Earth Hour is a worldwide grassroots movement uniting people to protect the planet, and is organised by WWF.
It is an event that aims to create
awareness of people taking responsibility towards a sustainable future by
turning the lights off. Earth Hour is not to be confused with Earth Day.
Engaging a massive mainstream
community on a broad range of environmental issues, Earth Hour was famously
started as a lights-off event in Sydney, Australia in 2007.
Since then it has grown to engage more
than 7000 cities and towns worldwide, and the one-hour event continues to
remain the key driver of the now larger movement.
Actor Arjun Kapoor has been announced
as the national brand ambassador of the environmental campaign ' Earth Hour
2014
What
do people do?
People will turn off all non-essential
lights to raise awareness about environmental challenges at the specified time.
On Saturday March 29th at 8:30pm,
millions of people across the world are switching off lights for one hour - to
celebrate their commitment to the planet.
Iconic buildings and landmarks from
Europe to Asia to the Americas have stood in darkness during previous Earth
Hours.
Some people enjoy Earth Hour with a candle-lit dinner or a candle-lit bath, while others host large events or parties, either in darkness or with candles, to celebrate Earth Hour.
Some people enjoy Earth Hour with a candle-lit dinner or a candle-lit bath, while others host large events or parties, either in darkness or with candles, to celebrate Earth Hour.
Businesses and government
organizations, as well as community and political leaders also take part in
Earth Hour. It's about giving people a voice on the planet’s future and working
together to create a sustainable low carbon future for planet earth.
Earth Hour only asks people to turn
off the non-essential lights for one hour - not lights that affect public
safety. Earth Hour is also a celebration of the planet so it’s important to
enjoy the moment in a safe environment
For
the very first time, Moscow’s Kremlin and whole Red Square complex, including St. Basil’s Cathedral,
Historical Museum and the famous GUM-mall switch off for Earth Hour.
Participating
landmarks include:
The Sydney Harbour Bridge, Tokyo
Tower, Taipei 101, The Petronas Towers, Beijing National Stadium (Bird's Nest),
Marina Bay Sands Singapore, Gateway of India, The Burj Khalifa, The Church of
the Nativity (Birthplace of Jesus, Bethlehem), Table Mountain, Dubrovnik City
Walls, Eiffel Tower, Avenue Habib Bourguiba, The Acropolis, Tower of Pisa, The
Spanish Steps, Brandenburg Gate, Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge, The UK Houses
of Parliament, Big Ben, Christ the Redeemer Statue, CN Tower, Las Vegas Strip,
Times Square, The Empire State Building, Niagara Falls and more.
Vancouver,
Canada was crowned as
the first ever Global Earth Hour Capital.
The city was recognised for its ambition to be a global leader on climate-smart
urban development with green targets.
For example, by 2020, Vancouver aims
for all new buildings to be carbon neutral in their operations; citizens to
make over 50% of trips by foot, bicycle or public transport; and the number of
green jobs to have doubled.
Whose
idea was Earth Hour:
Earth Hour came from a think tank
initiated by Earth Hour CEO and
Co-Founder, Andy Ridley, resulting in the formation of a partnership between
WWF Australia, Leo Burnett and Fairfax Media to address the climate change
issue.
In 2007, there was still a degree of
scepticism and denial about the issue of climate change. Earth Hour came as the
inspiration to rally people to the reality of climate change and start a
dialogue about what we as individuals can do to help address the greatest
problem facing our planet today.
Leo Burnett partnered with WWF to
promote the idea and help make the campaign a reality in Sydney, a campaign
which has now gone beyond climate change to symbolise the growing global
pursuit of a better, healthier world.
Commitment
to Earth Hour mean:
By registering for Earth Hour 2014,
individuals, communities and businesses are making a commitment to turn their
lights off for an hour at 8.30PM on Saturday 29 March in acknowledgement of an
act they will undertake for the benefit of the planet.
We hope that these
individuals, communities and businesses will take action beyond the hour
through Earth Hour Blue
Earth
Hour’s relationship with WWF:
Earth Hour is an initiative of
WWF. In 2007, WWF initiated Earth Hour a
way of engaging a broad section of society in the environmental issues
challenging citizens across the world. WWF embraced the idea of an open sourced
campaign that would allow communities and organisations to become part of a
global movement to protect out planet.
Why
is Spider-Man Earth Hour’s ambassador in 2014?
Earth Hour and ‘The Amazing Spider-Man
2’ (TASM2), distributed by Sony Pictures Entertainment, are encouraging people
across the world to become superheroes for the planet with a simple call to
action: “Use Your Power at earthhour.org”.
The partnership will allow us to reach
an even broader section of society to spread the Earth Hour message, which is
an approach that has allowed the movement to grow to the position it is in
today.
Key to the partnership is that The
Amazing Spider-Man 2 is the most eco-friendly blockbuster produced by Sony
Pictures. Sony Pictures will offset 4,000 tonnes of carbon through WWF-China’s
Gold Standard Verified ‘Energy Efficient Stoves To Protect The Giant Panda”
project; and these carbon offsets have rendered the entire physical production
of the film, as well as well as the appearance and activities of the film’s
cast, producers and director for Earth Hour events, completely carbon-neutral.
Spider-Man is Earth Hour’s first
superhero ambassador, epitomizing the power of the individual and inspiring his
fans to become superheroes for the planet. We want every fan of Spider-Man to
walk away knowing they can do something to protect the planet. Earth Hour is a
movement for people illustrate their support, and Earth Hour Blue is the place
they can get involved.
