The following is a guest post by Sangeeta Ahuja, First Secretary Energy, Environment & Resource Security at the British Embassy in Washington.
Earth Hour starts at 8:30 in the evening on Saturday 31 March. In a co-ordinated gesture last year to promote environmental protection, the lights were turned off in 5,200 cities in 135 countries around the world.
This year promises to be even more dramatic. Major landmarks like Big Ben and Buckingham Palace in London will go dark for an hour. The British Embassy in Washington is doing our part, making an extra effort to switch off lights and turn off office equipment for the weekend. As British Prime Minister David Cameron said last year “that’s what Earth Hour is all about – millions of people all over the world coming together to switch off their lights, tackle climate change and protect our natural world.”
“Going beyond the hour” is the next step. The world football governing body FIFA is switching off lights for a whole day. Ysgol Evan James primary school in Pontypridd, Wales will be encouraging pupils to plant and harvest their own fruit and vegetables in the school’s dedicated nature garden during the summer months – and has won the 2012 World Wildlife Fund’s Earth Hour Community Competition.
There is much more that can be done, by individuals, by businesses, and by governments. The UK government is intent on reducing energy demand through more energy efficiency, while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions. As the UK Office for National Statistics announced this week – UK household spending on energy consumption increased 23.5 percent from £28.8 billion in 2007 to £35.6 billion in 2011. Any savings made will benefit pockets as well as the environment.
Great effort for saving biodiversity and environment. my heartly wishes.
Respected Madam,
Nice to read this article; really it is a big global attempt to aware people about GLOBAL WARMING. One such and rare attempt was done in India at village level and probably for the first time in the history of Earth Hour; here EARTH HOUR happened in a RAVINE village, named AASAYI [block- Mahewa, district- Etawah, U.P., India]. This village is located on the riverbank of Holy Yamuna river and is the part of rich biodiversity area. Here the electricity supply schedule is similar to Etawah city. About 600 villagers participated along with Honourable Member of Parliament Mr. Premdas Katheria. This event was organized by me to create awareness at grass root level to save trees, biodiversity and electricity; attempt was also to aware people about the importance of solar energy. This event was a big success. I have published photos on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2990927623207.2120752.1562631876&type=1&l=662b62308b and the news was published in Sunday Times at http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kanpur/Ravine-villagers-pitch-in-to-make-Earth-Hour-successfull/articleshow/12484155.cms .
Respected Madam, such events are playing very important role in the protection of environment and ecosystems. My best wishes to all respected participants of the world community who participate in such events.
Respect and Regards,
Prabhat Misra.