Earth Hour is coming March 27

WITH about eight days to go and as we enter the final stage of this years Earth Hour campaign, more than 100 countries and territories have pledged to turn off their lights for one hour on March 27th at 8:30pm local time.

As the date looms closer, more countries came on board and that number continues to grow. Earth Hour seems to be cutting beyond the political debate and reflecting the much greater mainstream concern that the problem of climate change remains unresolved and the desire to address it is growing rather than weakening.

The last two weeks before March 27th offer us a unique opportunity to re-affirm the global mandate for action, re-assert the belief that everyone will need to be part of the solution, and that leadership on this issue can come from everyone; corporations, communities and above all else, from citizens.

Earth Hour 2010 this year will stretch from Mongolia to Argentina, The Arctic to Antarctica, from the Cook Islands to Russia and will include, the globally iconic, Brandenburg Gate, Eiffel Tower, Hiroshima Peace Memorial, India Gate, the worlds tallest building Burj Khalifa (Dubai) and newly retro-fitted Empire State Building.

Earth Hour will be delivered locally not only by WWF teams, but also by volunteer groups, city governments, local companies, global corporations, local community groups, churches, bands and the list goes on.

For the first time this year Earth Hour also have a Panda (Mei Lan) as an ambassador!

Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia when 2.2 million homes and businesses turned their lights off for one hour to make their stand against climate change. Only a year later and Earth Hour had become a global sustainability movement with more than 50 million people across 35 countries participating. Global landmarks such as the, Sydney Harbour Bridge, The CN Tower in Toronto, The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, and Romes Colosseum, all stood in darkness, as symbols of hope for a cause that grows more urgent by the hour.

In March 2009, hundreds of millions of people took part in the third Earth Hour. Over 4000 cities in 88 countries officially switched off to pledge their support for the planet, making Earth Hour 2009 the worlds largest global climate change initiative.

Earth Hour 2010 is a global call to action to every individual, every business and every community throughout the world. It is a call to stand up, to take responsibility, to get involved and lead the way towards a sustainable future. Iconic buildings and landmarks from Europe to Asia to the Americas will stand in darkness. People across the world from all walks of life will turn off their lights and join together in celebration and contemplation of the one thing we all have in common our planet.

WWF