Earth Hour, the world’s largest movement for the planet, has launched its 2013 global campaign on the back of record environmental outcomes it achieved in 2012.
This year Australians aren’t just switching off their lights for Earth Hour, they’re also pledging to switch over to renewable energy for good at earthhour.org.au.
“Earth Hour started right here in Australia, in one city, with one idea and now it has been embraced by the world. That’s why it is fantastic to see Australians building on Earth Hour’s immense success by pledging to switch to renewable energy,” said Dermot O’Gorman, CEO of WWF-Australia, the charity behind Earth Hour.
In Australia over 1.5 million households have already made the switch to renewable energy, like solar or GreenPower. These households can also show their support by letting people know they have joined Australia’s clean energy future at earthhour.org.au.
Globally, Earth Hour is also taking on different challenges with inspiring goals in many of the 152 countries that participate.
- In 2013, WWF’s Earth Hour in Russia is aiming to secure more than 100,000 signatures from Russian citizens to petition for a ban on industrial logging in an area of land equal to twice the size of France.
- In Africa, the first Earth Hour Forest has begun in the nation of Uganda, an important first step in the fight against the 6,000 hectares of deforestation that occurs in the country every month. WWF Uganda identified close to 2,700 hectares of degraded land, and set a goal to fill it with at least 500,000 indigenous trees as part of their Earth Hour 2013 campaign.
- In Botswana, former President Mr Festus Mogae has made a four-year commitment to plant one million indigenous trees as part of his I Will If You Will challenge.
- Across Latin America, preparations for ‘La Hora Del Planeta’ are well underway with Argentinian Earth Hour organisers and WWF affiliate Fundación Vida Silvestre Argentina, mobilizing thousands of participants to help champion the passing of a Senate bill to make Banco Burwood the biggest Marine Protected Area (MPA) in the country.
- In the USA, nearly 35,000 Girls Scouts took part in Earth Hour last year through the Save Energy Project, and installed 132,141 energy efficient light bulbs across the country. The impact is a staggering 75,392,654 pounds of CO2 emissions eliminated, equivalent to the CO2 sequestration from planting 7,286 acres of trees per year*.
Andy Ridley, CEO and Co-Founder of Earth Hour said, “These outcomes both evidence the power of our collective action and the potential for future outcomes for the environment, generated by hundreds of millions of people coming together as part of the Earth Hour movement.”
Earth Hour 2013 will take place at 8.30pm – 9.30pm on Saturday 23 March
For more information, please visit earthhour.org.au
Images, video, spokespeople and celebrity ambassadors available upon request.
WWF-Australia contacts:
Hamish Wyatt
Earth Hour Media Officer
+61 2 8202 1216
0414 544 911
hwyatt@wwf.org.au
wwf.org.au
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