SL to grace Earth Hour as a national event

Saturday, 23 March 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Shabiya Ali Ahlam

With the patronage of the Minister of Technology, Research, and Atomic Energy Champika Ranawaka, Minister for Environment and Renewable Energy Susil Premajayanth, and Chief Minister of Western Province Prasanna Ranatunga along with more Provincial Councillors from the Western Province, the national Earth Hour event in Sri Lanka will be held at the Sri Mahindaramaya Temple, Ethul Kolle today from 7:30 p.m. onwards.

Initiated by the Ministry of Environment – Western Province, the first school to come forward with its pledge to the global cause was Holy Family Convent Bambalapitiya according to the Earth Hour team.

“The students of the convent are getting actively involved under the guidance of the Principal who is extremely passionate about the cause,” said Earth Hour Sri Lanka Country Manager Abdul Qadir Uvais.

The team also revealed that over 68 companies across diverse sectors have pledged their support to the cause and companies such as MAS Holdings, Coco Veranda, Alliance Finance, Virtusa, Textured Jersey Sri Lanka, Smart E Designers, and eFM are a few organisations that have been strongly campaigning for the cause beyond the hour.

“Earth Hour believes that the symbolism of the hour is important in bringing people and communities together across the globe, but our aspiration from the beginning was to go far beyond the hour itself,” expressed Uvais.

He added that although Earth Hour culminates in a 60-minute event each last Saturday of March, the organisation is in full gear all year long, helping to advance efforts that fight climate change and encourage more responsible behaviour around the globe.

The theme for the EH 2013 60+ campaign, which calls for the commitment of adding to the Earth Hour a positive act for the planet that goes beyond the hour, was launched by CEO and Co-Founder Earth Hour Andrew Ridley in Sri Lanka during his visit to the country in January this year.

While the inaugural Earth Hour was held in Sydney Australia in 2007, Sri Lanka officially joined the movement in 2010 where Minister of Environment Champika Ranawaka took the lead to support the Earth Hour campaign by having an event in the Ministry premises and ensured that all Governmental institutions switched off their non-essential lights during the hour to show their support.