Earth Hour 2009: Lights out initiative sparks worldwide unity
Last updated 15/12/2008 11:58:04
62 countries have signed up for WWF’s Earth Hour 2009 where people, businesses and iconic buildings around the world will switch off their lights for an hour in a global demonstration of support for decisive action to tackle climate change.
Earth Hour 2009 will take place on Saturday 28 March. WWF is expecting a billion people in more than 1,000 cities to participate.
Cities committed include Moscow, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, London, Hong Kong, Sydney, Rome, Manila, Oslo, Cape Town, Warsaw, Lisbon, Singapore, Istanbul, Mexico City, Toronto, Dubai and Copenhagen.
The aim is to convince governments across the world to agree to take effective action to tackle climate change, when they meet at the UN climate summit in Copenhagen, in December 2009.
Average global temperatures must remain less than 2°C above pre-industrial levels to avoid irreversible and devastating changes in the planet’s natural systems. WWF seeks cuts in emissions at the UK, EU and global level that will prevent this.
People are encouraged to celebrate the event creatively by hosting candlelit dinner parties, arranging acoustic gigs, organize movie nights or get their locals to hold pub quizzes in the dark.
In 2008, 50 million people across 35 countries switched off their lights for Earth Hour. Landmarks such as Rome’s Colosseum, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, and the Opera House in Sydney all went dark for an hour, as did advertising billboards in New York’s Times Square.
www.earthhour.org