WWF's Earth Hour wins top award

2009-09-11 12:00

Cape Town - WWF's enormously successful Earth Hour campaign on Thursday night scooped a prestigious Mail & Guardian Greening the Future Award, an accolade the organisation hopes will help raise public awareness around the need for action against climate change ahead of the UN climate change conference in December in Copenhagen.

Earth Hour, on March 28, saw more than a million South Africans switch off their lights for an hour, joining an estimated billion people around the world in what's been described as the largest global demonstration of mass action.

Last night, the campaign won the hotly contested category Environmental Best Practice in Non-Profit Organisations.

In their citation for the award, the judges described Earth Hour as "A fabulous project"  that "spoke to the overall issues and awareness and captured the imagination of many individuals and companies around the country".

"It must be acknowledged for its creativeness and by the way it used the media in its efforts," the judges commented.  

Richard Worthington, WWF's Climate Change Programme Manager in South Africa, says: "We’re delighted about this award, but it really goes, not to WWF, but to all the South Africans who participated in Earth Hour.

"It adds great impetus to WWF's ongoing Vote Earth campaign, which aims to mobilise popular demand for a global mandate for world leaders to agree on a fair and effective deal in December in Copenhagen."

'Growing awareness'

"The response to this call to action indicates a growing awareness that climate change isn't just an environmental issue, but a matter of social justice and the most pressing issue pivotal issue for empowering all our communities.
 
"The recognition signified by this award is especially encouraging in the light of recent data, which shows that climate change is happening faster than previous IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) research indicated.

"The Arctic Climate Feedbacks: Global Implications report shows that the impact of climate change on the Arctic could lead to sea level rises affecting a quarter of the world’s population, as well as substantial increases in greenhouse gas emissions from massive carbon pools, and extreme global weather changes."

Worthington says that this latest summary of climate science drives home the need for global cooperation in forcing a breakthrough at the Copenhagen conference.

He adds: "The response to Earth Hour shows a growing sense of urgency on the issue and a willingness to embrace opportunities for effective responses to climate change.

"It shows there are ways in which we can raise awareness not only of the grave risks of climate change, but also the opportunities for moving to a low-carbon economy and addressing poverty."

Worthington adds that one such awareness-raising measure is the appointment of four WWF Climate Champions, high-profile South Africans who are urging decisive action at the Copenhagen conference: Cyril Ramaphosa, Dr Mamphela Ramphele, Valli Moosa and Tom Boardman.

The Arctic Climate Feedbacks: Global Implications report can be found here.

- News24