Go Green and Blackout

Balancing economic development with environmental conservation is always a tough bargain, and one of the key challenges China faces today. Global initiatives like the World Wildlife Fund’s Earth Hour – a campaign to encourage businesses, public buildings and ordinary people around the world to symbolically turn off their lights for one hour – play a key role in raising public awareness of the dangers of environmental degradation. Ahead of Earth Hour, on March 28, we spoke to WWF communications officer and Earth Hour campaign manger for China, Su Xiaowei, about Beijing’s inaugural participation in this global climate change event.

I think China is one of the best places to work on climate change and environmental issues, because of how quickly things move forward here. I don’t think people outside of China quite understand the kind of progress that is being made here.

Earth Hour is a global WWF climate change initiative based on the simple act of turning off the lights. We ask individuals, businesses and governments to switch off their lights for one hour every year on the designated day to show their support for action on climate change.

Earth Hour first started in Sydney in 2007. By 2008, over 370 cities and towns across the globe in 35 different countries switched off their lights. This included Chicago, Bangkok, Copenhagen, Mexico City and Toronto. It’s estimated that 50 million people took part in Earth Hour 2008.

As of January, there are around 300 cities in 64 countries and regions already committed to Earth Hour. This means that they either have the support of the mayor, a celebrity ambassador or a major landmark committed to turning off lights. The number of Earth Hour cities is growing everyday, so for the latest numbers, you’ll have to check our website, www.earthhour.org. Our goal is to reach one billion people in 1,000 cities globally.

We want to encourage as many people as possible from around the world to engage in the problem of climate change, to make it a more personal issue. We not only want people to use less energy in their daily lives, but also to join in the debates and conversations with politicians, businesses, interest groups and academics.

I imagine so. 2009 is an important year for climate change – a lot of important decisions will be made by the end of the year. It is envisaged and hoped that the climate change landscape will change significantly in the immediate future. Therefore, Earth Hour’s lights out campaign will evolve in accordance with the needs of the planet.

We hope people can carry on the spirit of Earth Hour every hour [of every day], but the event itself will remain only one hour long.

We are currently engaging many institutions in Beijing and Shanghai and we’re asking participating companies, institutions and individuals to sign up on www.earthhour.org according to their city. Their names will be displayed, so for those interested, they can check out the website for the most updated list.

China is making progress on environmental education and awareness building at an amazing speed. It’s obvious that with China’s national energy efficiency target for 2010, the country is serious about tackling climate change by moving towards clean technology and low-carbon solutions throughout its various industrial sectors.

I think Earth Hour will be fully embraced by the Chinese public as it has been for the past two years by [other nations], because turning off your lights is such a simple but very powerful idea. It’s also a positive and unifying activity that makes you realize that solving the climate change problem is not impossible if we work together.

Some Earth Hour organizers and energy companies choose to measure energy usage for the hour, but Earth Hour is not equipped to measure energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in each participating city, so we don’t have the data for the total reductions in carbon emissions from Earth Hour last year. However, after having participated in Earth Hour last year, many companies chose to change their lighting systems for more energy efficiency, chose green power [to supply] a portion of their electricity, and also encouraged their staff to cycle by installing more bike racks and showers at their offices. [All these initiatives] have continued to reduce companies’ carbon emissions beyond Earth Hour.

Because turning off lights is such a simple act, it’s not difficult to get people and companies on board. For commercial or retail venues such as malls or restaurants who are concerned that participating in Earth Hour might affect their customers, we ask that they: turn off or dim lights where possible, particularly neon signs; save energy in other ways where possible; and most importantly, spread the message of Earth Hour to their staff and customers.

If participating in Earth Hour at night time is not suitable for your business, especially due to safety concerns, then of course you can participate at another time during that day, week, or even the whole month of March simply by choosing to be more energy efficient.

Earth Hour is 8.30-9.30pm local time on March 28.

Switch off unused lights; switch appliances off – don’t leave them on standby; switch to energy efficient lightbulbs; switch off the hot water; and switch to Green Power, where it is available.

Earth Hour is 8.30-9.30pm on Saturday, Mar 28. For more information on Earth Hour or the work of WWF China, please visit www.earthhour.org or www.wwfchina.org.