| What is the "Live Green" pledge? |
| Following WWF's fiftieth anniversary in April 2011, WWF-Malaysia urged Malaysians to help conserve our living planet by pledging to "Live Green" towards more sustainable lifestyles. From Earth Hour 2011 until Earth Hour 2012, WWF-Malaysia is urging everyone across the nation to take Earth Hour beyond the hour by pledging to "Live Green: One switch at a time". Each month, a simple action towards a more sustainable lifestyle will be highlighted. It is easy to "Live Green" and the more people who make this pledge, the more powerful our efforts to protect our living planet become. |
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| 1. |
What is Earth Hour? |
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Earth Hour is a global initiative in partnership with WWF. Individuals, businesses, governments and communities are invited to turn out their lights for one hour to show their support for environmentally sustainable action. The event began in 2007 in Sydney, Australia when 2.2 million individuals and more than 2,000 businesses turned their lights off for one hour to take a stand against climate change. By 2010, Earth Hour had created history as the largest voluntary action ever witnessed with participation across 128 countries and every continent, including the world's most recognized man-made marvels and natural wonders in a landmark environmental action. This was repeated in 2011.
Earth Hour 2012 will take place on Saturday 31st March at 8.30PM (local time). This Earth Hour we want you to go beyond the hour, so after the lights go back on think about what else you can do to make a difference. Together our actions add up.
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| 2. |
How can I support Earth Hour? |
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- Where do I get posters and banners for my Earth Hour event?
- Will WWF-Malaysia be having an Earth Hour event?
- Pledge to support Earth Hour and "Live Green: One switch at a time" at wwf.org.my.
- Participate in WWF-Malaysia's Earth Hour event at Sunway Pyramid, Petaling Jaya, on 31st March 2012 or visit our booths from
- Sunway Giza, Petaling Jaya
- Sunway Pyramid, Petaling Jaya
- Sunway Carnival, Penang
- Get updates at www.facebook.com/wwfmy.
- Like us on facebook and follow us on twitter.
- Switch off your non-essential lights during Earth Hour 2012.
- Download the poster pack and spread the word to colleagues, business partners, friends and family.
- Download a banner and put it on your blog or website.
- Talk about Earth Hour and your "Live Green" pledge in your social network by updating your social network, tweeting about your support, and more.
- Get together with your friends and family, by hosting an Earth Hour party or holding your own candlelit affair.
- Rally your local council or community group to run an Earth Hour event for your community.
- Encourage your employer and workmates to take part in Earth Hour and make energy savings every day.
- Be creative! Find a new way to mark Earth Hour and let us know all about it by e-mailing contactus@wwf.org.my.
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| 3. |
What is the "Live Green" pledge? |
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Earth Hour 2011 showcased a growing global community committed to taking environmental actions that go beyond the hour. Since then until Earth Hour 2012, WWF-Malaysia urges everyone across the nation to take Earth Hour beyond the hour by signing up at wwf.org.my and pledging to "Live Green: One switch at a time."
Each month, a simple action towards a more sustainable lifestyle was highlighted at wwf.org.my. For example, individuals can pledge to switch off their TV and computer, instead of leaving these in standby mode.
WWF-Malaysia hopes that Malaysians will join the global community to take action that goes beyond the hour. It is easy to "Live Green: One switch at a time", and the more people who make this pledge, the more powerful our efforts to protect our living planet become.
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| 4. |
Can I have my own Earth Hour event? |
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WWF-Malaysia encourages independent participation in Earth Hour as this event belongs to the public and everyone who is concerned about climate change. All you have to do is sign up and pledge to Live Green, one switch at a time, at wwf.org.my, tell your family, friends and colleagues about it and then turn off all of your non-essential lighting on March 31st 2012 from 8.30 pm to 9:30pm. Regrettably, due to manpower constraints, WWF-Malaysia is not able to send representatives to various venues where people are participating in Earth Hour. However, we very much appreciate your support. |
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| 5. |
How can corporations support Earth Hour 2012? |
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- Encourage all your staff, customers and partners to pledge to live green, one switch at a time, from Earth Hour 2011 until Earth Hour 2012.
- Switch off your non-essential lights at your premises during Earth Hour 2012.
- Corporations offering sustainable solutions that would like to work with WWF-Malaysia for Earth Hour 2012 can contact corporaterelations@wwf.org.my.
Please:
- Do NOT use the WWF Panda logo or Earth Hour logo to produce premiums for sale as members of the public might be misled into believing that part proceeds from the sale of such premiums will go towards WWF-Malaysia's conservation efforts.
- Do NOT fundraise for WWF-Malaysia through your Earth Hour event unless you have contacted corporaterelations@wwf.org.my and have an agreement in writing from WWF-Malaysia to fundraise for us. This is to prevent unscrupulous organisations from cheating members of the public by fraudulently claiming that they are fundraising for WWF-Malaysia through their Earth Hour event, when none of the proceeds reach WWF-Malaysia's conservation efforts.
WWF-Malaysia reserves the right to take legal action against any persons or organisations that falsely claim to be fundraising for our conservation efforts or misuse our logo.
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| 6. |
What does WWF hope to accomplish through Earth Hour? |
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Through Earth Hour, WWF will continue to educate and raise awareness about the climate crisis and offer ideas and solutions that people can merge into their daily lives.
Through Earth Hour, WWF aims to unify people's voices from around the world who are demanding action from our elected officials to solve the climate crisis.
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| 7. |
What happened during Earth Hour in previous years? |
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Earth Hour 2009 was an important step in the fight against climate change. Hundreds of millions of people in over 4,000 cities in 88 countries officially switched off their lights in the largest climate event of all time.
In Malaysia, almost 75,000 individuals, 8 states and Federal Territories, and over 400 businesses and organizations officially signed up in support of Earth Hour 2009.
In 2010, WWF-Malaysia encouraged every individual to take ownership of Earth Hour, and many Earth Hour events were held independently all over the nation, so WWF-Malaysia does not have statistics for Earth Hour 2010, which was led by the Malaysian people.
Based on feedback that we received in 2010 from our supporters who missed us, WWF-Malaysia played a more active role in 2011, while still encouraging Malaysians to make Earth Hour their own, joining millions worldwide. Hundreds participated in the Earth Hour 2011 at Sunway Pyramid where we launched the "Live Green: One switch at a time" pledge. As of January 2012, about 20,000 people had pledged to Live Green.
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| 8. |
How does my participation in Earth Hour help towards mitigating climate change? |
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Earth Hour is not a long-term solution to mitigate climate change. However, it is an important first step to generate awareness, interest and concern over the global threat of climate change. People will only be motivated to take effective action against environmental threats like climate change if they are first made aware of the issue through campaigns like Earth Hour. By signing up, you are agreeing that strong action needs to be taken to find a solution to the climate crisis.
After Earth Hour has raised public awareness about the need to combat global warming, WWF-Malaysia hopes that Malaysians, and the people of the world, will continue to demonstrate their concern about climate change by taking steps towards achieving energy efficiency and avoiding wasteful consumption.
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| 9. |
Do I have to turn off all of my electricity for Earth Hour? |
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No. Through Earth Hour we are asking people to turn off all non-essential lighting. Emergency lighting, televisions and computers can stay on for the hour. The main point of Earth Hour is to unite people, companies and governments around the world through the symbolic flip of a switch. Earth Hour in itself will not lower our carbon footprint; rather, it sends a signal to those in positions of power that we as individuals and communities demand action.
The decision on which lights to turn off can be made individually, but it usually involves shutting overhead lights in rooms (whether it is at your house or a business), outdoor lighting that does not impact safety, decorative lights, neon signs for advertising, desk lamps, etc.
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| 10. |
Will my city go completely black? |
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Earth Hour is not a black-out. It is a voluntary power shutdown of non-essential, decorative lighting by its participants. For businesses in city skyscrapers or for government buildings, it involves turning off the lights at the end of the business day the Friday before Earth Hour and not turning them back on until that Monday morning. So the event will be more of a fadeout to grey than an abrupt shift to black.
Lights necessary for public safety will not go out.
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| 11. |
What does WWF do to reduce the effects of climate change around the world? |
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Around the world, WWF works with communities, governments and businesses to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prepare for the impacts of climate change.
Nationally, WWF-Malaysia focuses on the following key areas:
PROTECTION OF FORESTS. Forests play a vital role in the fight against climate change. Forests are important carbon sinks and deforestation is estimated to be responsible for about 18% of current greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, forests have significant economic and ecological value by supporting biodiversity, clean water supply and local livelihoods. WWF-Malaysia helps to:
- Engage businesses, especially those in the forestry and plantation sectors, to implement sustainable practices that reduce their environmental impact.
- Restore forests by planting trees in degraded areas.
Advocate for the national implementation of REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation)
PROTECTION OF SEAS. Climate change will have a big impact on the seas. Helping them to adapt to these impacts is a key component of our work. Climate change adds additional stresses to already fragile ecosystems like coral reefs. Coral bleaching and ocean acidification are two examples. By reducing other threats and identifying factors that help coral reefs survive these impacts; we can help coral reefs to survive climate change. We do this by:
- Helping to establishing marine protected areas such as Tun Sakaran Marine Park and Tun Mustapha Park, to promote natural resistance and resilience of marine ecosystems to the effects of climate change such as coral bleaching.
- Working to restore natural ecosystems and full complements of predatory fish and prey species which are more resilient to changes in climate.
AWARENESS AND EDUCATION. The public needs to be made aware of climate change as well as the broader environmental issues in order to be engaged into making the necessary lifestyle changes to help the cause. WWF-Malaysia works on:
- Lobbying for the incorporation of environmental education in the Malaysian formal education structure.
- Engaging with local communities on sustainable natural resource management through a series of awareness programmes and activities in our project sites.
POLICY ADVOCACY. Advocacy on environmental policy has always been at the heart of WWF-Malaysia's conservation work. WWF-Malaysia has advocated for and lobby the government on issues including standards for environmental planning and management, inclusiveness in policy making and development planning through effective civil consultation and the development of environmental and economic policies and plans that are compatible with sustainability principles. WWF-Malaysia will continue to advocate for the mainstreaming of climate change mitigation and adaptation in national policies and development plans.
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| 12. |
What are the next steps after Earth Hour 2012? |
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Earth Hour is just the start. WWF hopes that people will continue to take the initiative to make the necessary changes in their lives to be more carbon-efficient. WWF will continue to work with communities, governments and businesses to find ways to reduce the adverse impacts of climate change. |
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