Rome marks the 39th Earth Day on 22 April with a free concert in Piazza del Popolo starting at 20.00. Many Italian and international stars will be doing their bit to raise awareness of environmental issues, especially those linked to global warming. Ben Harper’s brand new band Relentless7 will get the ball rolling, to be followed on stage by Italian pop combo Subsonica and Nigerian singer Nnenka, amongst others. The estimated 341,000 kg of CO2 emissions that will be generated by the event will be offset by a series of initiatives in favour of the environment, including the planting of 1,000 trees in the Valle dell’Aniene natural reserve. The event will be streamed live on the Nat Geo website - www.natgeotv.com/earthday - and broadcast on the National Geographic channel (channel 710 on Sky).

Other Earth Day-related events in Rome include an exhibition from 21-30 April at the Ara Pacis by the Seattle-based photographer and artist Chris Jordan, who will be present at the inauguration to explain the negative effects of mass consumerism in modern American society on the environment.

On 22 April the Associazione Marevivo and the Corpo Forestale dello Stato invite the public to watch Olympic canoeists carrying the water of different rivers and seas on the Tiber to symbolize a joint effort to conserve and respect the precious resource. The event will take place between Ponte Matteotti and Ponte Nenni from 10.00 to 12.00.

Organised globally by National Geographic, Earth Day will also be the focus of thousands of events held in schools, communities and cities in 174 countries around the globe.