The tenth Earth Hour

Tonight in over 7,000 cities in 162 countries the lights will be turned of between  8.30 and 9:30 pm in order to celebrate the Earth Hour. The goal of this lobal campaign is to raise a greater awareness for the climate and environmental impact. The global initiative Earth Hour war kicked off  in Sidney 2007.

At the Earth Hour, organizations, enterprises and people are asked to create their own event. This can be a recycling party, a candle ligh dinner with friends and family, a trip into nature or a party such as the event by the Earth Angels in New York. At the Earth (angel) Hour that is organized by East Coast Eco Supervisor Emellie O’Brien, there is even  live music and dancing.  But sustainable behaviour should no be limited to shut down the lights for one hour. Therefore, consumers should lower their carbon emissions as much as possible.

The goal of this global campaign is to limit the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees as it was discussed at the COP21 in Paris. Therefore, the CO2 emissions need to be brought down to a reasonable level. Each European citizen generates with consum, mobility and living greenhouse gas emissions whixh come down to more than ten tons every year. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC) the negative impact of global warming is becoming stronger in the future.

"The agreement reached at Paris offers a strong ray of hope. If we can keep the increase in CO2 emissions to a level that slows and caps temperature rise to 1.5 degrees or less then we are in with a chance", states John Tanzer, Director, WWF Marine Programme. "The world showed that we have at last woken up to the reality of the threat that climate change poses to us and future generations. The challenge is to keep the momentum of Paris going and build on the progress. There is no place or time to relax." People can contribute towards the success of the Paris Agreement  by changing their lifestyle and consumption choices but we must get major policy changes like a realistic price on carbon implemented. "The main way is to stay engaged and ensure that politicians and policy makers respond with meaningful action. "