Obama announces installation of solar panels on the White House leading up to Sunday's Global Climate Working Bee in New Zealand and around the world

Days before the 10/10/10 Global Climate Working Bee, the White House has announced that it will install solar panels to heat water and provide some electricity. The announcement comes after a campaign last month by 350.org to put solar panels back on the White House as a signal of US commitment to clean energy in the face of the threats of climate change.

President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives, a small island country highly vulnerable to climate change, is also due to put solar panels on his house today.

350.org is an international campaign to unite the world around solutions to climate change. 350 Aotearoa is the New Zealand branch. The flagship day on 10th October 2010, the Global Climate Working Bee, will see thousands of volunteers in 187 countries planting trees, organising bike rides and insulating homes.

The goal is to make it clear that citizens are taking the lead to inspire politicians to act on climate change. With over 7,000 events, including over 100 in New Zealand, spread across 187 countries, 10/10/10 is expected to be the largest day of climate action in history.

350 Aotearoa had also put a proposal to the New Zealand Government to put solar panels on the roof of Parliament, suggesting that it would provide a symbolic step for action on climate change. A response from Parliamentary Services indicated that putting solar panels on the roof of Parliament would not be economically viable at present.

350 Aotearoa supports the goal of reducing carbon dioxide from its current level of 390 parts per million (ppm) to below 350 ppm, the safe upper limit according to the latest science.

From a low-carbon picnic in Dunedin and bike fix ups in Auckland, to mangrove planting in the Philippines and a clean energy hip-hop concert in California, people around the world are getting to work on climate solutions and challenging their leaders to do the same.

“Government, industry, business, the NGO sector and communities all have a role to play in getting us back to a 350ppm world. Sunday’s event is about mobilising the community to show the other sectors that there is a groundswell of support on action for climate change,” said Aaron Packard of 350 Aotearoa.

“With the recent success in getting solar panels on the White House, we are very optimistic about the impact that the positive, community-led actions will have in inspiring politicians across the world to take action,” concluded Aaron.

ENDS

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