The 2013 Earth Hour campaign You and I, Together We Act kicks off on
March 23 at the August Revolution Square in front of the Hanoi Opera
House in Ha Noi.
Launched by the Ministry of Industry and
Trade (MoIT) a month ago, the campaign aims to raise awareness about
energy conservation and get individuals to make major changes to their
lifestyles to battle climate change.
On March 23 from 8.30pm to
9.30pm, every family, organisation and hotel in Vietnam is encouraged
to switch off lights and unnecessary electrical appliances to join the
rest of the world in observing Earth Hour – a global initiative started
by the World Wide Fund for Nature.
Other related activities
included a short film competition, collecting people’s fingerprints as a
commitment to conserve energy and fight against climate change and a
group bicycle trip called “Green Movement” where more than 200
volunteers rode bicycles around Hanoi’s centre.
As many as 41
films were submitted to the contest, of which the 10 best were screened
at the Keangnam building in Cau Giay District. The announcement of the
list of the winners is scheduled for March 23.
Danish
Ambassador to Viet Nam John Nielsen, Miss Friendly Duong Thuy Linh, and
singers Tung Duong and Bao Tram acted as ambassadors for the event,
making appearances at several colleges and universities in Hanoi to
raise awareness among students about climate change.
“In recent
years, Earth Hour has made a significant impression on Vietnamese
people’s awareness of the causes and consequences of climate change,
among which inefficient use of energy is a major contributing factor.
It’s time we turned this understanding into practical actions to save
energy, protect our living environment and build a green, sustainable
economy,” said MoIT Deputy Minister Le Duong Quang.
He called on every individual to commit to specific, practical daily actions to fight climate change.
Quang said that 2012’s Earth Hour helped save 546,000kWh in Vietnam,
worth 712 million VND (32,000 USD) – much higher than the 2011 event,
which resulted in savings of 400,000kWh.
First introduced in
Vietnam in 2009, the event has seen a considerable increase in the
number of participating organisations, businesses and individuals. In
2009, only six provinces participated; by 2012, that number had
increased to 48.-VNA