to Earth Day success

NEXT week’s Earth Day (Apr 22) has an intriguing economic theme this year: “Investing in our planet”.

The goal of the organisers is engaging more businesses and wider organisations, plus the more than one billion citizens who participate annually in Earth Day, to do their part so everyone is accounted for, and everyone is accountable. What this underlines is that governments cannot do it all by themselves given the monumental scale of the challenge, and other players from the public, private and third sectors must now enter the arena to ensure the level of ambition is delivered in a more ambitious, inclusive and, ultimately, more effective fashion.

To this end, one of the key activities promoted by organisers this year is improving our shared environment by getting more people and organisations to plant trees across the globe. Since 2010, Earth Day has helped oversee the planting of tens of millions of trees with The Canopy Project, working worldwide to strengthen communities. This is helping reforest areas in dire need of rehabilitation, including areas with some of the world’s communities most at risk from climate change and environmental degradation.