Earth Hour more than lights off (PDF) - wwf - Australia

Media Release 27 February 2013EARTH HOUR MORE THAN LIGHTS OFFEarth Hour launches global 2013 campaign with big global wins anda new focus in Australia.Earth Hour, the world’s largest movement for the planet, has launched its 2013 global campaign on the backof record environmental outcomes it achieved in 2012.This year Australians aren’t just switching off their lights for Earth Hour, they’re also pledging to switch overto renewable energy for good at earthhour.org.au.“Earth Hour started right here in Australia, in one city, with one idea and now it has been embraced by theworld. That’s why it is fantastic to see Australians building on Earth Hour’s immense success by pledging toswitch to renewable energy,” said Dermot O’Gorman, CEO of WWF-Australia, the charity behind EarthHour.In Australia over 1.5 million households have already made the switch to renewable energy, like solar orGreenPower. These households can also show their support by letting people know they have joinedAustralia’s clean energy future at earthhour.org.au.Globally, Earth Hour is also taking on different challenges with inspiring goals in many of the 152 countriesthat participate.In 2013, WWF’s Earth Hour in Russia is aiming to secure more than 100,000 signatures fromRussian citizens to petition for a ban on industrial logging in an area of land equal to twice the size ofFrance.In Africa, the first Earth Hour Forest has begun in the nation of Uganda, an important first step inthe fight against the 6,000 hectares of deforestation that occurs in the country every month. WWFUganda identified close to 2,700 hectares of degraded land, and set a goal to fill it with at least500,000 indigenous trees as part of their Earth Hour 2013 campaign.In Botswana, former President Mr Festus Mogae has made a four-year commitment to plant onemillion indigenous trees as part of his I Will If You Will challenge.________________________________________________________________________________Earth Hour AustraliaLevel 13, 235 Jones St, Ultimo NSW 2007 | GPO Box 528, Sydney NSW 2001Tel: +61 2 9281 5515 Fax: +61 2 9281 1060 E: earthhour@wwf.org.au W: earthhour.org.auTwitter: @WWF_AustraliaFacebook: facebook.com/earthhouraustralia

Across Latin America, preparations for ‘La Hora Del Planeta’ are well underway with ArgentinianEarth Hour organisers and WWF affiliate Fundación Vida Silvestre Argentina, mobilizing thousandsof participants to help champion the passing of a Senate bill to make Banco Burwood the biggestMarine Protected Area (MPA) in the country.In the USA, nearly 35,000 Girls Scouts took part in Earth Hour last year through the Save EnergyProject, and installed 132,141 energy efficient light bulbs across the country. The impact is astaggering 75,392,654 pounds of CO2 emissions eliminated, equivalent to the CO2 sequestrationfrom planting 7,286 acres of trees per year*.Andy Ridley, CEO and Co-Founder of Earth Hour said, “These outcomes both evidence the power of ourcollective action and the potential for future outcomes for the environment, generated by hundreds ofmillions of people coming together as part of the Earth Hour movement.”Earth Hour 2013 will take place at 8.30pm – 9.30pm on Saturday 23 MarchFor more information, please visit earthhour.org.auImages, video, spokespeople and celebrity ambassadors available upon request.WWF-Australia contacts:Hamish WyattEarth Hour Media Officer+61 2 8202 12160414 544 911hwyatt@wwf.org.auwwf.org.au________________________________________________________________________________Earth Hour AustraliaLevel 13, 235 Jones St, Ultimo NSW 2007 | GPO Box 528, Sydney NSW 2001Tel: +61 2 9281 5515 Fax: +61 2 9281 1060 E: earthhour@wwf.org.au W: earthhour.org.auTwitter: @WWF_AustraliaFacebook: facebook.com/earthhouraustralia