CAFE is joining friends and partners across the world in celebrating Earth Day 2021 and reaffirming our commitment to working to protect the planet against the threat of climate change.

Every year since 1970, 22 April has marked Earth Day and has provided an opportunity for activists to educate and activate the environmental movement worldwide.

Growing out of the first Earth Day over 50 years ago, earthday.org is the world’s largest recruiter to the environmental movement, working with more than 75,000 people in over 192 countries to drive positive action for our planet. 

The theme for Earth Day 2021 is Restore Our Earth, which focuses on natural processes, emerging green technologies, and innovative thinking that can restore the world’s ecosystems. In this way, the theme rejects the notion that mitigation or adaptation are the only ways to address climate change.

It is up to each and every one of us to Restore Our Earth not just because we care about the natural world, but because we live on it. We all need a healthy Earth to support our jobs, livelihoods, health & survival, and happiness. A healthy planet is not an option — it is a necessity.

More than 1 billion people now participate in Earth Day activities each year, making it the largest civic observance in the world. earthday.org invites everyone to be a part of Earth Day and to help further climate action across the globe. 

Despite the global impact of climate crisis, it is those already facing hardship on a social and economic level that will be hit the hardest. Disabled people are disproportionately affected by the negative effects of climate change, due not only to potential increased vulnerability to extreme climate events, but also to limited access to knowledge, resources, and services to effectively respond to environmental change.

Dr Aleksandra Kosanic believes that global environmental change should be considered a disability rights issue. She writes, “The problem is that disabled populations have, until now, been mostly absent from the global conversation. This is true for policy-making as much as it is for the scientific debate around environmental change”.

CAFE understands that we all have a duty to protect our planet, its environment and biodiversity, and is supportive of our partner UEFA’s sustainability works. In 2018, UEFA joined the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework - an initiative that aims to minimise the threat posed by climate change, in line with the Paris Agreement of 2015.

As part CAFE’s own commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and in particular Goal 13: Climate Action, we have pledged to offset unavoidable greenhouse gas emissions in relation to events and travel.

CAFE is currently on the lookout for a sustainability partner to help us with this pledge and would invite any interested NGOs to contact us at [email protected].

Visit our climate commitment page for more information on CAFE's efforts to help create a sustainable and greener environment for everyone.

Published 22/04/21