South Africans saved almost 600 megawatts of electricity during this 2019’s Earth Hour celebrations. Cities around the world switched off the lights on Saturday night, in a call for global action on climate change.
Earth Hour, spearheaded by the World Wildlife Fund, calls for greater awareness on environmental issues.
WWF-SA CEO @plessis_morne addresses us in the minutes up to the #EarthHourAdventure at @KirstenboschNBG in Cape Town. #Connect2Earth pic.twitter.com/VjP9oHhPd9
— WWF South Africa (@WWFSouthAfrica) March 30, 2019
Thousands of cities went dark on Saturday night – from Asia to Europe, Cape to Cairo, lights went off in a symbolic move to raise climate change awareness.
Despite South Africans spending hours without electricity in March, many did join in 2019’s Earth Hour, saving 554MW; a higher amount than was recorded in 2018.
WWF South Africa’s Justin Smith says that we need to look for alternatives for coal energy.
“We didn’t push SA to switch off, but we need to look at other alternatives for coal energy. We need to make efforts for the planet because it is the only place we have to live.”
Head of WWF’s business unit Justin Smith is called up to shed light on #EarthHour and its roots that began back in 2007. #EarthHourAdventure #Connect2Earth pic.twitter.com/oADltsEi99
— WWF South Africa (@WWFSouthAfrica) March 30, 2019
The symbolic switch off began in 2007 in Australia and over a decade later, over 1700 cities joined the initiative to put energy on the agenda.
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