Earth Hour beyond the hour: Authorities, companies and artists expressed their reasons to turn off their lights

Lima. “What began as a symbolic gesture has become the greatest environmental movement in the world, and in this context, this year we want to invite the whole population to take the next step and take long-term actions for a living planet”. These were the words with which Daniel Arancibia, WWF Deputy Director, initiated the launching event for Earth Hour 2011, held this Thursday, March 10 in the district of Miraflores.

According to reports, Peru participated for the first time in 2009. 8 million people all over the country turned off their lights that year, that is, 1 out of 3 Peruvians with access to electricity. The country thus became one of the world leaders in civic commitment against climate change. The next year, the message was spread all over the country, and even President Alan García joined the campaign by urging everyone in the country, from the darkness of the Main Square, to turn off their lights.

This year, the premise is to take Earth Hour beyond the hour, as reminded by several artists who shared their reasons to turn off the lights this year. “I like this campaign because of its community-based nature. It’s not something individual, but something that is dome collectively, and that gives me a lot of hope”, said Wendy Ramos. In turn, Raúl Romero stated that “I turn off the lights for my children, since WWF has promoted “children’s environmental patrols” through this initiative, because it was my children who showed the most commitment to the environmental cause”.

Climate change is the greatest problem faced by our planet, considering that the 10 years with the highest temperatures have been registered since 1990, which has led to the disappearance of water sources, food shortages, the displacement of millions of people, and the extinction of plants and animals.

This is the reason why Earth Hour has become the best opportunity all over the world to demonstrate that each one of us can have a positive impact in the fight for a living planet, by turning off our lights for an hour.

In this regard, Ronald Cabanillas, Representative for the Wong and Metro Supermarkets Group of Cencosud Peru, pointed out the importance of seeing the private sector participate in this initiative and invite the public by setting an example and promoting responsible consumption.

It is worth noting that in 2007, 2,2 million people in Sydney, Australia turned of their lights as a call to action against climate change, and in 2008 the number rose up to 50 million people in 380 cities around the world. In 2009, around 1 billion people took part in the event, and the number was beaten the following year.

Now, Earth Hour has grown to become the greatest environmental movement in history, and Peru is one of the countries with the largest participation in the world. More than 15 regions have so far confirmed their participation in this year’s edition, and this March 26, at 8:30 pm, the number of Peruvians committing to take Earth Hour beyond the hour is expected to be even higher.


FACTS

CLIMATE CHANGE IN PERU AND THE WORLD

• Combustion, industries, logging and forest burning produce gases that concentrate in the atmosphere: greenhouse effect
• During the last century, the average temperature has increased between 0,3 and 0,6°C
• At this rate, it would increase up to 2,5°C in the next 50 years or less
• One third of tropical glaciers have disappeared since 1970
• Desde 1970 un tercio de glaciares tropicales ha desaparecido

PERU

a. COAST

• 70% of the population is gathered in the desert coast and depends on 2% of the country’s water resources
• Lima is the second largest city located in a desert after Cairo, but receives less than 1% of the 2800m3/sec of water of the Nile (vs. Rimac)

b. ANDES

• Peru has 70% of the world’s tropical glaciers, however, these recede 20-30m every year

c. AMAZON

• 15% of the world’s emissions com from forest burning
• The Amazon holds between 90 and 140 million tons of carbon (the whole world’s production between 9 and 14 years)
• Almost 40% of Peruvian emissions come from forest burning and deforestation, which is about 260,000 ha per year

d. ENERGY

• The average energy consumption in the country accounts for a family’s monthly expense of S/. 91,5, and if our energy consumption were more intelligent, we would not only help the planet but also save up to 21%, that is, almost S/. 20 per family. (Source: Ministry of Energy and Mines)