Global Movement to VOTE EARTH on Saturday

Tomorrow, on Saturday 28 March at 8.30pm, tens of thousands of homes, businesses, and cities in over 80 countries around the world will turn off their lights for one hour.

These 60 minutes are being called Earth Hour. As an initiative that began in Sydney, Australia in 2007 by the World Wide Fund for Nature, the first Earth Hour involved 2.2 million homes and businesses switching off their lights for one hour. In 2008, the initiative expanded to 50 million people and grew into a global message for sustainability.

In 2009, organisers want to make Earth Hour even larger and even more powerful with a goal of 1 billion people switching off their lights as part of a global vote for the planet. VOTE EARTH is a global call for action for every individual, community, and nation to stand up for the Earth’s future.

Earth Hour Executive Director, Mr. Andy Ridley, says “Earth Hour will focus global attention on addressing the issue of climate change. We are asking one billion people to take part in what is essentially the first global vote for action on climate change by turning off their lights for one hour and casting a vote for earth.”

“Earth Hour hopes to provide a global mandate for action on climate change to the world’s leaders at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December this year, where an agreement will be made to supersede the Kyoto Protocol.

“It is imperative this agreement leads to a sustainable outcome that suitably addresses climate change. Earth Hour presents an opportunity for every person in the world to have a say in that agreement’s outcome and ensure it isn’t merely an insubstantial token effort by our world’s leaders,” said Mr Ridley.