North East Herts MP Oliver Heald has shown his support for WWF’s Earth Hour by having a ‘Eureka Moment’. A giant light bulb symbolised the ‘moment’ as Oliver signed up to Earth Hour and showed that he is switched on to climate change.
WWF’s Earth Hour is a global initiative taking place on Saturday 27 March 2010 between 8.30pm-9.30pm. WWF is calling on individuals, businesses, iconic landmarks and local authorities to sign up to switch off their lights for one hour to show they care about people and wildlife threatened by climate change. The initiative has become bigger than ever, surpassing all previous years’ events, with over 1,100 cities and towns across the globe switching off their lights in support of Earth Hour.
Last year 88 countries got involved in the event and with 2010 seeing more than 91 countries taking part, a ripple will cross the Earth as landmarks in 25 time zones switch off. Many of the world’s most iconic landmarks are on board including the Golden Gate Bridge, the Las Vegas strip, Table Mountain and the Burj Khalifa tower- the tallest building in the world.
UK landmarks pledging to switch off their lights include Piccadilly Circus and the London Eye, which will be dimming its lights for Earth Hour. Other famous buildings pledging to plunge into darkness for an hour include the Royal Albert Hall, Manchester’s Trafford Centre, Stormont, Inverness Castle, Wales Millennium Stadium and Portsmouth’s Spinnaker Tower. Companies supporting the event include M&S, Coca-Cola and Ikea.
WWF is campaigning for a strong global response to climate change after the Copenhagen climate summit failed to deliver a sufficiently robust climate deal. To help create the public mandate here in the UK, and worldwide, for governments to agree a strong deal, WWF is calling on everyone to get involved and take part in Earth Hour.
Commenting Oliver Heald said, “ I am again supporting WWF’s Earth Hour and will be switching off all my lights at home. I hope that many constituents will join me to show their concern about climate change and the need for strong international action.”
For further information or to sign up to WWF’s Earth Hour please visit: www.wwf.org.uk/earthhour or by texting 80010
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Contact Oliver Heald 01763 247640
Friday 12 March 2010
Editor's notes
About Earth Hour www.earthhour.org
Earth Hour is a global WWF climate change initiative. Individuals, businesses, governments and communities are invited to turn out their lights for one hour on Saturday March 27, 2010 at 8:30 PM to show their support for action on climate change. The event began in Sydney in 2007, when 2 million people switched off their lights. In 2008, more than 50 million people around the globe participated. In 2009, hundreds of millions of people in more than 4,000 cities and towns across 88 countries switched off their lights for one hour.
WWF-UK is the UK arm of the WWF Network, the world’s leading environmental organisation founded in 1961 and now active in over 100 countries. WWF's mission is to stop the degradation of the earth's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by conserving the world's biological diversity, ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable, and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption. Using our unique combination of practical experience, knowledge and credibility, our 300-strong staff work with governments, businesses and communities both here in the UK and around the world so that people and nature thrive within their fair share of the planet’s natural resources.