South Africa’s 14-year long bout of load shedding and unscheduled power outages had many of us hot under the collar or, depending on what season it is, shivering under the duvets.
Why has it been so difficult for South Africans to connect the dots between our current energy crisis and the climate crisis?
The problem is not that we use too much energy, the problem is how we produce this energy.
Over 90% of South Africa’s energy generation comes from dirty coal-fired power plants. Burning coal releases huge amounts of carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere and keeps the planet much warmer than it should be.
Earth Hour, held annually on the last Saturday of March since 2007, is an initiative established by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
On Saturday, 31 March 2007, the world’s first Earth Hour in Sydney, Australia, saw more than 2.2 million people turn off their lights for one hour to show a climate-sceptic government that people were concerned about climate change.
Earth Hour encouraged people around the world to switch off their lights to call attention to climate change.
More than a decade later, the climate crisis remains, made worse by another urgent threat, the rapid loss of biodiversity and our natural environment.
Due to South Africans involuntarily switching off our lights for hours at a time since 2008, the WWF has asked South Africans to do something a little different this year.
The WWF explains that “natural systems are vital for all our futures and yet, the rate of global loss of nature during the past 50 years is unprecedented in human history’.
“Nature not only provides us with food, water, clean air, and other services, it is also one of our strongest allies against the climate crisis.”
This year, Earth Hour aims to increase awareness and spark global conversations on protecting nature, tackling the climate crisis, and working together to shape a brighter future for us all.
This Earth Hour on Saturday 26 March, the WWF are not calling for a switch off, but rather for you to sign up to a global movement calling for more urgent climate action.
Learn more about climate change and biodiversity loss, educate others, help your kids and other family members make more environmentally sustainable choices for the sake of all our futures.
IOL