Australian Embassy
The Philippines

MR110324- Australian Embassy Supports Earth Hour 2011

AUSTRALIAN EMBASSY SUPPORTS EARTH HOUR 2011

The Australian Embassy in Manila will join millions from the Philippines and around the globe to take a stand against climate change by participating in Earth Hour 2011 on 26 March, 8:30- 9:30PM

Earth Hour delivers a powerful symbol of support for action against global warming, through the simple action of turning off the lights for one hour. Capturing the public imagination, the campaign has grown quickly into a global phenomenon.

“In 2011, I encourage Australians and Filipinos to continue their participation in Earth Hour, and also to make commitments beyond the hour by reducing energy usage throughout the year” Australian Ambassador Rod Smith said.

The first Earth Hour was held in Sydney, Australia, in 2007, and was the brainchild of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Australia. Approximately 2.2 million individuals, more than 2,000 businesses, and iconic Australian landmarks including the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge all joined in to turn off their lights. On that day, the initiative resulted in a remarkable 10.2 per cent reduction of Sydney’s energy usage. The carbon dioxide emissions saved were equivalent to taking more than 48,000 cars off the road for an hour.

Last year, over 4,600 cities, towns and municipalities took part in Earth Hour 2010 across 128 countries, including 89 national capitals and 9 of the world’s 10 most populated cities.

Ambassador Smith lauded the commitment of Filipinos to the initiative, which has earned the Philippines the recognition of ranking first in Earth Hour participation for two consecutive years. Ten million Filipinos from across the country switched off in 2009 while 2010 saw 15 million participants from more than 1000 towns and cities.

“Since its inception and transformation into a global sustainability movement, Earth Hour’s great success has been in giving people and businesses the opportunity to translate into action their awareness of the challenges of climate change,” Ambassador Smith said.

“In Australia, we continue to work with the international community to develop a global response to address climate change, as well as to implement long and short term measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within Australia,” Ambassador Smith added.

The Australian Government is also assisting vulnerable countries in the region to adapt to the impacts of climate change. In the Philippines, Australia has been providing support to strengthen the country’s preparedness against future disasters, reducing disaster risk and building stronger community resilience against the adverse effects of climate change.

For more information on Earth Hour, visit www.earthhour.org.