Earth Day turns 55 – but It’s Just Ramping Up

Throughout 1970, U.S. Junior Senator from Wisconsin, Senator Gaylord Nelson, worked with young activist Denis Hayes to create a day where everybody could be a part of an international environmental movement, by speaking out against environmental injustices and deterioration worldwide. The first Earth Day on April 22, 1970, involved staff groups, students at the high school and collegiate level, politicians, and workers from an array of occupations. In Canada on that very same day, a mock funeral was held in Windsor, Ontario, mourning the death of the Lake Eerie Watershed. 20 years later in 1990, over 200 million people participated in the movement, with Denis Hayes at the forefront once again by coordinating events across 141 countries. As it has evolved through the ages, the day has only grown and expanded the conversations further than just the gatherings. It has ignited groups, projects, and laws worldwide in hopes of a greener planet. With the new age of technology and the internet from 2000 onwards, it opened doors for international collaboration and organization. Digital messaging and social media provided nearly everyone with the platform they needed to share their views and support for the movement.

The well-known treaty on climate change, the Paris Agreement opened for signatures on Earth Day of 2016. Once the threshold of 55 countries that contribute 55% of total global emissions ratifying the agreement had been met, the treaty entered into force in November of that same year. Today, 195 countries have signed onto the Paris Agreement, accounting for 98% of total emissions in the world.

2025 marks 55 years since the very first Earth Day. As we look to the present, this Earth Day in Manitoba was met with passion and determination from assortments of community members – it was an intergenerational gathering of hope. Grade 11 student Aurelia Collantes from Maples Collegiate in attendance with the Maples Eco Crew explains their motivation.

“The climate is very important to me because the Earth takes care of
us. I feel like as a population, and as a community, we should reciprocate
that because it’s given us so many things. As a member of this community, I feel obligated to take care of the Earth.”

During the rally at the Manitoba Legislature on April 22nd, 2025, $2 million was pledged towards climate action efforts by Environment and Climate Change Minister Mike Moyes. The bulk of this pledge (about 90 percent) will go towards locally led projects across the province, allowing more support for grassroots work. Notably, a chunk of this funding will
go towards the University of Winnipeg’s Prairie Climate Centre to support making climate science studies accessible to all – crunching the numbers and scientific terms into easily digestible content, so that all residents of the Prairies may understand how the environment around them has and may change. Climate education is pertinent to ensuring that the truth doesn’t get lost among misinformation and fearmongering, a common
problem in this age of society.

Earth Day is not just a day of neighborhood cleanups, rallies and protests – it is an outcry from the masses aiming to stop the detriment of the Earth’s climate and natural beauty before we reach the point of no return.