Every day should be Earth Day, the global call to environmental action and protection. It is the day to raise the Earth Flag which features “the Blue Marble”, a photo of planet Earth taken by the crew of Apollo 17.

The stakes for our planet have never been higher. On Earth Day 2025, NOW is calling on businesses to ACT NOW, to invest in our planet and to make the transition to net-zero emissions sooner than later.

Past Earth Days hold many memorable moments.

– Earth Day 2016 was the day when a record 175 parties, including 174 countries and the European Union, signed the Paris Agreement reached at COP 21, a landmark climate pact that aims to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

– For NOW, COP 21 was our “light bulb moment”, the day of realization and insight, the moment of inspiration and clarity when we grasped in four words when action starts … “It must be NOW!”   It was the day that inspired the vision for NOW Transforming Hospitality GmbH, which was launched on Earth Day 2017.

COUNTRY PERFORMANCE ON CLIMATE ACTION

Today, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) underscores the need for decisive action. Climate action must be ramped up in the short term through substantially strengthened 2030 emissions reduction targets to meet the Paris Agreement’s Temperature Goal.

Countries’ 2030 national climate targets, or Nationally Determined Contributions climate action and emission reductions worldwide, and it is clear that efforts are inadequate for staying below the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C limit.

The Climate Change Performance Index (CPPI) 2025 RESULTS monitor climate mitigation efforts of 63 Countries plus the EU – covering more than 90% of the Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions.  CCPI provide annual analysis of countries’ climate protection performance since 2005 and creates transparency in climate policy, making it possible to compare climate protection efforts, progress and setbacks.

Climate concerns persist and faith in government action wanes. The Ipsos Predictions 2025, a 33-Country Ipsos Global Advisor Survey revealed that citizens are increasingly anxious about climate change but less confident in government and technological solution. This growing unease underscores the urgent need for more innovative approaches and global cooperation.

In January 2025, US President Trump withdrew the United States of America from the Paris Agreement once again upon his return to office, and promised “We will drill, baby, drill” in his inauguration speech. The USA once again joined Iran, Libya, and Yemen as the only four countries not party to the Paris Agreement.

FINANCE CARE ABOUT NATURE

A recent article by The Guardian revealed warnings from top insurers.

“The world is fast approaching temperature levels where insurers will no longer be able to offer cover for many climate risks. Without insurance, which is already being pulled in some places, many other financial services become unviable, from mortgages to investments,” said Günther Thallinger, on the board of Allianz SE, one of the world’s biggest insurance companies and also the chair of the German company’s investment board and was previously CEO of Allianz Investment Management. He said that “global carbon emissions are still rising and current policies will result in a rise in global temperature between 2.2C and 3.4C above pre-industrial levels. The damage at 3C will be so great that governments will be unable to provide financial bailouts and it will be impossible to adapt to many climate impacts. “The good news is we already have the technologies to switch from fossil combustion to zero-emission energy. The only thing missing is speed and scale. This is about saving the conditions under which markets, finance, and civilisation itself can continue to operate.”

The argument set out by Thallinger in a LinkedIn post begins with the increasingly severe damage being caused by the climate crisis: “Heat and water destroy capital. Flooded homes lose value. Overheated cities become uninhabitable. Entire asset classes are degrading in real time.”  He said, “We are fast approaching temperature levels – 1.5C, 2C, 3C – where insurers will no longer be able to offer coverage for many of these risks. The math breaks down: the premiums required exceed what people or companies can pay.

This is already happening. Entire regions are becoming uninsurable.” He cited companies ending home insurance in California due to wildfires and said it was a systemic risk “threatening the very foundation of the financial sector”,  because a lack of insurance means other financial services become unavailable: “This is a climate-induced credit crunch. This applies not only to housing, but to infrastructure, transportation, agriculture, and industry. The economic value of entire regions – coastal, arid, wildfire-prone – will begin to vanish from financial ledgers. Markets will reprice, rapidly and brutally. This is what a climate-driven market failure looks like.”

The core business of the insurance industry is risk management and it has long taken the dangers of global heating very seriously. In recent reports, Aviva said extreme weather damages for the decade to 2023 hit $2tn, while GallagherRE said the figure was $400bn in 2024. Zurich said it was “essential” to hit net zero by 2050.

OUR POWER … OUR PLANET

The theme for Earth Day 2025 is OUR POWER, OUR PLANET and calls on everyone around the globe to unite behind renewable energy, and to triple the global generation of clean electricity by 2030, a target set at COP28. Each individual can use the power of their wallet and their vote to drive change. This target remains ambitious but achievable IF countries increase their commitment and implement policies to reach this goal.

Disregarding nature endanger all of us. For Earth Day and every day, we need to take action to preserve and protect the natural world for us and for generations to come. We’re on planet Earth together and we need the natural world to thrive. It does not need us!

 It must be NOW!