Earth Hour to Show Landmark Action on Climate Change

Golden Gate Bridge, London Eye, Table Mountain and Tapei 101 to switch off for Earth Hour 2010 75 landmarks around the world already signed up to lead a global display of climate action

(PRWEB) February 10, 2010 — Iconic landmarks around the world will switch off their lights for Earth Hour 2010, joining hundreds of millions of people across every continent committed to resolving the issue of global warming.

At 8.30pm on Saturday, March 27 some of the world’s most recognised symbols of hope, peace, human endeavour and natural wonder will plunge into darkness for Earth Hour as a powerful sign of the unrelenting resolve of the global community to respond to the threat of climate change.

CN Tower in Toronto, Table Mountain in Cape Town, Grand Palace in Bangkok and the world’s second tallest building Tapei 101 will go dark for Earth Hour. While a host of world-famous landmarks across the US, including the Golden Gate Bridge, Empire State Building, Mount Rushmore and even the lights of Las Vegas, will switch off in a decisive display of climate action from one of the most significant nations on the climate landscape.

Some of the world’s great metropolises will ‘flick the switch’ on their signature landmarks, marking their dedication to sustainable development and joining their citizens in adopting low-carbon practices.

In London, lights will dim on the world-famous London Eye as the Coca-Cola sign in Piccadilly Circus switches off, highlighting the resolve of its people, businesses and local governments to take action on climate change. Hiroshima will become the first Japanese city to show its commitment to global climate action when the lights go out on its iconic Peace Memorial at 8.30pm on March 27.

The actions shown by cities of the world and their inhabitants are crucial to leading a low-carbon resolution to climate change, says Earth Hour Co-Founder and Executive Director, Andy Ridley.

“The C40 suggests that cities are responsible for up to 75% of the world’s carbon emissions, so their role in addressing what is unequivocally the greatest threat to the planet today is absolutely vital,” Andy said.*

“By turning the lights off their landmarks for Earth Hour, cities are reflecting the aspirations of their citizens as a community that has resolved to take action on global warming,” he said.

As Earth Hour has grown from a one-city initiative in 2007 to a global phenomenon in 2009, renowned icons, including the Great Pyramids, Eiffel Tower, the Coliseum, Christ the Redeemer statue, Buckingham Palace, Beijing’s Olympic Stadium and many more world-famous landmarks have joined the global community in showing leadership on a resolution to climate change.

“That’s what Earth Hour is about; communities showing what they can achieve by working together,” Andy added.

The recently released Earth Hour 2010 video, viewed at http://www.youtube.com/earthhour2009, provides a powerful and inspiring montage of the world’s most recognized landmarks contributing to the greatest display of civil action the world has ever witnessed.

Custodians and governing authorities of landmarks wishing to participate can contact WWF officers or Earth Hour teams in their home countries or pledge support at www.earthhour.org.

Through Earth Hour’s ever-expanding social media network, which is now well into the millions, citizens of the world are also being encouraged to play a key role in switching off the lights of their favourite icons by creating public demand with their landmark suggestions via www.facebook.com/earthhour and www.twitter.com/earthhour.

Earth Hour 2010 is set to be a landmark moment on global warming, showing the world what can be done.

For more information about Earth Hour 2010 or to interview Andy Ridley, please contact:

Kirsten Hodgon, Communications Director, Earth Hour Global

Tel: +61 (0) 424 507 095

Note to editors:

Images of landmarks switching off for Earth Hour 2009 can be found at the Earth Hour Media Centre on www.earthhour.org.

*The C40 Climate Leadership Group is a group of the world’s largest cities committed to tackling climate change. They state on their website that cities are responsible for up to 75% of the world’s greenhouse gas emmissions: http://www.c40cities.org/climatechange.jsp.

About Earth Hour

Earth Hour is a global WWF climate change initiative. Individuals, businesses, governments and communities are invited to turn out their lights for one hour on Saturday March 28, 2009 at 8:30 PM to show their support for action on climate change. The event began in Sydney in 2007, when 2 million people switched off their lights. In 2008, more than 50 million people around the globe participated. In 2009, participation swelled to hundreds of millions as 4159 cities, towns and municipalities in 88 countries and many of the world’s best known landmarks participated.

About WWF

WWF is one of the world’s largest and most respected independent conservation organizations, with almost five million supporters and a global network active in more than 100 countries. WWF’s mission is to stop the degradation of the earth’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by conserving the world’s biological diversity, ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable, and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption.

Contact:

Billy Gentle

Earth Hour

Ultimo, NSW 2007

bgentle(at)wwf.org(dot)au

+61 410161789

You don’t need to go far in order to see the effects of climate-change. This was a lesson that the residents of Devon and Cornwall learnt recently during the heaviest rainfall in this part of the world for a number of years. Not only were many people left without access to their belongings and their personal goods, but some of the region’s most popular beauty spots were ruined by the heavy rain and flood water which smashed it’s way through towns and villages.

One of the hardest hit places was the small village of Clovelly -a well-known location in North Devon, it’s famous for its cobbled street and quaint charm that make it one of the most popular places for tourists in the area to visit. Though after the flood waters of recent weeks, it’s unlikely that anyone will be visiting the village too soon. Having recently won a number of awards for being such a delightful place to village, all of the residents will be devastated to see the location in such a terrible mess.

You can see the videos of the problems that the residents of Clovelly faced here.

It’s not just Clovelly that’s faced problems in recent times though, in a recent interview with Cornish farmer Jim Morris he told us of how ‘my entire crop yield for the year has been damaged. I have no hope of being able to sell any of my produce at market and we will be relying on the small amount of income that we can make from holiday-makers heading to use our small let.’

These problems are seen all across the two counties with the region’s soil being unable to cope with the demands put on it by an unprecedented amount of rain not only during the last few weeks but also as part of one of the wettest summers on record.

Speaking at a conference, a North Devon councillor, John Smith, on climate change that heralds from the area spoke of his devastation in returning home to see where he was brought up in such a terrible state and remarked how he could only hope that things could be returned to normal as soon as possible. He also reminded people about the dangers of Global Warming remarking that ‘The warnings are all there to see and the people of the South West have experienced it first hand. If we don’t do something soon this damage is likely to be recreated in other parts of the UK. Governments around the world, including ours need to act now.”