Media Release

Hundreds of millions get set to switch off and go beyond the hour

Saturday 26 March: Within hours, people in a record 134 countries and territories across the globe will switch off their lights for an hour in a unified show of support for action towards a sustainable future for our planet.

Hundreds of landmarks in thousands of cities will go dark at 8:30pm Saturday local time, as hundreds of millions of people take part in the world’s largest voluntary action for the environment. And with individuals, organisations and governments this year pledging to take their Earth Hour commitment beyond the hour, it won’t end when the lights come back on.

“As we head into the fifth Earth Hour, with a record number of countries and territories taking part, it is inspiring to see what we can achieve when we come together for a common purpose,” said Andy Ridley, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Earth Hour. “Imagine what we can achieve if we go beyond the hour.”

The event will traverse the globe over 24 hours, from the first lights being dimmed across Fiji and New Zealand to lights being turned on again in Samoa. The transition will last longest in Russia, where 11 time zones are covered.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has pledged his support for Earth Hour saying: “Let us join together to celebrate this shared quest to protect the planet and ensure human well-being. Let us use 60 minutes of darkness to help the world see the light.”

Instantly recognisable landmarks across the world that will stand in darkness for the hour include the Eiffel Tower, the London Eye and Big Ben, the Empire State Building, Dubai’s Burj al Arab hotel, Grenada’s Alhambra, Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer statue, Athens’ Acropolis, India Gate, Sheik Zayed Grand Mosque, the largest mosque in the United Arab Emirates and the Sydney Opera House.

Four of the world’s five tallest buildings will also turn out their lights, with the switch-off in the tallest, the 828 metre Burg Khalifa in Dubai involving around half a million lights.

Also darkening for the occasion are floodlights on outstanding natural wonders such as Niagara and Victoria Falls and Table Mountain in South Africa.

Royal and presidential residences, castles and palaces in Peru, Thailand, Sweden, Madagascar and Honduras will turn off lights for an hour. Also taking part is Africa’s largest single housing estate, the Gwarimpa Housing Estate in Lagos, Nigeria.

This year, a swell of support in Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and the Americas has seen a number of countries taking part officially in Earth Hour for the first time including: Jamaica, Uganda, Swaziland, Iran, Tajikistan, Chad, Azerbaijan, Palestine, Suriname, Gibraltar, Uzbekistan, Trinidad and Tobago, Lesotho and Lebanon.

Nathi Mzileni, a 15-year-old boy was inspired to take action in 2010 when he realised his town did not participate in Earth Hour. He started a group at his High School called Green Enviro to educate people about climate change, and this year will make Earth Hour a reality in his town of Shimunye, Swaziland, with the support of 16 young volunteers.

Social media and online search will once again play a crucial role in Earth Hour, bringing together an interconnected global community that are mobilising for environmental action.

Naver, the Korea’s leading search engine, will switch off the lights of its headquarters as well as hosting a special Earth Hour logo on its website for the day of Earth Hour, linking to an Earth Hour micro-site, and it will also promote Earth Hour with a logo on Me2Day its twitter-like Social Network.

A YouTube customised doodle will run across the site for Earth Hour, while a light switch will appear on the watch page, allowing you to click and manually darken the page.

Myspace has allowed Earth Hour ambassador Miranda Kerr to ‘Hijack’ the site for the three days in the lead-up to Earth Hour. Kerr is curating content on the Myspace homepage, including several playlists featuring past and present Earth Hour ambassadors and supporters Temper Trap, Tom Jones, Nelly Furtado, Alanis Morissette and Coldplay.

Leading Chinese internet company Baidu has pledged to go beyond the hour this Earth Hour, by reducing office resource consumption, including paper, water and electricity, by 30 percent from 2010 levels.

This year, Earth Hour asks individuals, companies and governments to go beyond the hour by committing to lasting action after the annual lights-out event. An online platform www.earthhour.org/beyondthehour has been created to collect and showcase the actions of people and organisations around the world.

In Uganda various individuals and organisations that are committing to go beyond the hour are planting over 16,000 trees, while in Lumbini, Nepal, 108,000 trees will be planted.

In China, all of the 83 mainland cities taking part in Earth Hour have gone "beyond the hour" with "one change" for the planet, including: Shanghai, where the city will create 1,000 hectares of new urban green space, Chengdu where the government will distribute 60,000 bicycles in central areas across the city and establish over 1,000 bike rental stations.

In the Philippines, where over 1,500 cities, towns and municipalities are taking part in Earth Hour, a candle-lighting ceremony being held tonight will see guests light a candle and make a pledge for the year ahead, continuing Earth Hour beyond the hour in their daily lives.
-ends-

Notes to editors
Earth Hour 2011 will take place at 8.30pm, Saturday, 26 March, 2011.
Images and video footage are available from the Earth Hour Global media centre: http://www.earthhour.org/media

About Earth Hour
Earth Hour is a global initiative in partnership with WWF. Individuals, businesses, governments and communities are invited to turn out their lights for one hour on Saturday March 26, 2011 at 8:30 PM to show their support for environmentally sustainable action. The event began in Sydney in 2007, through a partnership between WWF Australia, Leo Burnett and Fairfax Media, when 2 million people in one city switched off their lights. By 2010, Earth Hour had created history as the largest voluntary action ever witnessed with participation across 128 countries and territories and every continent, including the world’s most recognized man-made marvels and natural wonders in a landmark environmental action.
About WWF
WWF is one of the world's largest and most experienced independent conservation organizations, with over 5 million supporters and a global Network active in more than 100 countries. WWF's mission is to stop the degradation of the planet'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.

© Scoop Media