Earth Hour receives unprecedented support

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• Earth Hour India website

27 Mar 2009
New Delhi: This Saturday, 28th March 2009, hundreds of thousands of Indians will take a stand towards calling for action on climate change by participating in Earth Hour and switching off their lights from 8.30 to 9.30 pm. From Kochi to Shimla and Guwahati to Ahmedabad citizens, corporates and governments are joining this campaign to voice their concern.

Some of Mumbai’s best known landmarks, like the Reserve Bank of India and Air India building will be switching off. In Delhi, PVR Cinemas, and educational institutions like Delhi University, Jamia Milia are joining in. Hotels chains including ITC Welcome and Indian IT giants like WIPRO and Infosys, leading banks such as ICICI, HDFC, HSBC, Standard Chartered, ING Vyasa, industry leaders Godrej Group, Genpact, Tata Indicom, Nokia, Nestle, and many more have come forward to observe Earth Hour.
Utilities like BEST and NDPL in Mumbai and Delhi respectively have been promoting the campaign through innovative means like showcasing Earth Hour promos in BEST Buses and reaching out through their model RWA associations.

The Government of NCT of Delhi has been proactively supporting the campaigning by urging citizens to participate in large numbers. Public service announcements have been appealing to citizens to participate in global movement. They have reached out to over 2000 RWAs and schools in the city.
The Mayor of Mumbai has also been actively promoting Earth Hour through media and other channels.
Mr Ravi Singh, Secretary General and CEO, WWF-India, addressing the media said, “It is heartening to learn the tremendous support that the campaign is receiving from all sections of the society across the country. Earth Hour shows the power of collective action towards a vote for the planet”.

Aamir Khan, Amitabh Bachhan, Sachin Tendulkar and several other prominent individuals have extended their support for the campaign and urged citizens to turn off their lights. Noble peace prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu and UN secretary General Ban Ki Moon have also supported this campaign and have appealed global citizens to sign up.

Earth Hour 2009 is reaching out to 1 billion people across the world. It was initiated in Australia on 31st March 2007 where 2 million people and two thousand corporate houses turned out their lights for one hour and became a part of the event. The campaign became wider with 35 countries and about 50 million people participating across the globe in 2008. So far over 2000 cities from 85 countries will be participating in this campaign.

EARTH HOUR IN INDIA – A SNAPSHOT

No. of cities: Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore over 25*

No. of Corporates signed up: 50*

School Outreach: Over 200,000 students in Mumbai and Delhi alone

Major Landmarks:

National:
ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and HSBC Bank - Head Office and all branches, All offices of United Nations agencies, Infosys, HP, Google, Wipro, BirlaSoft, properties managed by CB Richard Ellis

Mumbai:
Air India Building, RBI Building, Hiranandani Gardens, IIT Powai.

Delhi:
The Raj Niwas, The Ashok Hotel, all ITC Welcome Group Hotels, PVR Cinemas, DLF Luxury Homes, Aralia; Swastik Kunj, Rohini.

Bangalore:
Forum Mall, Shops on Brigade Road, SJR Apartments, Sarjapur; Redwood Apartments, Hebbal

For more information, please contact:

Shaila Sam, Senior Manager – Communications
Tel: +91-11-4150 4797

Earth Hour in India

India will observe “Earth Hour” by switching off all lights and electrical appliances for an hour from 8.30 pm to 9.30 pm.to save energy on 28th March. According to WWF, 50 lakh citizens of 377 cities in 74 nations are participating in the initiative this year. The campaign began two years ago when people in Sydney switched off lights for one hour in order to save energy and create awareness amongst people about global warming and conservation of the environment and natural resources.

It is a very good initiative to create awareness about global warming. We all should observe Earth Hour

Earth Hour: Thiruvananthapuram to switch off lights on March 28

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Over a billion people in 74 countries are expected to participate in Earth Hour this year.

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8.30 p.m. on March 28, people in Thiruvananthapuram will join people in cities across the world in voluntarily switching off lights for one hour as part of an international campaign to fight global warming.

Over a billion people in 74 countries are expected to participate in Earth Hour this year. For India, which is participating in the lights-out campaign for the first time, Earth Hour 2009 highlights the fact that climate change is no less a threat than terrorism.

Lights on buildings will be dimmed and pivotal landmarks and monuments throughout city centres will be plunged into darkness as thousands of people join hands to campaign for an international treaty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

In India, the programme is promoted by WWF and supported by various institutes and corporates such as HSBC, Wipro, ITC Welcom group, HP, Taj group, HUDCO, HSBC, Google, Standard Chartered India and PVR Films. Bollywood star Aamir Khan is the brand ambassador for the campaign.

In Kerala, the event is being organised by the Centre for Earth Science Studies (CESS), WWF, Energy Management Centre, Doordarsan, Kerala State Electricity Board and environmental agencies. Actor Suresh Gopi will be the honorary ambassador.

Highlighting the need for voluntary involvement in the campaign, CESS director M. Baba says it would go a long way in creating awareness of the need for a global mandate for action on climate change.

earthhour.org, the portal for the campaign, says that more than 681 cities in 76 countries have already signed up to turn their lights out on March 28.

Origin in Sydney

Earth Hour is a movement initiated in Sydney in 2007 when over 2.2 million homes and business establishments switched off their lights for one hour. In 2008, the movement became a global one, with over 50 million people participating by voluntarily switching off their lights.

Earth Hour assumes greater importance as 2009 is a critical year for action on climate change, with the world’s leaders due to meet at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December to sign a new deal to supersede the Kyoto Protocol.

Earth Hour 2009

Switch Off your lights for Earth Hour 28 March 2009 (Saturday) 8.30PM to 9.30 PM (for 1 hour)

75 countries including India have committed to participate in WWF’s Earth Hour in 2009. The campaign, which hopes to reach out to more than one billion people in 1000 cities around the world, encourage individuals, businesses and governments to switch off lights for just one hour on Saturday March 28, 2009 at 8:30pm to convey their support for action on climate change. Cities already committed to Earth Hour include Los Angeles, Las Vegas, London, Hong Kong, Sydney, Rome, Manila, Oslo, Cape Town, Warsaw, Lisbon, Singapore, Istanbul, Mexico City, Toronto, Dubai and Copenhagen.

2009 is a critical year in terms of the political decisions that will be made at global climate negotiations in December 2009. Earth Hour, aims to highlight the voice of the people of the world and represent a visual mandate for meaningful policy on climate change.