Youth as climate leaders take center stage in Earth Hour 2017

This year’s Earth Hour switch-off event will be held on March 25 from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m., with the celebration focusing on the youth’s role as future climate leaders, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Philippines said.

WWF said the main switch-off event in the country would be held at the SM by the Bay at the Mall of Asia compound in Pasay City from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. The Earth Camp featuring interactive climate adaptation and mitigation booths starts at 4 p.m. while the program proper begins at 7 p.m.

WWF urged Filipinos, particularly young people, to participate in the annual switch-off event to raise more awareness on climate action. This year’s celebration comes in as President Rodrigo Duterte signed the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change, despite earlier misgivings.

The historic climate pact would cap greenhouse gas emissions, pursue the global development of renewable energy, and aid climate vulnerable countries to mitigate the harmful effects of climate change. To date, 133 countries of the 197 parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change have ratified the Paris accord.

“While the theme of Earth Hour remains at Shining a Light on Climate Action, we took to heart the role of the youth as the key to further propel the country into a climate-resilient one. We continue to engage and encourage the public to emphasize that together, we thrive,” WWF-Philippines President and CEO Joel Palma said in a statement.

Earth Hour Philippines national director Atty. Gia Ibay said: “Earth Hour is definitely more than just the symbolic switch-off as it aims to bring concrete solutions, at a time when the challenges of climate change and environmental issues are all too real, yet showing the power of collective climate action.”

In the main switch-off event, members of the WWF National Youth Council will lead the Earth Hour Camp while two new WWF Youth Ambassadors will be introduced along with the official WWF-Philippines song.

The Philippines has been participating in the annual switch-off event since 2007 and topped global participation records from 2009 to 2012. JE/rga

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