People are feeling fatigued by the Climate Change issue, but rather than contributing to a decline in numbers participating in this years Earth Hour on March 27, it has invigorated interest, says Earth Hour Executive Director Andy Ridley.
“We have 116 countries participating as of today,” he told The Epoch Times, “and there are still more coming.”
Organised by the World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF), Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007 when 2.2 million homes and businesses turned their lights off for an hour to make their stand against climate change.
Last year, 88 countries participated and over 4000 cities, but this year has seen a quantum leap, with developing countries like Indian and China joining up along with smaller areas like Morocco and Brunei..
“The beauty of it is we are not running it, other people are,” said Mr Ridley, explaining that in the bigger cities, the WWF has been the driver, but in the smaller areas where there are no WWF offices, they have been driven purely on community interest.
Earth Hour is “inclusionary”, he said, noting that he had made up a new word to describe it. “Anyone can take it up.”
Having said that, Mr Ridley said he was nervous this year that people would feel “fatigued” by climate change, with Copenhagen seen as a failure and the controversy surrounding the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report.
Instead, he has found “exactly the opposite”. People have been even more invigorated to take action at the grass roots level.
He believes that the global financial crisis (GFC) has also contributed in that it reflects a similar inability by leaders to address the issue.
“My sense on it is that is a similar kind of thing. If you look at the [United] States, there has been limited change.”
People then are feeling that if you leave it up to specialist interests, then nothing is going to change.
“We all have to take responsibility for the environment. Earth Hour is a rallying point where everyone’s voice is heard,” he said.
Earth Hour 2010 will take place on Saturday night March 27 at 8.30pm local time. Lights will be turned off for an hour, a “symbolic act”, Mr Ridley said, of commitment to a sustainable future.
Along with the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge, many more of the world’s most iconic landmarks have pledged to switch off for Earth Hour 2010, including the Empire State Building, Eiffel Tower, Hiroshima Peace Memorial, London Eye, Brandenburg Gate, Tokyo Tower, Taipei 101, Istanbul’s Bosphorus Bridge and the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
The Chatham Islands off the East Coast of New Zealand will be the first to turn the lights out and Samoa, nearly 25 hours later, will be the last.
“We have 116 countries participating as of today,” he told The Epoch Times, “and there are still more coming.”
Organised by the World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF), Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007 when 2.2 million homes and businesses turned their lights off for an hour to make their stand against climate change.
Last year, 88 countries participated and over 4000 cities, but this year has seen a quantum leap, with developing countries like Indian and China joining up along with smaller areas like Morocco and Brunei..
“The beauty of it is we are not running it, other people are,” said Mr Ridley, explaining that in the bigger cities, the WWF has been the driver, but in the smaller areas where there are no WWF offices, they have been driven purely on community interest.
Earth Hour is “inclusionary”, he said, noting that he had made up a new word to describe it. “Anyone can take it up.”
Having said that, Mr Ridley said he was nervous this year that people would feel “fatigued” by climate change, with Copenhagen seen as a failure and the controversy surrounding the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report.
Instead, he has found “exactly the opposite”. People have been even more invigorated to take action at the grass roots level.
He believes that the global financial crisis (GFC) has also contributed in that it reflects a similar inability by leaders to address the issue.
“My sense on it is that is a similar kind of thing. If you look at the [United] States, there has been limited change.”
People then are feeling that if you leave it up to specialist interests, then nothing is going to change.
“We all have to take responsibility for the environment. Earth Hour is a rallying point where everyone’s voice is heard,” he said.
Earth Hour 2010 will take place on Saturday night March 27 at 8.30pm local time. Lights will be turned off for an hour, a “symbolic act”, Mr Ridley said, of commitment to a sustainable future.
Along with the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge, many more of the world’s most iconic landmarks have pledged to switch off for Earth Hour 2010, including the Empire State Building, Eiffel Tower, Hiroshima Peace Memorial, London Eye, Brandenburg Gate, Tokyo Tower, Taipei 101, Istanbul’s Bosphorus Bridge and the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
The Chatham Islands off the East Coast of New Zealand will be the first to turn the lights out and Samoa, nearly 25 hours later, will be the last.
