AT least 7,000 cities in 172 countries, including the Philippines, participated in Saturday’s annual Earth Hour, which was held to dramatize the world’s reaction to climate change.
Earth Hour is a worldwide grassroots movement of the World Wide Fund (WWF) to unite people to take action for the planet. This year’s global tagline is “Use Your Power to Change Climate Change.”
The WWF said millions of people switched off their lights for an hour, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m., on March 28.
However, power plants that generate electricity did not shut down, thus, the activity did not save any electricity. Whatever the power plants produced was just not used.
“This year Earth Hour is set to be a record-breaking celebration of our planet with an unprecedented 172 countries and territories having confirmed their participation, including nations on the climate frontlines, like the Philippines, Maldives and Madagascar; and key climate actors, such as Brazil, the United States and China,” the WWF said in a pre-event statement.
In the Philippines the main switch-off was held at the Quezon Memorial Circle.
The Philippines has been participating in the annual Earth Hour since 2009, and has earned the title of “Earth Hour Hero Country” from 2009 to 2013 for topping participation records, with over 15 million Filipinos joining the event.
In a pre-event statement, Nationalist People’s Coalition Rep. Rodolfo Albano III of Isabela urged national government agencies and local governments to actively participate in the annual worldwide Earth Hour switch-off, “as mankind struggles against the deadly and devastating impact of climate change.”
Albano said the national government can make this year’s Earth Hour bigger and more effective by ensuring participation at the community or barangay level.
He said the various organizations of local officials can be activated to make household observance of Earth Hour possible.
Meanwhile, Liberal Party Rep. Eric Olivarez of Parañaque City has moved to institutionalize the Earth Hour movement by filing a bill mandating every city in the country to turn their lights off for one hour every last Saturday of March.
Olivarez’s House Bill 4302, to be known as The Earth Hour Act, seeks to raise public awareness about the prevailing global environmental problems.
In the Senate, Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara has filed a resolution reaffirming the support of the Senate for the objectives of Earth Hour and Earth Day.
“This year Earth Hour has a global focus on climate change. Given our vulnerability to natural disasters, the objectives of these celebrations are particularly relevant to our country,” Angara said.
Party-list Rep. Lito Atienza of Buhay also urged the public to participate in the 45th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22, as he called for more concrete and immediate action to address the growing threat brought about by climate change.
“As early as 2007 during the Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia, the Philippines was mentioned as one of the countries that would be tragically affected by the destructive impact of climate change, such as rising sea levels and storm surges,” said Atienza, who was a former environment secretary.
Atienza cited a report by the United Nations Climate Change Commission which predicts that, by the year 2025, the full destructive impact of climate change will be totally felt.
“We have been experiencing the devastating effects of climate change with massive storm surges, abnormal rise in sea levels, with experts predicting that they may even rise to as high as 20 feet. When this happens in Manila Bay, the whole of Manila will be under water. Shall we wait until we are all submerged? The destruction brought about by Supertyphoon Yolanda [international code name Haiyan] should remind all of us to do something concrete now,” Atienza said.
Atienza also pointed out that no less than French President François Hollande mentioned in his recent visit that “the Philippines can be the face and voice of developing countries in confronting climate change…in the eyes of the world, Manila is a symbol of suffering and hope. Nevertheless, there is hope here in Manila. Natural disasters brought about by climate change continue to threaten the world, especially vulnerable countries like the Philippines.”