Spare one hour to 'Connect 2 Earth'

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Spare one hour to Connect 2 Earth

Dubai - The UAE's prominent landmarks and buildings will go dark between 8.30pm and 9.30pm on Saturday to mark Earth Hour.

by

Sherouk Zakaria

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Published: Thu 22 Mar 2018, 10:53 PM

Last updated: Fri 23 Mar 2018, 12:57 AM

It's time to give back to nature and protect the earth's species to decrease the loss of biodiversity, UAE experts urged residents ahead of Earth Hour. 
The UAE's prominent landmarks and buildings will go dark between 8.30pm and 9.30pm on Saturday to mark Earth Hour, the World Wildlife Fund's (WWF) landmark movement that calls upon millions of people worldwide to address global warming and climate change by switching off unnecessary lights and appliances for 60 minutes. 
Under the theme "Connect 2 Earth," this year's occasion aims to highlight the importance of biodiversity that's declining around the world, in a move that starts a three-year campaign to ensure the conservation of biodiversity by highlighting the connection between climate change, biodiversity and people. Through the 2018-2020 campaign, people worldwide will be encouraged to take action that stops the loss of biodiversity. 
Laila Mostafa Abdullatif, director-general of Emirates Wildlife Society-WWF, said: "Whether it is by maintaining trees and greenery that provide us with the air we breathe, or pollination that gives us the food we eat; various species provide humanity with basic necessities." 
She stated that biodiversity is key to our livelihood and it's people's duty to protect "our shared home - the Earth, not just during Earth Hour, but on every day of the year".
Dubai and Sharjah are hosting walkathon events under a unified theme "Walk the Talk" for the first time, while Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is hosting booths with various activities and attendees. 
The Burj Khalifa will salute Earth Hour 2018 by not displaying the 'Light Up' show on Saturday to highlight long-term positive impact for the whole of humanity. Non-essential lighting across Emaar's integrated neighbourhoods, including hotels, malls and general areas, will be switched off and posters are placed across all community noticeboards at Emaar's Downtown Dubai, Dubai Marina, Emirates Living and Arabian Ranches. 
Hotels, organisations and institutions across the country are also organising their own Earth Hour events. Malls like Dubai Festival City will dim non-essential lights, and InterContinental Dubai Festival City is supporting the cause as their popular restaurants Anise and Choix par Pierre Gagnaire offers guests a candle-lit dinner. 
Ever since the UAE participated in Earth Hour in 2008, one year after its official launch in Australia in 2007 to become the first country in the region to mark the occasion, it has seen increased community support, which helped save plenty of electricity consumption. 
Abdullatif said over 23,000 people have already signed up to join the movement on Earth Hour UAE website. She said movements like Earth Hour go beyond just switching off the lights. 
"It's a symbolic action that brings people together from across the world to make them realise the power and responsibility they have to bring about the change and protect the planet," said Abdullatif. 
Abdullatif pointed to the cyclical relationship between climate change and declining biodiversity. "While climate change is causing a decline in biodiversity, declining biodiversity (especially among insects and plants) may be accelerating climate change as well. 
"Small changes made by each of us such as switching off unnecessary appliances, using water consciously and reusing single-use plastic can result in a significant positive change for the environment."
Meanwhile, Marco Lambertini, director-general of WWF International, said as we push the planet and its natural systems to the edge today, Earth Hour is our chance to use our power, as individuals and as a collective, to demand and take action to protect this web of life in return for all it gives us. "For the benefit of all life on Earth and of our own future," he said.
sherouk@khaleejtimes.com

UAE's conservation efforts go beyond Earth Hour
The UAE's environmental contributions go beyond witnessing Earth Hour, to implementing long-term projects and initiatives that would help the nation derive its power from clean energy.
Through its Clean Energy Strategy, Dubai is looking to have seven per cent of its total power output from clean energy sources by 2020, followed by 25 per cent by 2030 and 75 per cent by 2050.
In 2012, the government launched Dh50 billion Mohammed Bin Rashid Solar Park, which will reduce over 6.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually and power 800,000 homes by 2030.
Further, the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) encourages residents and business owners to instal solar panels on the rooftop of their homes through the initiative Shams Dubai.
In September last year, authorities announced incentives for electric car users. This included free parking spots, free Salik tag and exemption from vehicle registration and renewal fees.
Through its projects, Dewa reduced losses in power transmission and distribution networks to 3.3 per cent, and water network losses were decreased to 7.1 per cent.
The authority also succeeded in enhancing the efficiency of fuel use to approximately 90 per cent, while improving production efficiency by 28.87 per cent between 2006 and 2017.
Its awareness programmes and innovative initiatives to encourage members of society to adopt rational use of electricity and water managed to save billions over the years. The Best Consumer Award, for example, encourages and urges customers to use energy sensibly, and raises awareness about adopting environment-friendly practices. Between 2009 and 2016, the Best Consumer Award resulted in saving of 58GW/h of electricity and over 365 million gallons of water, offsetting 33,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.
The savings amount to over Dh34 million.
Through the Neighborhood Campaign, Dewa officers visited nearly 7,000 houses in Dubai to educate families on environmental awareness. From 2010 to 2016, efforts resulted in saving over 6GW/h of electricity and about 75 million gallons of water, a reduction of 2,885 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
sherouk@khaleejtimes.com



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