Households and businesses once again have been presented with an opportunity to do their part to raise awareness on climate change by participating in a global awareness event more popularly referred to as ‘Earth Hour’.
Participation requires that people switch-off all electrical appliances, devices and gadgets that make use of electricity as a power source, for one hour alongside the rest of the world on the last Saturday of this month, which will land on March 27 and will see participating parties turning off their electricity for a period of an hour between 8:30pm and 9:30pm local time.
Though participation is voluntary, it is hoped that people will participate in order to raise the awareness on the high levels of power consumption in this modern day and age, said the DES Acting Director (Department of Electrical Services), Awg Hj Umar bin Hj Mohd Tahir.
He added that it is also hoped that people will stop to think in regards to our shared responsibility to cut-down our dependence on a fossil fuel supply to prevent it from dwindling, and to help mitigate global warming and therefore help conserve the state of the environment for future generations.
A woman walks down steps which feature a painted promotional design for the upcoming Earth Hour event at a bank in Hong Kong March 16, 2010. Earth Hour 2010 takes place on Saturday, March 27, at 8.30pm local HK time and is a global call to turn off lights for 60 minutes in a bid to highlight the global climate change
Speaking to the media during a conference yesterday, the DES Acting Director informed all that both Brunei and the world has seen an increasing demand for electrical power sources and made necessary due to a rising global population and industrialisation of developing economies. “This scenario has directly influenced the political landscape of the world”, he stated.
According to him, industrial countries are racing to upgrade their energy production capabilities based on energy needs and demands to facilitate survival.
Earth Hour is a global event organised by WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature, also known as World Wildlife Fund) and is always held on the last Saturday of March annually.
Earth hour was conceived by WWF and The Sydney Morning Herald in 2007, when 2.2 million residents of Sydney participated during the awareness event by turning off all non-essential electrical appliances and lights. Following Sydney’s lead, many other cities around the world adopted the event in 2008.
Brunei began to follow the Earth Hour initiative in 2008 with the full support of the Brunei government though the Electrical Services Department.
Since its inception in Brunei, companies and education institutions such as Universiti Brunei Darussalam have also taken part during the event as a form of disseminating information to its students.
Apart from government agencies, the Orchid Garden Hotel, Sheraton Hotel, The Empire Hotel and Country Club, NBT Sdn Bhd and HSBC bank also take part during the Earth Hour event.
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