(This is copied from the news picturing the event around the globe.)
From Sydney Harbour to the Empire State Building, cities and world landmarks plunged into darkness Saturday as a symbolic energy-saving exercise unfolded across the globe. The pyramids at Giza in Egypt, the Acropolis in Athens and the Houses of Parliament in London cut their electricity as part of "Earth Hour," a worldwide call for action to avert potentially devastating climate change.
Some 371 landmarks powered down worldwide, including the Eiffel Tower, Niagara Falls, the Las Vegas casino strip and Beijing's "Bird's Nest" Olympic stadium. The switch-off ended in Honolulu, capital of the US state of Hawaii.
The global event began dramatically as Sydney's iconic Opera House and Harbour Bridge plunged into darkness on Saturday night, killing their lights for an hour, followed later by the glittering Hong Kong waterfront. Millions of people turned out in Sydney, while Melbourne, Australia's second-largest city, came to life with a pedal-powered concert and others enjoyed moonlit picnics and barbecues.
The global grassroots movement began in Sydney two years ago, when 2.2 million people switched off their lights. Earth Hour has since grown to include 3,929 cities, villages and localities across the globe. "It is a very positive, hopeful campaign," Andy Ridley, the event's director, told reporters in Sydney. We want people to think, even if it is for an hour, what they can do to lower their carbon footprint and take that beyond the hour."
Ridley said he was aiming for one billion participants, hoping the event would send a resounding message to world leaders about significant emissions cuts. Scientists have warned that global warming caused by burning fossil fuels on a massive scale could devastate the planet, hitting the poorest countries hardest with floods, droughts and disease.
Sceptics criticized the event as little more than empty symbolism, with Danish professor Bjorn Lomborg claiming the use of candles during the hour could produce more emissions than electric lights. But United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a video message earlier this month that "Earth Hour is a way for the citizens of the world to send a clear message. They want action on climate change."
Lights in the "city that never sleeps" began going dark at 8:30 pm (0030 GMT) at some of New York City's most renowned buildings and landmarks, including Broadway theaters, the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building and the signs of several big firms, including Coca-Cola's in Times Square. In Washington, campuses of major universities and several embassies flipped the switch. People gathered at Freedom Plaza, which has an unobstructed view of the US Congress, to watch the lights dim on nearby buildings and hotels. In London, the lights went off at the Houses of Parliament and the famous electronic billboard at Piccadilly Circus. In Paris, hundreds of monuments and buildings, from the Louvre and Notre Dame Cathedral to the Arc de Triomphe, all went dark. For safety reasons, the lights on the Eiffel Tower were switched off for only five minutes. Elsewhere across Europe, St Peter's Basilica in Rome and the Greek parliament in Athens were all plunged into darkness, while entertainers danced in front of the Romanian parliament in Bucharest. In Egypt, the Giza pyramids, the Cairo Tower and the Alexandria Library on the Mediterranean all went dark. In the United Arab Emirates, which has the highest per capita energy consumption in the world, Dubai's iconic sail-shaped seven-star Burj al-Arab hotel turned off its nightly multi-colored light show. The lights went dark in downtown Manila, as they did in the world's tallest completed skyscraper, the Taipei 101 building. In South Africa, Table Mountain was to be seen only by starlight for an hour. And the Weekender newspaper reported that one couple would turn the lights down on their marriage at a vineyard near Cape Town. The event ended in Honolulu, where municipal buildings darkened for the second consecutive year to mark the eco-friendly hour, according to local news reports.
A United Nations-led conference in the Danish capital later this year is meant to approve a new global warming treaty for after 2012, when the Kyoto Protocol for cutting carbon emissions expires.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
INSPIRE
The 2nd East Asian Seas (EAS) Youth Forum, one of the major side events of the EAS Congress 2009, is fast coming. It's about the second convening of young participants from countries in the EAS Region, the first of which was during the 2006 EAS Congress. The Forum is a venue for young people in the region to learn more about pressing concerns in the marine and coastal areas, including climate change. It also hopes to strengthen the role of the youth in addressing these issues by providing them with some practical skills that they can apply when they go back to their own countries. The Forum will be divided into four major sub-themes: inform, inspire, involve, empower; adopted from the past YF's core principle, I3 = E.
Inspiring the youth to act, to get involve and to be empowered would mean molding them into a better personality with high self-esteem, self-confidence and self-understanding of what they can be capable to. Molding them into a better individual may be started from boosting their talents. This has to do with the psychological and social building of one's personality. and why are talking about this? Well the answer is simple, Youth especially those in rural areas has less convincing power and oftentimes, if not most of the times, shy and naive. If the youth and children have that confidence, social recognition and maybe fame it would be easier for them to inform, inspire, and involve people to act for changes.
We in ANAKBALAYAN is so happy that one youth participant in the first EAS Youth Forum, Ms. Cris Evert Lato, is indeed applying the EAS Youth Agenda 2006. Below are his brother's HENDRIX GIL LATO's Artwork.
"My 19-year old brother, Hendrix Gil, is taking up BS Architecture at the Cebu Institute of Technology। He was born in this world with a pencil in his left hand and a sketch pad in his right hand. A superb artist! Proud of you Badge!"
Inspiring the youth to act, to get involve and to be empowered would mean molding them into a better personality with high self-esteem, self-confidence and self-understanding of what they can be capable to. Molding them into a better individual may be started from boosting their talents. This has to do with the psychological and social building of one's personality. and why are talking about this? Well the answer is simple, Youth especially those in rural areas has less convincing power and oftentimes, if not most of the times, shy and naive. If the youth and children have that confidence, social recognition and maybe fame it would be easier for them to inform, inspire, and involve people to act for changes.
We in ANAKBALAYAN is so happy that one youth participant in the first EAS Youth Forum, Ms. Cris Evert Lato, is indeed applying the EAS Youth Agenda 2006. Below are his brother's HENDRIX GIL LATO's Artwork.
"My 19-year old brother, Hendrix Gil, is taking up BS Architecture at the Cebu Institute of Technology। He was born in this world with a pencil in his left hand and a sketch pad in his right hand. A superb artist! Proud of you Badge!"
Isn't Hendrix art beautiful guys? Can you do it? Evert says the artist used simple art materials such as water color and liquid eyeliner.
Hey, do remember we help in exposing your talents. We can feature you too!
(You can add Evert in Facebook as friend too!)
Friday, March 20, 2009
EARTH HOUR
Earth Hour 2009 is a global call to action to every individual, every business and every community. A call to stand up, to take responsibility and to get involved in working towards a sustainable future. Iconic buildings and landmarks from Europe to The Americas will stand in darkness. The stories of what you did on the night have been inspiring. Remember to send them through to earthhour@wwf.org.au
Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia with 2.2 million homes and businesses turning their lights off for one whole hour. Only a year later and this event had become a global sustainability movement with up to 100 million people across 35 countries participating. Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square, all stood in darkness, as symbols of hope for a cause that grows more urgent by the hour.
In 2009, at 8.30pm on March 28, we are asking people across the world to turn off their lights and join together in creating the vital conversation about the future of our precious planet. Earth Hour is a message of hope and a message of action. Everyone can make a difference.
It’s as simple as a flick of the switch. Join us for Earth Hour 2009.
In 2009, at 8.30pm on March 28, we are asking people across the world to turn off their lights and join together in creating the vital conversation about the future of our precious planet. Earth Hour is a message of hope and a message of action. Everyone can make a difference.
It’s as simple as a flick of the switch. Join us for Earth Hour 2009.
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An invitation to all
This is our first post on this newly created blog and as a member of the Asia Pacific Youth Environmental Network group we want to share and encourage everyone to linger a moment, keenly observe the surroundings, the climate, the temperature, the people.....then think of the coming days.....
Dear World,
This is an invitation to help build a movement--to take one day and use it to stop the climate crisis.
On October 24, we will stand together as one planet and call for a fair global climate treaty. United by a common call to action, we'll make it clear: the world needs an international plan that meets the latest science and gets us back to safety.
This movement has just begun, and it needs your help.
Here's the plan: we're asking you, and people in every country on earth, to organize an action in their community on October 24.
There are no limits here--imagine bike rides, rallies, concerts, hikes, festivals, tree-plantings, protests, and more. Imagine your action linking up with thousands of others around the globe. Imagine the world waking up.
If we can pull it off, we'll send a powerful message on October 24: the world needs the climate solutions that science and justice demand.
It's often said that the only thing preventing us from tackling the climate crisis quickly and equitably is a lack of political will. Well, the only thing that can create that political will is a unified global movement--and no one is going to build that movement for us. It's up to regular people all over the world. That's you.
So register an event in your community for October 24, and then enlist the help of your friends. Get together with your co-workers or your local environmental group or human rights campaign, your church or synagogue or mosque or temple; enlist bike riders and local farmers and young people. All over the planet we'll start to organize ourselves.
With your help, there will be an event at every iconic place on the planet on October 24—from America's Great Lakes to Australia's Great Barrier Reef--and also in all the places that matter to you in your daily lives: a beach or park or village green or town hall.
If there was ever a time for you to get involved, it's right now. There are two reasons this year is so crucial.
The first is that the science of climate change is getting darker by the day. The Arctic is melting away with astonishing speed, decades ahead of schedule. Everything on the planet seems to be melting or burning, rising or parched.
And we now now have a number to express our peril: 350.
NASA's James Hansen and a team of other scientists recently published a series of papers showing that we need to cut the amount of carbon in the atmosphere from its current 387 parts per million to 350 or less if we wish to "maintain a planet similar to that on which civilization developed."
No one knew that number a year ago—but now it's clear that 350 might well be the most important number for the future of the planet, a north star to guide our efforts as we remake the world. If we can swiftly get the planet on track to get to 350, we can still avert the worst effects of climate change.
The second reason 2009 is so important is that the political opportunity to influence our governments has never been greater. The world's leaders will meet in Copenhagen this December to craft a new global treaty on cutting carbon emissions.
If that meeting were held now, it would produce a treaty would be woefully inadequate. In fact, it would lock us into a future where we'd never get back to 350 parts per million—where the rise of the sea would accelerate, where rainfall patterns would start to shift and deserts to grow. A future where first the poorest people, and then all of us, and then all the people that come after us, would find the only planet we have damaged and degraded.
October 24 comes six weeks before those crucial UN meetings in Copenhagen. If we all do our job, every nation will know the question they'll be asked when they put forth a plan: will this get the planet back on the path to 350?
This will only work with the help of a global movement—and it's starting to bubble up everywhere. Farmers in Cameroon, students in China, even World Cup skiers have already helped spread the word about 350. Churches have rung their bells 350 times; Buddhist monks have formed a huge 350 with their bodies against the backdrop of Himalayas. 350 translates across every boundary of language and culture. It's clear and direct, cutting through the static and it lays down a firm scientific line.
On October 24, we'll all stand behind 350--a universal symbol of climate safety and of the world we need to create. And at the end of the day, we'll all upload photos from our events to the 350.org website and send these pictures around the world. This cascade of images will drive climate change into the public debate--and hold our leaders accountable to a unified global citizenry.
We need your help—the world is a big place and our team is small. Our crew at 350.org will do everything we can to support you, providing templates for banners and press releases, resources to spread the word, and tools to help you build a strong local climate action group. And our core team is always just a phone call or e-mail away if you need some support.
This is like a final exam for human beings. Can we muster the courage, the commitment, and the creativity to set this earth on a steady course before it's too late? October 24 will be the joyful, powerful day when we prove it's possible.
Please join us now!
Register your local event today.
Onwards,
Bill McKibben - Author and Activist- USA
Vandana Shiva - Physicist, Activist, Author - India
David Suzuki - Scientist, Author, Activist - Canada
Bianca Jagger - Chair of the World Future Council - UK
Tim Flannery - Scientist, Author, Explorer -Australia
Bittu Sahgal - Founding Editor of Sanctuary Asia - India
Andrew Simmons - Environmental Advocate, St. Vincent & The Grenadines
Christine Loh - Environmental Advocate and Legislator - Hong Kong
ANAKBALAYAN- Municipal federation of fisher folk organizations-Balayan, Batangas, Philippines
(special thanks to Mr. Jessie James V. Marcellones for keeping updates of the group. you can also join the group [Asia Pacific Youth Environmental Network HERE)
Dear World,
This is an invitation to help build a movement--to take one day and use it to stop the climate crisis.
On October 24, we will stand together as one planet and call for a fair global climate treaty. United by a common call to action, we'll make it clear: the world needs an international plan that meets the latest science and gets us back to safety.
This movement has just begun, and it needs your help.
Here's the plan: we're asking you, and people in every country on earth, to organize an action in their community on October 24.
There are no limits here--imagine bike rides, rallies, concerts, hikes, festivals, tree-plantings, protests, and more. Imagine your action linking up with thousands of others around the globe. Imagine the world waking up.
If we can pull it off, we'll send a powerful message on October 24: the world needs the climate solutions that science and justice demand.
It's often said that the only thing preventing us from tackling the climate crisis quickly and equitably is a lack of political will. Well, the only thing that can create that political will is a unified global movement--and no one is going to build that movement for us. It's up to regular people all over the world. That's you.
So register an event in your community for October 24, and then enlist the help of your friends. Get together with your co-workers or your local environmental group or human rights campaign, your church or synagogue or mosque or temple; enlist bike riders and local farmers and young people. All over the planet we'll start to organize ourselves.
With your help, there will be an event at every iconic place on the planet on October 24—from America's Great Lakes to Australia's Great Barrier Reef--and also in all the places that matter to you in your daily lives: a beach or park or village green or town hall.
If there was ever a time for you to get involved, it's right now. There are two reasons this year is so crucial.
The first is that the science of climate change is getting darker by the day. The Arctic is melting away with astonishing speed, decades ahead of schedule. Everything on the planet seems to be melting or burning, rising or parched.
And we now now have a number to express our peril: 350.
NASA's James Hansen and a team of other scientists recently published a series of papers showing that we need to cut the amount of carbon in the atmosphere from its current 387 parts per million to 350 or less if we wish to "maintain a planet similar to that on which civilization developed."
No one knew that number a year ago—but now it's clear that 350 might well be the most important number for the future of the planet, a north star to guide our efforts as we remake the world. If we can swiftly get the planet on track to get to 350, we can still avert the worst effects of climate change.
The second reason 2009 is so important is that the political opportunity to influence our governments has never been greater. The world's leaders will meet in Copenhagen this December to craft a new global treaty on cutting carbon emissions.
If that meeting were held now, it would produce a treaty would be woefully inadequate. In fact, it would lock us into a future where we'd never get back to 350 parts per million—where the rise of the sea would accelerate, where rainfall patterns would start to shift and deserts to grow. A future where first the poorest people, and then all of us, and then all the people that come after us, would find the only planet we have damaged and degraded.
October 24 comes six weeks before those crucial UN meetings in Copenhagen. If we all do our job, every nation will know the question they'll be asked when they put forth a plan: will this get the planet back on the path to 350?
This will only work with the help of a global movement—and it's starting to bubble up everywhere. Farmers in Cameroon, students in China, even World Cup skiers have already helped spread the word about 350. Churches have rung their bells 350 times; Buddhist monks have formed a huge 350 with their bodies against the backdrop of Himalayas. 350 translates across every boundary of language and culture. It's clear and direct, cutting through the static and it lays down a firm scientific line.
On October 24, we'll all stand behind 350--a universal symbol of climate safety and of the world we need to create. And at the end of the day, we'll all upload photos from our events to the 350.org website and send these pictures around the world. This cascade of images will drive climate change into the public debate--and hold our leaders accountable to a unified global citizenry.
We need your help—the world is a big place and our team is small. Our crew at 350.org will do everything we can to support you, providing templates for banners and press releases, resources to spread the word, and tools to help you build a strong local climate action group. And our core team is always just a phone call or e-mail away if you need some support.
This is like a final exam for human beings. Can we muster the courage, the commitment, and the creativity to set this earth on a steady course before it's too late? October 24 will be the joyful, powerful day when we prove it's possible.
Please join us now!
Register your local event today.
Onwards,
Bill McKibben - Author and Activist- USA
Vandana Shiva - Physicist, Activist, Author - India
David Suzuki - Scientist, Author, Activist - Canada
Bianca Jagger - Chair of the World Future Council - UK
Tim Flannery - Scientist, Author, Explorer -Australia
Bittu Sahgal - Founding Editor of Sanctuary Asia - India
Andrew Simmons - Environmental Advocate, St. Vincent & The Grenadines
Christine Loh - Environmental Advocate and Legislator - Hong Kong
ANAKBALAYAN- Municipal federation of fisher folk organizations-Balayan, Batangas, Philippines
(special thanks to Mr. Jessie James V. Marcellones for keeping updates of the group. you can also join the group [Asia Pacific Youth Environmental Network HERE)
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