Archbishop Desmond Tutu Lends His Support to Earth Hour

Archbishop Desmond Tutu has lent his voice to Earth Hour's global call for action on climate change.

“Climate change is the greatest human induced crisis facing the world today. It is totally indiscriminate of race, culture and religion. It affects every human being on the planet,” said the Archbishop.

With over 500 cities in 75 countries already signed up to take part in the lights out campaign, Earth Hour 2009 is anticipated to be one of the greatest social movements the world has ever witnessed.

As the recipient of the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in advocating civil rights equality, Desmond Tutu knows better than most the power of individuals uniting for a common cause.

“Earth Hour is an opportunity for every man, woman and child from all corners of the globe to come together with a united voice and make a loud and powerful statement on the issue of climate change,” he said.

With new cities signing up to the campaign every day, the support of one of the world’s most respected figures will resonate across the globe, ensuring millions more people switch off their lights for one hour at 8.30pm on 28 March.

Earth Hour 2009 aims to empower citizens from all over the world with the ability to voice their concern on climate change. Essentially, it is the world’s first global vote on the issue and casting your vote is as easy as flicking a switch.

Send a powerful message to our world leaders in Copenhagen

With the world’s leaders due to meet in December at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, the Archbishop can see the importance and the potential of Earth Hour 2009.

“If we all perform this one simple act together, it will send a message to our governments too powerful for them to ignore. They will know the eyes of the world are watching,” he said.

Earth Hour is a WWF initiative that began in Sydney in 2007 as a one-city campaign, when over two million people switched off their lights for one hour. In 2008 the lights out campaign went global, with over 50 million people in 371 cities, across 35 countries flicking the switch. Earth Hour 2009 is well on the way to reaching out to one billion people in 1,000 cities around the world.