The Origins and Mission of Earth Hour

Given the situation Plant Earth is in today more and more awareness regarding the damage and its impact has to spread in order to stop the impact. There are a number of organisations around the world that is operating to save and conserve the plant and its natural resources. Some of the threats that have manifested as major issues are global warming, rapid increase in sea level, decline of fresh water species, deforestation leading to the reduction of land areas etc. People today are the first to observe the changes in the climate and have the potential time and resource to do something about it. If nothing is done today, there will be nothing left for the future (Awsassets.panda.org 2018).  The Earth Hour is one of the initiatives taken World Wide Fund for Nature (Awsassets.panda.org 2018). This event is hosted to spread awareness among the people to protect the earth as the foundation of the event is set on the value that every human being is connected to the earth and what is gain for the earth is a gain for the people as well. This event is also based on the belief that when people unit they can achieve impactful results. The mission of the event is to inspire common people to take actions to save the world and to protect the planet (Awsassets.panda.org 2018). In 2018, Earth Hour was observed on 24 March 2018 at 8:30pm. In order to show the support people who had signed up for the event would be asked to switch off their lights and any electronic devices at the given time. Millions of people across the world around nine million from just the UK participated in this year’s event. The idea is to accumulate small contributions from people around the world to make a large impact (Awsassets.panda.org 2018).

Over the years there are a number of organisations that are now associated with the event and want to contribute their bit to the protection of the planet. Around 30 organisations and businesses around the world have associated with the cause. Refer to appendix 4 for the list of organisations. The two that has been selected to discuss are:

Discovery Communications LLC:  This is a multinational media organisation that has been operating in the industry for a long time and over the years has garnered goodwill for the work that they do towards spreading knowledge and awareness regarding various aspects of the world. The shows that are produced by the organisation are associated with learning and growing apart from entertainment (Corporate.discovery.com, 2018). The company has been a significant partner with the project during 2017. As a media channel it is important for the business functions to run on a 24*7 basis which requires significant consumption of energy and resources. The organisation has associated with the cause and on March 27 2017, the company documented their contribution by turning off the lights for an hour in the head quarters. The headquarters is located in Maryland. Discovery is a global network that is motivated and aspires not only to entertain people but also to inspire people. The employees of Romania interrupted the broadcast for a minute and passed a message to their viewers to participate in the cause by keeping their television off for an hour. It is a cause that was supported by the employees across departments (Corporate.discovery.com, 2018).  In 2016, discovery channel partnered with WWF India in order to be the media partner of communication and spreading the message of the time and the cause of the event.  It was a promotional partnership and aired with every channel that is availed in India. The campaign has received significant success in the country by not only people but also government and authoritative bodies supporting the cause and the case (Corporate.discovery.com, 2018).

Organizations Partnered with Earth Hour

H&M: This is one among many organisations that has established the association with the cause.  The H&M group has nine brands under the banner and each of the brand share similar view and mission of providing the customers with trendy yet classic designs at a cost effective rate. The company has a number of corporate Social activities and the association with the Earth Hour (Hm.com, 2018). H&M is a multinational organisation that has its CSR activities spread across the areas of distribution and operation. Reduction of energy consumption has been one of the major agenda of the CSR activities of the company. The stores, offices and the distribution centers of the company across the world participated with the mission of Earth Hour. H&M has been associated with the Event for a long time (Hm.com, 2018). The company has reported that they will keep the lights turned off for an hour but for security of the employees some of the lights which are necessary will remain on. In association with the event, the company has also launched the climate strategy in order to contribute more towards the protection of the earth and its resources (About.hm.com, 2017). One of the major objectives of the business is sustainability and in order to keep up with the aspects of developing a sustainable future, the company is also determined to spread awareness among the customers. The climate strategy that has been undertaken by the company is set to target three areas of concerns: natural carbon sinks, technological carbon sinks and reduction of waste in the value chain. The mission of the organisation is to be climate positive throughout the H&M group’s value chain. The company has aligned with the cause as the objective of the company in reduction of energy consumption. The sustainability stand of the company and the event help in the association and shared values (Hm.com, 2018).

Ellie Goulding is one of the latest ambassadors of the cause; she has joined the event in 2017. Ellie Goulding is a celebrated singer and song writer whose talent is acknowledged around the world and she has some of significant hits and awards as well as sold out concerts under her name. She had attended a WWF lecture in 2016, which had an important impact on her lifestyle (Fell 2018). She agrees with the stand for the organisation and supports the cause which is created by the Earth Hour movement. Ellie was appointed as a global goodwill ambassador for WWF, but she says that her association with Earth Hour is because of the alarming statistics that the movement showcases (Fell 2018).

Discovery Communications LLC

She has a significant presence in the social media which makes it easy for the cause to reach out to a number of people. The target audience with the ambassador is to connect with the youth in the society (Wwf.org.uk 2018). Rising awareness among the youth is another major objective of the event as the people in this generation are the ones who have the chance to make the future a better place. Ellie has expressed that her associated with leading a sustainable life; she is an individual who understands that she has certain obligations and responsibilities towards the environment and the society that she lives in. she has spoken with the media regarding her concerns with the environmental impact that each individual have, in the interview she has mentioned that after she had become vegetarian, she had slowly grown realization regarding the way food production impacts the environment (Wwf.org.uk 2018). She shares the concern of the movement where she is scared that the future generation will not get the opportunity to lead a life like the one the current generation is. In an interview with Marie Claire, UK she has explained that she understands the potential of an individual towards the contribution they can do towards the hazards of climate change (Fell 2018).

She has followers of people in the age group of 16-25, which is the group that has the potential of change and thus she is one of the most appropriate ambassador for the event. She is an advocate of nature and conservation of its beauty she acknowledges and shares the same vision that the movement was created (Sison, 2013).  With the help of her social media handle she helped the marketing team of earth hour to spread the hash tag #MakeClimateMatter (Sison, 2013). She encourages people to have a positive impact on the climate may be contribution be as small as turning off the lights for an hour (Independent.ie 2018).

India is one of the 188 countries that have participated in the Event in 2018, the country has been actively associated with the event for past few years. There are also social media websites that are dedicated to the event for the country. In 2018, not only the people but also the government and several other authoritative bodies participated in the event in March. There are also some major brands that have associated with the event this year. Over the years of association with the movement the country has established an alignment with the mission and vision of the cause. The idea of the movement is to spread awareness regarding the protection of the environment and the wildlife (Economictimes.indiatimes.com, 2018).

H&M

The government of India also had an active participation in promoting the movement in the country. WWF India has been also associated with organisation like Discovery network previously to spread the message of the cause and its mission. The Union environment minister Harsh Vardhan has also advocated for the movement and has urged the people to switch off the lights if they are not necessary for an hour (Economictimes.indiatimes.com, 2018). Aligning the view of the movement he said that the contribution from each citizen will have a large impact on the conservation of energy. He also pitched the campaign that the marketing of the movement has created, “Give Up to Give Back” and “Connect2Earth”. As an environment minister, he understands that it is not only the responsibility of the organisations that will help the climate in today’s time rather it is the duty of each and every individual to understand the responsibility that they have towards the environment as well as the society. The minister added that participating in the earth hour is a part of the “Green Good Deeds” movement (Economictimes.indiatimes.com, 2018).

WWF-India launched the movement of “Give Up to Give Back” in order to motivate organisations and individuals to take responsible decisions in life regarding the climate and the environment (Indianexpress.com, 2018). This initiative urges people to give up or control habits, practices and lifestyles that burden our lives and the environment. Along with the government and the WWF other organisations also organized Cyclothon and Walkathon aligning the objective of the Earth Hour movement. Canara bank, HSBC bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Life Insurance Company hosted an event as an extension for the Earth Hour movement called “Pedal for the Planet”. Several other organisations like The Suryaa, ShopClues etc has also associated with the cause (Indianexpress.com, 2018).  

It can be concluded that Earth Hour is indeed one of a kind event that has bound the people to think and realize their responsibilities towards the environment and the society. The event is targeted to spread awareness among the people regarding the threat that the environment is facing in the current scenario. This is one of the grass root level event that has been has been able to successfully spread awareness among the target audience. With the right kind of back up from the organisations and the right kind of ambassadors endorsing the idea and the movement, Earth Hour has reached significant milestones in a very less time. People have signed up for the cause and there are a number of people who are trying to contribute as well as advocate the same with others. Like India, other 187 countries have associated with the movement.

References:

About.hm.com. (2018). CLIMATE POSITIVE VALUE CHAIN BY 2040 |about.hm.com. Retrieved from https://about.hm.com/en/sustainability/sustainable-fashion/climate-emissions.html

Awsassets.panda.org. (2018). Earth Hour Annual Report 2017 | Awsassets.panda.org. Retrieved from https://awsassets.panda.org/downloads/Earth_Hour_Report_2017.pdf

Corporate.discovery.com. (2018). About us  | discovery.com. Retrieved from https://corporate.discovery.com/

Corporate.discovery.com. (2018). Discovery turns up dark for earth hour  | discovery.com. Retrieved from https://corporate.discovery.com/blog/2017/03/27/discovery-turns-up-the-dark-for-earth-hour/ 

Economictimes.indiatimes.com. (2018). Earth Hour: Harsh Vardhan asks people to switch off lights for an hour on March 24| indiatimes.com. Retrieved from https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/environment/the-good-earth/earth-hour-harsh-vardhan-asks-people-to-switch-off-lights-for-an-hour-on-march-24/articleshow/63434577.cms

Fell. V., (2018). Ellie Goulding for Earth Hour | marieclaire.co.uk. Retrieved from https://www.marieclaire.co.uk/entertainment/people/ellie-goulding-earth-hour-582048

Hm.com. (2018).About us|about.hm.com. Retrieved from https://about.hm.com/en/media/news/general-2017/earth-hour.html

Independent.ie., (2018). Ellie Goulding urges action on climate change ahead of Earth Hour| Independent.ie. Retrieved from https://www.independent.ie/style/celebrity/celebrity-news/ellie-goulding-urges-action-on-climate-change-ahead-of-earth-hour-35521221.html

Indianexpress.com. (2018). When is Earth Hour? | Indianexpress.com. Retrieved from https://indianexpress.com/article/when-is/when-is-earth-hour/

Sison, M. D. (2013). Creative strategic communications: A case study of Earth Hour. International Journal of Strategic Communication, 7(4), 227-240. Retrieved from /doi/abs/10.1080/1553118X.2013.826227

Wwf.org.uk., (2018). ELLIE GOULDING JOINS OUR CALL TO MAKE CLIMATE MATTER FOR EARTH HOUR | Wwf.org. Retrieved from https://www.wwf.org.uk/updates/ellie-goulding-joins-our-call-make-climate-matter-earth-hour