When the first Earth Day was celebrated 52 years ago on April 22, many of the young activists and local volunteers picking up litter and protesting for cleaner air and water may not have predicted just how precarious the state of the planet would be today. The population in 1970 was 3.7 billion; today it's 7.9 billion - with the vast majority of people living in developing countries and lacking crucial infrastructure like internet access, clean water, efficient transportation, and reliable energy, especially clean energy.

The latest report by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says the world is on track to miss a crucial climate target within eight years pushing the climate into 'unprecedented' territory. U.N. Secretary General António Guterres said the findings catalogue 'empty pledges that put us firmly on track towards an unlivable world.' As per the experts, it's still technically possible and economically viable to curb carbon pollution on the scale that's required to limit warming if greenhouse gas emissions are dramatically cut. - blog.wb.org/blogs

A version of this article appears in the print on April 22, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.