86 Chinese cities join Earth Hour
By Cai Wenjun |
March 27, 2011, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
LIGHTS started going off around the world yesterday in a show of support for renewable energy as a record number of Chinese cities took part in Earth Hour.
Landmarks in thousands of cities, from Sydney Harbour Bridge to the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, turned off the lights for Earth Hour, the fifth such event promoting a sustainable future for the planet.
Shanghai turned off the lights on landscape buildings including landmarks such as Shanghai World Financial Center, Oriental Pearl TV Tower and Jin Mao Tower. All government office buildings in the city also participated in yesterday's lights-out event.
Earth Hour attracted a record high 86 Chinese cities, more than double last year's number of participants.
In addition to turning lights off between 8:30pm and 9:30pm, Shanghai also made good on its promise, like other cities, to go "beyond the hour" in an effort to take long-lasting and sustainable environmental action.
To support the Earth Hour initiative, instigated by World Wide Fund For Nature, Shanghai will create 1,000 hectares of new urban green space this year, the Shanghai Greenery and Public Sanitation Bureau said.
"That's why this year's logo has a plus sign after the number 60, one hour with lights off," said Wang Limin, a WWF Shanghai official. "The plus means more landscape buildings are joining and, more importantly, people are taking more measures beyond the one hour to protect the environment and save energy."
More than 99,400 people and 3,740 companies and organizations in Shanghai participated by registering and making commitments at the Earth Hour website.
The lights-out event was also yesterday's top topic on microblogs with millions of messages devoted to energy saving and low carbon lifestyles.
"I think it's going to be the biggest one, but would also say it's very much up to the people," Andy Ridley, co-founder of Earth Hour, told Reuters in Sydney.
"There is no-one telling you that you have to do it."
Landmarks in thousands of cities, from Sydney Harbour Bridge to the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, turned off the lights for Earth Hour, the fifth such event promoting a sustainable future for the planet.
Shanghai turned off the lights on landscape buildings including landmarks such as Shanghai World Financial Center, Oriental Pearl TV Tower and Jin Mao Tower. All government office buildings in the city also participated in yesterday's lights-out event.
Earth Hour attracted a record high 86 Chinese cities, more than double last year's number of participants.
In addition to turning lights off between 8:30pm and 9:30pm, Shanghai also made good on its promise, like other cities, to go "beyond the hour" in an effort to take long-lasting and sustainable environmental action.
To support the Earth Hour initiative, instigated by World Wide Fund For Nature, Shanghai will create 1,000 hectares of new urban green space this year, the Shanghai Greenery and Public Sanitation Bureau said.
"That's why this year's logo has a plus sign after the number 60, one hour with lights off," said Wang Limin, a WWF Shanghai official. "The plus means more landscape buildings are joining and, more importantly, people are taking more measures beyond the one hour to protect the environment and save energy."
More than 99,400 people and 3,740 companies and organizations in Shanghai participated by registering and making commitments at the Earth Hour website.
The lights-out event was also yesterday's top topic on microblogs with millions of messages devoted to energy saving and low carbon lifestyles.
"I think it's going to be the biggest one, but would also say it's very much up to the people," Andy Ridley, co-founder of Earth Hour, told Reuters in Sydney.
"There is no-one telling you that you have to do it."
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