Malaysians are urged to take the Earth Hour initiative beyond the 60 minutes and continue to demonstrate their concern about climate change in their daily activities.
WWF-Malaysia Executive Director/CEO, Dato’ Dr Dionysius Sharma, said: “We hope that with the heightened awareness on Earth Hour, Malaysians will adopt a lifestyle that conserves and uses energy efficiently, and generally avoids wasteful consumption. Let’s go beyond switching off the non-essential lights during Earth Hour”.
Earth Hour, the global environmental initiative, began in 2007 in Sydney, Australia when 2.2 million individuals and more than 2,000 businesses switched off their lights for one hour to take a stand against climate change.
This year, Earth Hour will take place on Saturday, 23 March from 8.30pm to 9.30pm.
For the third consecutive year, WWF-Malaysia and Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall will collaborate to stage an event in conjunction with Earth Hour. Starting from 4.30pm, several activities will be held at the Main Entrance of Sunway Pyramid.
“We hope that everyone will be able to join us at this event by using public transport or car pooling. This year, we are hoping to share the green message via the universal language of music,” said Dato’ Dr Dionysius.
The five finalist bands, who garnered the most public votes in the Earth Hour 2013 Band Contest held by WWF-Malaysia with support from Universal Music Malaysia and with prize sponsorship by DiGi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd, will be performing at the Finals at the 23 March event. The winning band, who will be determined by a panel of judges, will perform again just before established local band, Kyoto Protocol, closes the 23 March event with their grand finalé performance.
Other activities will include quiz and contest giveaways, a “Dance with the Panda” workshop, as well as a Green Parade accompanied by Air Symphony Orchestra.
“WWF-Malaysia is pleased that Earth Hour has gained momentum here. This year, our corporate collaborations have expanded – besides Sunway Shopping Malls and Universal Music Malaysia, DiGi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd have also come on board,” said Dato’ Dr Dionysius.
Through the collaboration with DiGi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd, Malaysians can make a difference because for every Earth Hour “Live Green” pledge and survey completed at wwf.org.my (Direct link: http://www.wwf.org.my/how_you_can_help/take_action/lend_your_voice_to_nature_conservation2/), DiGi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd will donate RM1 to WWF-Malaysia’s crucial conservation work.
“Around the world, WWF works with communities, governments and businesses to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prepare for the impacts of climate change. This is an important component of our work in conservation to prevent further habitat and ecosystem services losses,” Dato’ Dr Dionysius said.
“In Malaysia, we are focused on sustainable management of the forests and seas, as well as engaging with local communities on sustainable natural resource management. We are also advocating for the incorporation of environmental education in the Malaysian formal education structure, and lobbying the government on mainstreaming climate change mitigation and adaptation in national policies and development plans, amongst others,” he said.
“All of us need to work together – non-governmental organisations, the government, private and public sectors, and the general public. Everyone should be concerned about climate change and take ownership of ways to mitigate the situation from further deteriorating,” said Dato’ Dr Dionysius.
“This is the third time Sunway Shopping Malls is collaborating with WWF-Malaysia to serve as a platform to create awareness of climate change to the public. In doing so, the organisation strives to set an example to the public to manifest responsibilities as a green movement advocate. Besides being a supporter of the Earth Hour initiative, as March is a green month in Sunway Pyramid, environmentally-friendly programmes are held to educate the public on the importance of going green and how to kickstart a green lifestyle through Go Green with Leo and the all-year-round Bring Your Own Bag campaign,” said Phang Sau Lian, Director of Marketing, Sunway Shopping Malls.
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About Earth Hour
Earth Hour is a global environmental initiative in partnership with WWF. Individuals, businesses, governments and communities are invited to turn out their lights for one hour on Saturday, 23 March 2013 at 8:30pm to show their support for environmentally sustainable action. In 2013, Earth Hour’s I Will If You Will concept invites individuals and organisations to challenge others to an ongoing environmental commitment beyond the hour. Earth Hour began in one city in 2007 and by 2012 took place in more than 7,000 cities and towns in 152 countries across every continent, receiving reports as ‘the world’s largest campaign for the planet’.
About WWF-Malaysia
WWF-Malaysia (World Wide Fund for Nature-Malaysia), the national conservation trust, currently runs more than 90 projects covering a diverse range of environmental protection work. Since 1972, WWF-Malaysia has worked on important conservation projects, from saving endangered species such as tigers and turtles, to protecting our highland forests, rivers and seas. We also undertake environmental education and advocacy work to achieve conservation goals. By conserving our natural resources, WWF-Malaysia is helping to protect our livelihoods, food and water supply, thus securing our good quality of life and our children’s bright future. We thank our supporters and members of the Media, whose contributions and support enable our conservation work.
If you would like to donate to WWF-Malaysia or learn more about our projects, please call: +603-78033772 or visit: wwf.org.my or www.facebook.com/wwfmy
For media queries, please contact:
Yeoh Lin Lin, Head of Communications, WWF-Malaysia
Tel: +603-78033772 ext 6400, Email: llyeoh@wwf.org.my
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