The first Earth Day was celebrated on April 22, 1970, and it’s widely seen as the launch of the modern environmental movement. Among the many aspects championed: building a healthy and sustainable environment, addressing climate change and protecting Earth’s natural resources for future generations.

The federal Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act and Endangered Species Act are just a few of the major policies enacted toward those goals. Just Friday, more than 155 countries signed the United Nations’ COP21 “Paris Agreement” on climate change, with the goal of ridding the world of fossil fuel pollution this century, and pledging to work to limit Earth’s temperature from warming an additional 2 degrees Celsius.

In Hawaii, as in other places, Earth Day has expanded to Earth Week and April as Earth Month, with special focus on environmental issues and activities.

HAWAII TO HOST CONSERVATION WORLD CONGRESS

In what’s viewed as an environmental — and tourism — coup, Hawaii will host the 2016 International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress from Sept. 1-10.

The IUCN World Conservation Congress meets every four years to bring together leaders from government, non-governmental organizations, UN agencies, the business and public sectors and indigenous organizations to discuss solutions to environment and development challenges worldwide, according to its website.

Themed “Planet at the Crossroads,” the 2016 World Conservation Congress also is expected to launch Hawaii commitments on conservation initiatives, including the imperative to scale up action on biodiversity and sustainable development goals.