Posted
on 28 August 2009
WWF’s Earth Hour today
announced that the City of Copenhagen will
play host to a single-city Earth Hour while
it hosts the crucial international conference
intended to produce a new deal to stabilize
the earth’s climate.
The special Earth Hour,
involving Copenhagen citizens turning out
their lights for one hour at 7pm on 16 December
2009, will demonstrate the city’s support
for world’s leaders reaching agreement on
fair and effective ways to reduce the risks
of catastrophic climate change.
"Copenhagen will
have a special role as host for the COP15.
We'll gather the mayors from the world’s
largest cities in December to put pressure
on the state leaders to negotiate an agreement
in Copenhagen. Also the city will host a
series of exiting climate events to engage
and involve the citizens of Copenhagen and
the many guests in the city. Earth Hour
Copenhagen, will be a great example of this,“
said Lord Mayor of Copenhagen, Ritt Bjerregaard.
Earth Hour Copenhagen
follows and builds on the overwhelming support
for effective climate action demonstrated
by hundreds of millions of people from 88
countries turning off lights for Earth Hour
on 28 March earlier this year.
More than 4,000 cities
and towns, including nine of the world’s
10 largest cities, participated in the event
which saw the lights go out on many of the
world’s great landmarks, including ancient
wonders the Pyramids and the Parthenon and
national icons such as the Sydney Harbour
Bridge and Opera House, Table Mountain,
Big Ben, the Empire State building and the
Eiffel Tower.
Earth Hour 2009 also
drew the support of leading world figures
such as UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon
and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who called
climate change “the greatest human-induced
crisis facing the world today”.
WWF International Director
General James Leape said that the citizens
of Copenhagen will become ambassadors for
the rest of the world in calling for action
on climate change at the UN Summit.
“Schools, churches,
businesses and individuals in just one city
can make a powerful statement on behalf
of their fellow citizens around the planet.
“With hundreds of millions
of people participating, this year’s Earth
Hour delivered an unequivocal global mandate
calling for action at Copenhagen.
In addition to announcing
Earth Hour Copenhagen, the Earth Hour campaign
has also launched a world first social mapping
platform aimed at further illustrating this
global mandate.
The new ‘Show Your Vote’
platform asks people to show their Vote
for Earth (over Global Warming) in the lead
up to the UN Climate Summit.
‘Show Your Vote’ enables
supporters to show their Vote for Earth
online by pinpointing their location on
a Google Map. Users can also add photos,
videos and links, which will be displayed
in a pop-up when their map pin is clicked.
The platform is open
source, free, available to everyone and
can easily be added to any web page, with
or without Earth Hour branding. It can be
customised to suit the look and feel of
the host website and can easily include
a modified message.
Earth Hour Executive
Director, Andy Ridley called on people,
companies and community groups to use the
platform to influence the outcome of the
most important decision human society has
ever faced.
“Show your Vote is a
great example of using technology to allow
ordinary citizens to make a difference.
“It helps give a voice to billions of people
who would otherwise have no chance to let
world leaders know they want action at Copenhagen.
“Join the hundred of
millions of people who Voted Earth during
Earth Hour by getting on the platform and
showing your Vote for Earth,” said Mr Ridley.
