What we're covering
• Today is the fifth annual Call to Earth Day, part of a CNN editorial series committed to reporting on the environmental challenges facing our planet, together with the solutions.
• Rolex’s Perpetual Planet Initiative has partnered with CNN to drive awareness and education around key sustainability issues and to inspire positive action.
• Young people around the world are taking steps to guard their green space.
Terminating pollution
Planet Matters, a global movement dedicated to fighting plastic pollution through fun and community-driven cleanups, organized a beach cleanup and encouraged people to enjoy nature while keeping it clean.
For Call to Earth Day, they also teamed up with The Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative for another beach cleanup, channeling Arnold’s iconic energy: “Together, we took action because as Arnold always says: ‘We must terminate pollution.’”
A London school takes a holistic approach to sustainability
Students at the North Bridge House Senior School in London take CNN inside the school’s holistic plan to become more sustainable –– inside and outside the classroom.
Riverbank restoration in South Africa
Greenpop is a South African non-profit organization on a mission to restore ecosystems and empower environmental stewards through forest restoration, urban greening and environmental awareness projects across Sub-Saharan Africa.
For Call to Earth Day, Greenpop is collaborating with the Alexandra Water Warriors, a grassroots movement formed by locals determined to reclaim and restore their environment in Alexandra, a township in South Africa.
Together, they are planting greenery and restoring the riverbanks of the nearby Jukskei River, where unreliable waste services mean rubbish often pollutes the water.
Growing knowledge at Japan's American School
CNN’s Hanako Montgomery reports from the American School in Japan, where students from kindergarten to 12th grade are learning through lessons inspired by the UN Sustainable Development Goals –– covering food security, climate change, and green spaces.
On site, students Remy and Marcella show off their harvest, and share what they enjoy about gardening: “It’s fun being in nature.” They also reflect on learning about ecosystems, decomposers, and the importance of not leaving food waste behind. The next generation is having fun while growing a greener future for Call to Earth Day 2025.
Hanako Montgomery reports from the American School in Japan for Call To Earth Day 2025.
Students go wild with art exhibition
The Finnish School of Kosovo was mentioned in our live story earlier today, but we wanted to share an update.
The school has gone all out with an exhibition highlighting the importance of protecting and reimagining our natural environments.
Students at the school created artworks for the exhibition, titled “Our City, Greener,” which included paintings, sculptures and spoken word performances.
Finnish School of Kosovo celebrates Call To Earth Day 2025
Family roots in nature
Environmental activist, public speaker and writer Fredrika Syren (@zero.waste.family) shares what green spaces mean to her. This year’s Call to Earth Day theme – “guard your green space” – resonates deeply with her mission.
For Fredrika and her family, protecting nature isn’t just about saving trees or clean air, it’s about health and passing on something beautiful to the next generation.
A unique 'environmental trial' for Israeli students
At Tali Alona Elementary School, in Israel, fifth-grade students are taking part in an “environmental trial,” in partnership with the Faculty of Sciences at Seminar Hakibbutzim College.
During the trial, students debated the issue of invasive species in Israel, and their impact on native biodiversity. Each student represented a role such as a farmer, someone from Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority, or one of the bird species.
The goal is to help children understand ecological balance, ethical decision-making, and the complexity of human intervention in nature.
An urban oasis in Beijing
Beijing’s Liangma River was heavily polluted up until 2016, when it was fully restored through a campaign led by the Chinese government. It is now one of the city’s most popular green spaces.
CNN’s Beijing bureau chief, Steven Jiang, speaks to children from the British School of Beijing, who are raising awareness of the need to protect the river, and other green urban spaces, for future generations.
Steven Jiang reports from the banks of the Liangma River in Beijing for Call To Earth Day 2025.
Students lead by example in Chile
Students from Colegios Dunalastair, a school in Santiago, Chile, rolled up their sleeves for a beach cleanup, along with the Association of British Schools in Chile.
Through initiatives like tree planting, composting, and measuring their carbon footprints, these students are proving that sustainability isn’t just a lesson – it’s a lifestyle.
“We learned that taking care of the environment is not a thing you do only once a day. It’s a mindset,” said one student.
'Scientists are like kids who never quite grow up'
Explorer and oceanographer, Sylvia Earle, has spent more than seven decades exploring the ocean. But she says the “greatest era of exploration is just beginning.”
The Rolex testimonee and founder of Mission Blue, which is part of the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative, says that curiosity is the key to understanding our planet. She wants to encourage scientists, and all of us, to keep asking questions.
“Ocean is still the greatest part of this planet. (The) least known, least explored, with some of the greatest discoveries yet to be made,” she says.
An eco-garden in Nigeria receives a much-needed revamp
The Tee-Tops School in Lagos, Nigeria has had an abundant eco-garden since 2018, but in recent years the plot has become overgrown, preventing access to students and staff alike.
Thanks to the work of FABE International Foundation, the garden has received an overhaul.
The learning space has now been restored to its former glory. Students can cultivate and harvest fresh vegetables, fruit, herbs and spices in a zero-waste environment, which has upcycled materials and uses only organic growing mediums.
Focus on food security in Kenya
The East African nation loses up to 40% of food produced every year, reports CNN’s Victoria Rubadiri.
She visited a school in Nairobi where students were learning about shaping a more efficient food supply chain, from pollinator to plate.
Children in the Czech Republic turn trash into art
Schools and kindergartens across the town of Bílina in Czech Republic cleaned up green spaces around their schools and creatively transformed collected waste into unique characters. Marcela Dvořáková, the deputy mayor of Bílina tells CNN that around 250 children took part in the initiative.
Biodiversity in the city
Students at the North Bridge House Senior School, in London, are transforming an outdoor space into a sustainable eco-garden, growing flowers, herbs and seasonal berries.
CNN’s Nada Bashir speaks to students who hope the transformed space will promote biodiversity in an otherwise highly urbanized area, as well as fostering mindfulness among the student community and creating a space for them to be with nature.
The initiative is part of a broader sustainability project within the school, which is also aiming to reduce the school’s energy consumption.
Trees over tarmac
Influencer and microplastics researcher Dana Zhaxylykova (@dankazh) joins CNN’s Call To Earth Day with a powerful reminder: green spaces aren’t just beautiful –– they’re vital for our mental health, biodiversity, and the planet’s future. As cities expand, she urges us to choose trees over tarmac and protect the nature that sustains us.
'I feel peace'
“Why do people visit parks, and how do they feel when they step into green spaces?”
For Call to Earth Day, SustyVibes, a Nigerian social enterprise supporting community sustainability projects, took this question to Millennium Park in the country’s capital, Abuja.
From contributing to a feeling of peace, to the role of trees in keeping the air clean, park-goers in Abuja recognized the importance of guarding green spaces.
Small town, big impact
Ahead of Call to Earth Day, a community initiative in Geetbets, Belgium, organized a cleanup to bring together residents, families, schools, and local associations in the fight against litter and illegal dumping.
More than 70 volunteers joined the event, coordinated by Geetbets Proper in collaboration with the Municipality of Geetbets and local supermarket AD Delhaize Geetbets.
“Geetbets wants to show that even a small rural municipality can make a visible difference in creating a cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable living environment,” says Eric Van Dam, coordinator of Geetbets Proper.
Giving denim second life
As the president of the sustainable fashion club at The American School in Tokyo, Japan, Miyuki is on a quest to warn people against fast fashion.
“Our mission is to spread awareness about the environmental impact and consequences about the fast fashion industry,” she tells CNN’s Hanako Montgomery on Call to Earth Day.
In its latest project, the club has recently collected five boxes of unwanted denim from different grades and sent them to recycling factories.
They were broken down into new fibers, from which they were turned into t-shirts and bags, she says.
'Hope is action'
Last month, global clean-up community Clean Something For Nothing (CSFN) organized a litter pickup in Luxembourg City, dedicated to the memory of the late Jane Goodall.
“We kicked off with a touching tribute from EU Climate Pact Ambassador Dr. Nuray Unlu Bohn, who reminded us that hope is action,” CSFN wrote on Instagram.
The team gathered up an impressive assortment of trash, including nearly 50 kilograms of non-recyclable waste, another 9 kilograms of recyclables, and 300 cigarette butts.
'There’s a real risk that we could lose reefs within our lifetime'
Coral reefs are closely connected to our lives, but they are also under imminent threat from climate change.
That’s why Australian marine biologist Emma Camp is on a quest to look for the toughest corals, hoping that she and her team of scientists can rehabilitate damaged reefs with more resilient ones.
While reefs cover only a small percentage of the ocean floor, over 1 billion people rely on them for fish stocks, protection from storms, and even pharmaceutical compounds, says Camp, a Rolex Associate Laureate, whose Coral Nursery program is part of the Perpetual Planet Initiative.
“Despite their immense importance, there is a real risk we could lose reefs within our lifetime, primarily because of climate change,” she tells CNN on Call for Earth Day.
As her team continues to do what they can to reverse the damage, she says people could help by recognizing the important role they have to play in protecting our shared natural environment.
“No matter where you are in the world you are connected to coral reefs,” she says.
