Turn off your lights: WWF-P brings Earth Hour 2015 to Pakistan

The organisation unveils its celebrity ambassadors for the campaign.


Our Correspondent March 13, 2015
Pakistani TV artists are up holding candles while celebrating Earth Hour. PHOTO: PPI

KARACHI: Switching your lights off for an hour may seem like a small act. Collectively, however, the magnitude of this gesture is unimaginable.

Actor Ayesha Khan was speaking at an inaugural event for Earth Hour 2015 at the Pearl Continental Hotel on Friday, in which the World Wide Fund for Nature — Pakistan (WWF-P) unveiled its celebrity ambassadors for the campaign.

Apart from her, the organisation’s faces for the largest volunteer movement across the world are actors Ayesha Omar, Hamza Ali Abbasi and Saba Hameed, musician Ali Noor, cricketer Saeed Ajmal and designer Deepak Perwani.

In 2014, Earth Hour reached over 1.8 billion people, with the participation of more than 7,000 cities and towns in 162 countries cementing its place as the largest grassroots campaign in history. Earth Hour 2015, with the theme ‘Use your power to change climate change’, will be observed across the world on March 28 from 8:30pm to 9:30pm.

“Although Pakistan is not the main contributor to climate change, it is still highly vulnerable to its adverse effects,” claimed WWF-P director-general Hammad Naqi Khan.

“The country could witness acute water shortage in some areas and flooding in others due to climate change,” he said, emphasising the need to strengthen regional cooperation and networking for joint action. “Earth Hour helps in highlighting the issue.”

Hamza Ali Abbasi said that it was necessary for people to become active as responsible custodians of nature, making environmental improvement a reality in Pakistan. “Of the many challenges that our country faces, this is one that we can actually do something about and we are, therefore, championing this campaign to show the world that Pakistan cares,” he announced.

“We have a tough match ahead against environment challenges and it can only be won through strong teamwork,” remarked Saeed Ajmal. “Earth Hour ensures that all of us are captains of this game.”

For Ayesha Omar, the significance of Earth Hour lay in the fact that it brought the whole world together for one noble cause. “People need to realise that the environment cannot be ignored; every positive step creates a long-term benefit for us and the world,” she explained. “I strongly advocate taking responsibility of our actions and have therefore joined this campaign again, knowing that we need to act now for the planet.”

Meanwhile, Saba Hameed believed that Pakistan’s assets were the responsibility of every Pakistani citizen. “This campaign gives us the chance to fulfil our role in safeguarding these assets for our future generations.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 14th, 2015.

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