EH 2011 - GENERAL NUMBERS
Brazil beats previous mark during Earth Hour 2011
Turn off your lights to see a brighter world
With the participation of Manaus (State of Amazonas), Porto Alegre (State of Rio Grande do Sul) and Belo Horizonte (State of Minas Gerais), 20 state capitals in a total of 123 cities are participating in Earth hour, a new record since the global event began in the country. In 2009, 113 cities participated and in 2010, 98. All will witness homes, monuments, public buildings, companies and others switching off their lights in a gesture aimed at reflecting upon environmental issues, particularly global warming, and calling people to action.
Alongside cities and capitals, 1.948 companies and organizations signed up in the official Brazilian website which not only offered stories and tips on how to participate in the Earth Hour campaign, but also banners, movies, posters, images, wallpapers, screen savers and twibbons for Twitter and Facebook.
WWF-Brasil asks participating cities to make nature conservation their priority and to develop projects which aim at long term environmental sustainability. Promotion of less polluting means of transportation and waste sorting are some of the actions which can be undertaken which also include the creation of conservations areas, the protection of river headwaters and the respect of environmental legislation.
“The participation of people, organizations and governments in Earth Hour is a gesture towards the search for sustainability. It signifies that we are concerned and watchful of global warming and that we want to do our share for our children and grandchildren’s right to a habitable planet”, stated Denise Hamú, WWF-Brazil’s CEO.
Institutional Support – Earth Hour received institutional support from the National Front of Mayors (FNP) and the Brazilian Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters (Abert) and was sponsored by Banco do Brasil, Coca-Cola, Tim, HSBC and Rossi.
“Our city has to be the symbol of sustainability and take part in the fight for the climate and for the conservation of our water and natural wealth”, highlighted Governor Agnelo Queiroz.
Rio de Janeiro - People of Rio celebrate Earth Hour dancing samba at the Arcos da Lapa
Around 3,000 people danced to rhythm of the samba in front of the Arcos da Lapa, monumental arches where the illumination was switched off during Earth Hour 2011
For the third time running Rio de Janeiro is the official capital of Earth Hour in Brazil, but the emotion of seeing the lights switched off in the “wonderful city” of Rio is always unique.
This year the global movement event in the city took on a different aspect and for the first time the people of Rio celebrated Earth Hour in a public event with lively music and dancing in front of one of the city’s many monumental landmarks that had their lights switched off.
Even before the lights went off, musician Toni Garrido was warming up the crowd at the event promoted by WWF-Brazil with support given by Coca Cola Brazil, TIM and the Bank of Brazil, clearly demonstrating their concern with environmental problems and climate change.
After the show, at the invitation of WWF-Brazil, all present observed a very moving minute of silence to pay homage to the victims of floods in Brazil at the beginning of the year that so greatly affected Rio de Janeiro and to the victims of the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
The silence was broken by the voice of WWF-CEO Denise Hanú in a speech thanking everyone for their presence. Then Rio de Janeiro’s Municipal Conservation Secretary Carlos Osório; vice-president of the Bank of Brazil’s Human Management and Sustainable Development Division, Robson Rocha; Director of Corporate Communication at Coca-Cola Brasil, João Domenech Oneto; TIM’s Communication and Sustainability Officer, Maurício Bacellar; Rio de Janeiro’s State Secretary for the Environment, Carlos Minc; and the Brazilian Minister for the Environment, Izabella Teixeira, together with Hamú made the gesture that has now become a traditional part of the last week in March and threw the large symbolic switch that put out the city’s lights.
Darkness announced the beginning of Earth Hour 2011 Almost immediately the lights went off at the Christ the Redeemer Statue, the Copacabana Shoreline Promenade, the Arpoadar rock, the Sugar Loaf Rock, the Penha Church, the Fiocruz Castelinho Bulding, the Monument to Brazilian Soldiers, and the Jockey Club.
“Today Brazil is joining more than one hundred other countries around the world to call attention to the need to take care of the Planet. Protecting the environment means protecting life and the Brazilian people can turn around the present situation of degradation. It depends on you and all of us,” declared Minister Izabella Teixeira to the listening crowd.
Right after the lights went out, the happy beat of the percussion groups of four of the city’s most famous samba ‘schools’: Mangueira; Portela; União da Ilha; and Grande Rio broke the silence and took charge of the celebration and people of Rio danced samba for an hour.
“Today is the day, and sadness must keep away,” sang the people and 34 year-old Simone Pessanha chimed in, “The event is great. Initiatives like Earth Hour are very important ways of calling people’s attention to environmental issues.”
Even the people that run the stalls on the streets of this famous bohemian district of Rio joined the movement wholeheartedly, substituting the electric lights of their innumerable stalls with alternative forms of illumination like lanterns and candles. “The least I can do is to put out the lights on my stall and that is what I’m doing. I can tell you it is actually fun to be working almost in the dark like this,” said 28 year-old stallholder Edeildo Francisco.
Another form of illumination with a hypnotic effect was used by the Andef dance company of the Niteroi Association of Disabled Persons in an emotive performance that further enlivened the event.
At 9:30 pm the percussionists stopped playing but the Earth Hour spirit carries on. WWF-Brazil has called on Rio de Janeiro and all the municipal authorities that have adhered to the movement to go beyond the single hour and work to make their cities increasingly environmentally sustainable.
“We are delighted with the success of this edition of Earth Hour in the city of Rio. Many people have come here to the Lapa district to take part in this worldwide movement and demonstrate their concern for the wellbeing of the Planet. Also many people who just happened to be in the district came to see the celebration and received the message about how necessary it is do their part in fighting global warming. That in itself is very important,” said WWF-Brazil’s CEO Denise Hamú.
The following people all took part in the Earth Hour event at Arcos da Lapa:
Carlos Alberto de Mattos Scaramuzza, Conservation Director for WWF-Brazil: “I would hate to live in a world without nature, with no clean water, no trees... That is why we are calling on you to re-think your actions and join us in the quest for a world with more Nature”.
Sérgio Besserman, WWF-Brazil councillor: “Earth Hour is a magic moment that brings together two fundamental dimensions of contemporary civilisation: climate change and the global connection for freedom.”
Carlos Osório, Rio de Janeiro’s Municipal Conservation Secretary
Robson Rocha, vice-president of the Bank of Brazil’s Human Management and Sustainable Development Division: “Sometimes we forget to look after what is actually our our home and we are called to attention to reflect on that. This is one of those moments to reflect and to make sure that we leave a better Brazil for our children and grandchildren.”
João Domenech Oneto, Director of Corporate Communication at Coca-Cola Brasil: “Earth Hour is a symbolic act that reminds each one of us of the need to take action in our daily lives. It has been a great satisfaction to Coca Cola to take part in the event.”
Maurício Bacellar, TIM’s Communication and Sustainability Officer:
Izabella Teixeira, Brazilian Minister of the Environment:
Carlos Minc, Rio de Janeiro’s State Secretary for the Environment:
Toni Garrido: “It is very gratifying to take part in this struggle to ensure that the environment can continue to save our lives.”
Nilo Sérgio, in charge of the Portela percussion group: “It is a great honour for Portela to participate in the Earth Hour movement and make Brazil aware that the Planet needs help. In our neighbourhood of Madureira all the lights are out, including the Madureira Shopping Mall.”
Leila da Lapa, stallholder in the nocturnal market ‘Feira Noturna da Lapa Legal’ : “It is very nice (legal) for us to feel that we can do our share. The Lapa did really well and it is good that younger people are beginning to realise that they need to take care of the planet.”
Brasília – the capital of the country will also participate in Earth Hour after the Federal District handed in its official participation document on Thrusday (24/03). It was signed by Governor Agnelo Queiroz in the Buriti Palace. The capital’s Legislative Assembly and the Parliamentary Front in Defense of the Environment also joined the movement. In Brasília, the Buriti Palace and its Annex, JK Memorial, National Theater, Cathedral, Indian Museum, Cultural Complex of the Republic and the JK Bridge will have their lights turned off.
SECOND BRAZILIAN TIME ZONE
Campo Grande, in the second time zone, celebrates Earth Hour with a public event
Right on the outskirts of the Pantanal, one of the most important Brazilian biomes and the biggest wetland in the world, Campo Grande, capital of the State of Mato Grosso do Sul, participated for the third time in the Earth Hour movement. The campo-grandenses not only turned off their lights to show their concern for the environment but also participated in a public event organized by the Municipal Foundation for Culture (Fundac) in the Praça do Rádio in which participated artists from the city.
The event began in 19h30 with presentations of capoeira circles, a samba school and the municipal band. Right before the clock struck 20h30, local time, Nelson Trad Filho, mayor of the city, started the countdown for the lights to be turned off. Other monuments and public buildings of the capital also had their lights switched off and the show continued with the square illuminated by torches.
Lights turned off – various icons stayed in the dark during Earth Hour including the historical building Morada dos Baís, the Citizen Help Center and the Obelisks, all located in the center of town. Lights were also turned off in the Horto Florestal, the parks Jacques da Luz (Moreninhas neighborhood), Tarsila do Amaral (Vida Nova neighborhood), Belmar Fidalgo and the Elias Gadia square.
In Manaus, in the Amazon Forest, Earth Hour is celebrated with boi-bumbá, music and poetry
For the third time in a row, the Amazonas Theater, one of the biggest icons of the city of Manaus, State of Amazonas, switched off its lights for an hour. The initiative, led by the organizers of the Second World Sustainability Forum, was part of the international movement Earth Hour. The campaign is organized annually by the WWF Network to raise the awareness of people, governments, companies and organizations about the gravity of climate change.
Many other “manauaras” symbols have had their lights turned off to show their participation in the campaign organized by the WWF Network like the Praça da Saudade, the Amazonas Shopping and the State Prosecutor building. In the center of the capital, artists of all sort recited poetry and short stories, and performed musical pieces. As stated Michelle Andrews, the objective was to rescue old Amazonian habits. “Like small talk on door steps, an exchange of ideas under candle light on a sidewalk”, she said.
Inside the Amazonas Theater, the State Secretary of Culture organized a performance of the Amazonas Chamber Orchestra and of the Parintins, Garantido and Caprichoso Bumbás. In the Praça da Saudade, the Municipal Secretariat for the Environment distributed folders on climate change and saplings from the municipal gardens.
The Amazonas shopping turned off its exterior lights and those from its corridors. The AmazonSat, which has aired campaign videos throughout the week, also switched off its lights and air conditioning equipment.
THIRD BRAZILIAN TIME ZONE
The Brazilian state of Acre takes part again in Earth Hour
Four towns in the state of Acre, in the Brazilian Amazon, turned off the lights during Earth Hour 2011. It is the third time in a row that the state participates in the global movement. Acre is known as a state where there is high awareness about conservation issues, and is also the home state of environmental icons like Chico Mendes, killed in 1988, and Marina Silva, former senator and candidate in the Brazilian 2010 elections for president, voted by more than 20 million people.
The Acrean towns of Rio Branco (state capital), Xapuri, Santa Rosa do Purus and Sena Madureira took part officialy in the Earth Hour movement. In Rio Branco, the state government palace had the lights turned off for one hour. There was also a public concentration in front of the palace.
According to state secretary for the Environment, Edgard de Deus, Acre’s participation in Earth Hour shows a concern of the local society about conservation and environmental issues. “It is not a matter of saving energy, but to think about what we have been doing to the world”, he states.
Chico Mendes’ town participates in Earth Hour 2011
In Xapuri, the lights of the house where the biggest icon of the Brazilian socio-environmental movement used to live and was assassinated in 1988 for fighting deforestation, have been turned off during Earth Hour
The bullets which took the life of the environmental and union leader Chico Mendes in December, 1988, were not enough to silence the voices of the people of the forests, pioneers in the fight against deforestation. Today, the socio-environmental movement is stronger than ever and millions of people around the world are fully aware of the importance of the Amazon Forest to the planet.
The Earth Hour movement, coordinated by the WWF Network throughout the world, gave homage to Chico Mendes - the last home where he lived with his family until the day of his death, in the municipality of Xapuri in the State of Acre, had its lights turned off between 20h30 and 21h30 this Saturday, March 26th.
Elenira Mendes, daughter of Chico Mendes, is pleased that her father was honored in a global scale movement such as Earth Hour. “It’s an unique symbolism, of great importance. My father, who has shown to the world the Amazon and the importance of the forest, would be very happy to know that our house has been part of this worldwide movement”, she concluded.
According to Dande Tavares, head of the WWF-Brazil office in the State of Acre, the participation of Xapuri reinforces to the world the revolutionary ideas defended by Chico Mendes. “He represents the culmination of the socio-environmental movement that brought the Amazon to the international spotlight, alerting people worldwide about the problems of deforestation”, he said.
Nowadays, the house works as a memorial in honor of the historical rubber tapper. The town of Xapuri will also turn off the lights of City Hall and of the historical monuments Casa Branca and Chapurys Museum. Although born in a small community in the forest, it was in Xapuri that Chico Mendes built most of his career as an environmental and union leader.
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