Imagine Durbban Supports Earth Hour 2009

By Marlan Padayachee, Imagine Durban

Imagine Durban supports Earth Hour 2009

Imagine Durban is supporting eThekwini Municipality participation in World Wildlife Foundation’s Earth Hour. The global campaign aims to get more than one-billion people in over 1 000 cities switching off lights between 8:30pm and 9:30pm on Saturday, 28 March.

Imagine Durban, a city council-driven initiative on integrated, long-term planning in coalition with Sustainable Cities and the PLUS Network has called on Durban households and businesses to support the campaign by switching off lights for an hour between 8.30 and 9.30pm. Pledge your support at www.earthhour.org.za

The lights-out awareness campaign that began in Sydney, Australia, in 2007, grew spectacularly last year when more than 50 million people in over 270 cities in over 35 countries responded positively to the clarion call to reduce the world’s high energy consumption that affects global climate change.

Imagine Durban is encouraging all home-owners, businesses and anyone who uses electricity to support Earth Hour by switching off lights and any other non-essential appliances. Residents and social groups are urged to organise fun, electricity-free events with friends and family to spend the ‘global hour’ discussing how they can reduce energy consumption by contributing to global warming and what government can do to address this problem.
Durban’s flagship venue, the International Convention Centre, will be in darkness for an hour on the night to raise awareness of how excessive use of energy affects climate change across the world.

Simultaneously, the city’s “Switch Off, Unplug and Save” public campaign is aimed at encouraging residents and business owners to use less electricity by saving 10 percent of their electricity consumption.

Global warming is caused by the emission of Carbon Dioxide and other Greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Eskom's electricity production accounts for over 60 percent of South Africa’s national greenhouse gas emissions.

Closer to home, climate change in Durban is expected to result in higher temperatures, more storms and rising sea levels, thereby increasing the risk of diseases, disruptions to agricultural systems and loss of life and damage to property through more floods and coastal storms.