Just over a month ago, at 8:30pm March 31, a record 152 countries and territories and more than 6,700 cities, towns and municipalities took part in the biggest Earth Hour event so far. A pretty inspiring result for a campaign which started in Sydney only several years ago!

Since then some incredible stories have demonstrated the hope and strength of this symbolic event around the world.

Here are just a few of the ways it was shaped and celebrated across the continents:

Here at home in Australia, the second annual WWF Earth Hour Awards recognised the efforts of Australian businesses, schools and individuals to make a difference to the environment.

Award winners included a small sustainable tourism business assisting travel operators to measure and improve their environmental footprint, through to a secondary school in Queensland where students are working to protect nesting sites for marine turtles.

EC3 Global, winners of the Sustainable Small Business Award 2012

At the same time, more than 150 Earth Hour Unplugged events were held across the country, raising funds for WWF-Australia’s vital conservation work and bringing families and communities together.

One standout story was that of Carly Earl and her efforts putting together a festival on the Sunshine Coast. Despite her business being completely flooded the week before Earth Hour, Carly forged ahead and hosted the inaugural Eco River Festival. Over 200 people attended, enjoying the evening with friends and families and donating over $700 to WWF.

As Australians marked the hour with local Unplugged events, in neighbouring Indonesia communities pledged their action for the “Ini Aksiku! Mana Aksimu?” campaign on the streets (see inspiring images from across the archipelago on Tumblr, Flickr and Twitter). Known as Ini Aksiku for short, the campaign was responsible for expanding the number of Earth Hour cities in the country from 5 in 2011 to 21 in 2012 – a massive jump due largely to the time and dedication of volunteer teams. City volunteers are now actively developing a viral online campaign to share their massive public actions for the environment.

Earth Hour 2012 Indonesia

For Earth Hour 2012 Greece asked what else could be saved if we protected nature, while locals in Tripoli and Benghazi celebrated the opportunity to create environmental awareness in a country that was a war zone just months ago, and Italy asked its population to confess its “green sins”.

WWF China used Earth Hour to remind its citizens that “There’s an environmentalist in each of us”. Jing Hui, communications director of WWF-China said, “Throughout the day, we are bombarded with promises of bargains, comfort, convenience, and boosts to personal image. It becomes easy to forget our innate love of nature and that nature should be an important factor in decision making. These advertisements remind us; they champion the re-emergence of nature in decision making.”

So now that the hour’s over, what’s next?

Earth Hour is more than switching off the lights for an hour each year. It’s about acknowledging our personal impact in the planet and making some changes to live more sustainably.

Whether it’s switching to a green energy provider, making a commitment to drive less, or adopting some sustainable shopping habits, there are many ways we can take action.

What’s your ‘beyond the hour’ pledge? Make it public! Please share it now on our Facebook page or post it below as a comment.

Anna Rose and the WWF Australia Panda © WWF-Aus/Laurent Desarnaud

Late last year I found myself traveling around the world with one of Australia’s last remaining high-profile climate sceptics, former finance Minister Nick Minchin.

I never expected to go on a journey with a politician who’s spent his career arguing that industries can pollute our air, soil and water without limits. But it was a journey worth doing, and you can see the results both in a documentary that airs on the ABC next Thursday 26th April at 8.30pm (I Can Change Your Mind on Climate Change) and in a book released the following day (Madlands: A Journey to Change the Mind of a Climate Sceptic).

As I took Nick to meet scientists and experts, and he took me to meet professional climate ‘contrarians’ (also called climate deniers and climate sceptics) I learnt a lot about the way these groups are organised and funded.

In February this year, leaked documents from the US-based Heartland Institute exposed a coordinated international campaign of disinformation about climate science, including monthly payments to scientists who reject climate change. The Institute’s 2012 budget alone is expected to be $7.7 million.

This money is donated by a group of American corporations with vested interests – including the tobacco industry, car manufacturing industry, and fossil fuel industry, as well as a large anonymous donor who gave $14 million over the past several years.

The Heartland Institute holds U.S. charity status, which means the donations were tax deductible and supposed to be used for charitable purposes. Despite this, the documents reveal that at least some of these funds are used for political campaigning against anti-carbon pollution legislation in other countries, including Australia.

The paper trail shows that a group funded by the Heartland Institute provided virtually all of the cash for the ‘Australian Climate Science Coalition’, a so-called ‘home grown’ anti-carbon price lobby group in 2009 and 2010. The Chief Scientific Advisor to the group was Australian scientist Bob Carter, who receives monthly payments of $US 1667 from the Heartland Institute.

What was been exposed is this: the people you see in the media rejecting climate science are, for the most part, not isolated individuals who are working separately and coming to their own independent conclusions.

Instead, they are part of a coordinated disinformation campaign run out of a handful of conservative American think tanks. And the tendrils from this campaign reach into the very heart of Australia’s political rehtoric.

The journey with Nick Minchin reminded me that many Australians have been targeted by this misinformation. And as people who care about leaving clean air, clean water and clean soil for the future, it’s up to us to help set the facts straight.

We can remind people that science is about evidence. And there are three very clear and simple pieces of evidence showing that humans cause climate change.

Firstly, evidence from basic principles of physics tell us greenhouse gases trap heat. Secondly, historical evidence shows humans have emitted greenhouse gases since the industrial revolution. Thirdly, we have clear observational evidence that shows surface, air and ocean temperatures warming after humans started emitting these heat-trapping gases in large quantities.

As humans, we’ll never know everything there is to know about every single aspect of our climate system. But humans act in the face of uncertainty all the time – that’s why people take out insurance policies.

Ultimately, we need to make decisions with the best available information we have. And we’re lucky to be able to access huge amounts of knowledge about the climate– a body of knowledge that has been refined and improved by expert scientists for centuries.

We’re now at the point where we have organisations like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, who can share data and test each other’s theories. These scientists use both powerful computer models combined with real world evidence from ice cores about how our climate system responds to increases in carbon dioxide.

Every Academy of Science in the world now agrees that climate change is happening and that it is caused by humans. And most Australians now understand that there are consequences to pumping carbon pollution into the atmosphere each year. We are starting to see some of these consequences today in sea level rise and more extreme weather events – but as today’s young people grow older the impacts of climate change will cost Australia even more.

As we’ve seen with the debate over the price on carbon pollution, acting on climate change by cutting carbon pollution might be controversial in the short-term politics of the 24 hours news cycle. But it’s time politicians started prioritising the next generation over the next election.

I Can Change Your Mind on Climate Change airs on the ABC next Thursday 26th April at 8.30pm, followed by a special episode of Q&A moderated by Tony Jones featuring Anna Rose, Nick Minchin, mining magnate Clive Palmer and pollster Rebecca Huntely. Fill out the survey about your views on climate change here. Anna’s book ‘Madlands: A Journey to Change the Mind of a Climate Sceptic’ will be released the following day.

Returning to Antarctic waters on the Our Far South voyage, WWF Marine Advocate Bob Zuur reflects on protecting this unique – and changing – wilderness.

Bob Zuur and emperor penguins © WWF Bob Zuur

One hundred years ago Robert Falcon Scott reached the South Pole. Fifty years ago his son, Peter Scott, founded the World Wildlife Fund. More recently, legendary natural history programme maker and WWF ambassador David Attenborough brought remarkable footage of the white continent’s wildlife to our television screens with Frozen Planet.

WWF has supported greater protection for Antarctica from our earliest days. So when an opportunity arose to join the Our Far South voyage to highlight the importance of, and the threats to, Antarctica and New Zealand’s subantarctic islands, I jumped at the chance. I sailed with nine other scientists and several communications experts, as well as everyday New Zealanders on the ice-strengthened Spirit of Enderby. We came from different walks of life, but we all experienced the same sense of awe at the sheer beauty and wildness of this incredible part of our planet.

Storm over the Southern Ocean seeen from the Spirit of Enderby © WWF Bob Zuur

There were many highlights, but the day we reached Scott Base was perhaps the most memorable. The winter staff at Scott Base welcomed us with a tour around the base, and that evening we sailed to Cape Royds, the site of Shackleton’s “Nimrod” expedition hut.

There was scarcely a breath of wind and the sinking sun cast a rosy hue on Mt Erebus, an active volcano about the same height as Mt Cook. A small group of emperor penguins looked up at amazement as the Spirit crunched through the ice just metres away. Crabeater seals slunk away as we approached. Minke whales fed on the rich bounty of the Ross Sea in gaps between the ice. Plumes of breath condensed in the freezing air as they dived. The sun dipped behind the Royal Society Ranges just after midnight – the end of a magical day in one of the Earth’s most wonderful places.

Swimming king penguin © WWF Bob Zuur

Some aspects were familiar to me from my studies of fish growth in the Ross Sea 35 years ago. But Antarctica is changing. Over the past three decades, ice shelves in West Antarctica have melted and the annual sea ice around the continent is diminishing as a result of climate change. Longliners are taking toothfish in the Ross Sea and trawlers are catching krill in the Southern Ocean. Japanese whalers catch hundreds of whales each year. Populations of some species, such as rockhopper penguins, have crashed.

Antarctica is important. Not just for the fantastic creatures we were privileged to meet. But also because Antarctic drives global climate and ocean circulation systems. The white continent and its surrounding seas are under threat. It’s up to us to ensure their protection.

HELP US PROTECT OUR ANTARCTIC OCEAN BY SIGNING THIS PETITION

Campbell Jones, a farmer in the Wyalkatchem area, contacted me after he had seen an article in the Farmers Weekly about the work that the Healthy Bushland team (WWF, Wheatbelt NRM and Greening Australia WA), was doing to help a Bencubbin farmer restore some habitat around a family of western spiny-tailed skinks.

Adult male western spiny-tailed skink, April 4th © WWF/Mike Griffiths

Campbell had previously recorded populations of the endangered western spiny-tailed skink on his property and contacted me to see if we could help with some fencing, restoration and revegetation around them.

I spent a day with Campbell looking around his property and showing him how to read the signs that western spiny-tailed skinks are present without an actual sighting, looking for scats up on piles of timber or tin and the classic latrine near their homes. We looked at some fencing that would keep the stock out of an area that we knew skinks were in and also some areas to revegetate. All in all a great day.

A week later Campbell called again, concerned about a wood pile that was in an area on his property that they had built a feed lot in. They were about to burn the wood pile when Campbell looked at it with fresh eyes and spotted skink scats everywhere.

After some talks with the Department of Environment and Conservation it was decided an emergency relocation was the best course of action.

So two weeks ago, with all the permits ok’d we converged on the site. We started carefully pulling apart the wood pile piece by piece. It seemed like we had only just started when the first call went up, “there’s one” and then another and then another. The excitement rose as we began to find babies as well.

Nyungar Trainee with 2 baby western spiny-tailed skinks Wheatbelt SWAE © WWF/Mike Griffiths

Close up of 2 baby spiny-tailed skinks Wheatbelt SWAE, © WWF/Mike Griffiths

Ten western spiny-tailed skinks in all, three adult and seven beautiful little babies. These were all carefully boxed and taken to a sheltered area to be micro chipped, weighed and measured before they were returned to their new home.

Two adult spiny-tailed-skink, Wheatbelt, Southwest Australia Ecoregion © WWF/Mike Griffiths

So while those that were qualified and some that were just interested attended to the western spiny-tailed skinks, the others set about reconstructing their home in a lovely sheltered spot in some nearby bush.

The skinks were all released safely, with their new microchips in place that will allow monitoring now and in the future – monitoring that will hopefully give us some answers about the unknown behaviours of these amazing little critters.

Nearly two weeks since the relocation, and several adult and juvenile western spiny-tailed skinks have already been recorded on sensor camera!

A huge thank you to all those who helped!

• Campbell Jones, property owner
• Rob Harvey, friend of above
• James Haberfield, Veterinarian from the Balcatta Veterinary Hospital
• Natasha Moore, Central Wheatbelt Department of Environment and Conservation
• Mick Davis and Sue Carter, Wheatbelt NRM inc.
• Judd Davis and Brandon Colbung, Nyungar Trainees, Wheatbelt NRM Inc.
• Anne Smith and Julia Murphy, Greening Australia WA
• Mike Griffiths, WWF-Australia

Dismantling the old wood pile. From left to right Tessa Moore, Sue Carter (just behind the post), Hettie Moore, Mick Davis, Mike Griffiths, Brandon Colbung, Natasha Moore, Judd Davis, James Haberfield and Rob Harvey. © WWF/Mike Griffiths

A hint of movement in the darkened rocks, a scratch in the dirt, a white flash in the hushed night: trapped! A shy black-flanked rock wallaby mother and her joey are caught in a freeze-frame, using one of the motion-trigger cameras my colleague Phil Lewis and I have set up in rocky outcrops across Western Australia’s biodiversity-rich Wheatbelt.

Black-flanked rock wallaby caught on sensor camera Wheatbelt © Phil Lewis and Mike Griffiths / WWF-Aus

We’ve been running sensor cameras for a few months now, in support of monitoring efforts by the WA Department of Environment and Conservation. We’re helping them try to find out more about why the vulnerable Black-flanked Rock-wallaby populations in the Wheatbelt region in WA’s southwest are declining so fast.

The Black-flanked Rock-wallabies are cute creatures: about knee-high, furry with long striped tails, usually longer than their body height, which they use for balance while they hop along rocks. They live in granite hills and rocky piles, in crevices and caves, emerging in the early evening to feed on grasses and shrubs, or on winter mornings to sun themselves.

Out here in the Wheatbelt, they are rapidly disappearing.

Once they were spread across the central desert in swathes of the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia. Nowadays only a few isolated populations remain. Many populations are extinct, largely due to predator red foxes. Many of the remaining populations are under threat from foxes and feral cats.

The granite-strewn Wheatbelt region is home to one of those remaining populations, and it’s here that they are in critical decline. In addition to threats from foxes and feral cats faced by populations elsewhere, the Wheatbelt population – known among the Western Desert Aboriginal people as ‘warru’ – is also under threat from land clearing, weed invasion, bushfire, and long-term drought all contributing to habitat degradation. They’re competing with rabbits and kangaroos for depleted food sources.

Most of the individual hill populations across the Wheatbelt have seriously declined by well over 50 percent in the last few years. Some populations are down to literally a handful of animals. If the declines continue, researchers are convinced that some if not most of the hills will lose their Rock-wallabies.

We’ve amassed a heap of great stills and video clips of these dwindling Rock-wallabies, taken with infrared-flash cameras which result in black and white images that can be surprisingly good. Even better though are the lovely colour images that white-flash sensor cameras can produce.

So we decided we needed to set up a white-flash ‘home brew’ type sensor camera. We got hold of an old Olympus camera from WWF’s Threatened Species Network. The camera’s a clunker and can be frustrating to use, it’s fiddly and unreliable, and has limited battery life; but it has an incandescent white flash, so when it does work it can take beautiful pictures. We rigged it up with a big, rechargeable lead-acid battery, and put it out in Black-flanked Rock-wallaby habitat in the hope of getting some nice colour pics.

Through our DEC  contacts, we’ve been working with landholders John and Natalie who farm in the Kellerberrin area about 250 kilometres east of Perth.

Click here for map

Sensor camera set up © Phil Lewis and Mike Griffiths / WWF-Aus

They’ve got their own Rock-wallaby granite hill in their backyard and were happy for us to set up cameras there on their property. So one day in January, in we went and set our Olympus up on a granite ledge next to a cave . We returned a month later hoping it had worked. As you can imagine we were pretty keen to check this camera. We climbed up into the cave and took a look. At first it didn’t look too good. The camera had been knocked over and was no longer working. But we checked the memory card and to our great delight, we discovered it had captured some superb images before being knocked over.

Black-flanked rock wallaby caught on sensor camera Wheatbelt © Phil Lewis and Mike Griffiths / WWF-Aus

Black-flanked rock wallaby with joey caught on sensor camera Wheatbelt © Phil Lewis and Mike Griffiths / WWF-Aus

All the effort was well worth it. We got pics of a mother Rock-wallaby and joey, Rock-wallabies coming right up to the camera and checking it out [P1190010], and some great Rock-wallaby poses. Needless to say, we’re pretty pleased with these pics!. Can’t wait to pass them on to John and Natalie and see their faces! We’re very grateful to them for letting us access their property when we need to check these cameras.

Black-flanked rock wallaby caught on sensor camera Wheatbelt © Phil Lewis and Mike Griffiths / WWF-Aus

Black-flanked rock wallaby caught on sensor camera Wheatbelt © Phil Lewis and Mike Griffiths / WWF-Aus

Australians are effectively the guardians of the Rock-wallaby. This is the only place on earth they are found. The Black-flanked species featured here are one of 16 Rock-wallaby species on our continent.

The photos and video from our sensor cameras help us engage people whose land has the kind of rocky escarpments and granite outcrops where rock wallabies shelter. When landowners see the footage of the secret life of these beautiful marsupials on their own property, it can really inspire them to get involved in protecting them, for example by fox control or forms of land management.

The sensor camera program  is a great tool for learning about shy or nocturnal fauna.

Check out some of the mesmerising footage of hidden wildlife our sensor cameras have captured previously.

The biodiversity in Southwest Australia is incredible. An extraordinary range of fauna and flora dwell here. It’s unequalled anywhere else in the country. In fact it is one of the planet’s 34 internationally recognised biodiversity hotspots.

Capturing these rare species on un-manned cameras allows everyone to see them up close and personal, in their natural habitat, in ways we simply never would otherwise.

We’re thrilled with the results. Hope you are too.

The pod of long-snouted spinner dolphins are suddenly all around us. They move like torpedoes in the water, surfing the bow wave of our WWF research vessel and jumping out of the water so close to me that I can hear the whoosh of the blows as they take a breath. As quickly as they arrived they are gone, diving deep into the blue currents of the coastal waters of the Sulu Sea.

Dolphins underwater, Sulu Sea, Coral Triangle © Dermot O'Gorman WWF-Aus

The team from WWF-Philippines I am traveling with are elated. I have joined them on one of their regular trips working with local stakeholders for the conservation of these magnificent marine mammals, coral reefs and fisheries as part of WWF’s efforts across the Coral Triangle.

The Coral Triangle is at the epicentre of coral reef biodiversity. It is a marine wonderland that borders Australia’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) to our north, and includes the waters of Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste.

It is one of WWF-Australia’s key priorities because of the astonishing richness of life found here and because many of the species we work to protect in our own waters travel through here. The currents that these spinner dolphins are swimming in carry a huge variety of life between this region and Australia. Other migratory species that use this blue highway are turtles, whales and tuna. We can only conserve these species, and the valuable fish stocks that underpin our own fishing industries, with successful conservation efforts in the Coral Triangle.

But while the currents flowing through the Sulu Sea connect us all, in the Philippines – like Indonesia, PNG and Solomon Islands – the local coastal communities that depend daily on these natural resources are poor.

Average income for a Sulu Sea household is around 4000 P per month, that’s about $3AUD a day for a whole family. Small island communities are completely dependent on their local natural resources and the environment for their food and livelihoods.

So the big question is, how can we ensure that the Coral Triangle is protected whilst also providing food and livelihood security for millions of people?

This is one of the reasons for the World Bank’s announcement in Singapore this month of a $1.5 billion Global Partnerships for Oceans – aimed at improving protection of marine and fishery resources and improving livelihoods. Ensuring that we manage our marine and fishery resources sustainably is critical to poverty reduction.

In all of these efforts, Australia is playing an important role. Our universities and scientists have helped build capacity across the region in marine and fisheries conservation. The Australian Government, through AusAID, is investing millions of dollars in support of the Coral Triangle Initiative, an innovative partnership with the five countries in the region, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), other international organisations and WWF.

With me on the boat is Marivel Dygico, the WWF-Philippines leader of the Sulu Sea Programme, part of a Coral Triangle team spread across five countries. She tells me how WWF is “applying true stakeholder principles”, that have been successful in bringing all stakeholders together to recognise the importance of sustainably managing our marine resources.

Marivel tells me how five Locally Managed Marine Areas (LMMAs) in the area are managed by the local communities. Local surveys have shown that these communities now have better food security in terms of consistent supply (of fish and marine products). WWF has supported micro-financing projects to assist those local communities to have small enterprises that give them income but also better manage the natural resources.

In the nearby Tubbataha World Heritage Area, 10 per cent of a user’s fee paid to enter the marine park goes to the local community to be invested in livelihood support development projects, such as the ‘farm to market’ road. These mechanisms build local ownership of the marine protected area, and the results are tangible.

“We are working on the sustainable financing of the reef to ensure that efforts are environmentally, socially and economically sustainable,” Marivel tells me. The project has a wide range of partners: local communities, fishers groups, the Philippine navy, coast guard and the Cagayancillo municipality are all key partners.

For WWF, our mission to ensure a future for both nature and people is reflected in all that we do. Our work is critical to protect this area of the Coral Triangle that is outstanding for its marine biodiversity. It is also vital to promoting sustainable solutions for local communities that depend on these natural resources for their livelihoods.

Protecting biodiversity while ensuring food security is surely one of the great challenges facing humanity for the 21st Century. Reducing poverty and the sustainable management of our natural resources are two sides of the same coin.

The knowledge, passion and determination of people like Marivel, and WWF’s approach of working with local communities towards a solution, gives me hope that we can succeed in meeting this challenge.

As we head back to the bustling port, I am reminded that we are in a region in which more than 100 million people depend on the oceans. It is critical that efforts by all stakeholders in the region and along the fisheries supply chains contribute to helping save our seas.

WWF Boat, Sulu Sea, Coral Triangle © Dermot O'Gorman WWF-Aus

Witnessing this work on the ground reminds me that we are all connected through the conservation of our marine environment and species. To protect our marine biodiversity in Australia, we must also do so for the Coral Triangle.

WWF believes that marine protected areas (MPAs), both coastal and offshore are essential to the sustainable management of our oceans. Our long term aim is a network of MPAs across the whole Coral Triangle and South West Pacific to support biodiversity and local livelihoods.

The dolphins reappear under the boat, stay for another five minutes and then are off again chasing a large school of bait fish. They are majestic mammals of the seas, but also important indicators of ocean health, and for both reasons it is critical they must not disappear forever. If they do disappear, it will mean that we have lost not only these magnificent mammals, but also the opportunity to secure the security of 100 million people in the region – connected to us by the currents of the seas.

Dermot O'Gorman, Sulu Sea, Coral Triangle © Dermot O'Gorman WWF-Aus

Brisbane citscape at night with city lights on, Earth Hour 2010 © Glenn Hunt

Tomorrow night Brisbane – along with thousands of other cities across the world – will be cast in a shroud of darkness to support Earth Hour. This year will mark Brisbane City Council’s fifth year supporting the cause, making a strong stand for environmental action.

Like many landmarks around the world, Brisbane landmarks like the Story Bridge and Victoria Bridge lights will be turned off for the event.

Earth Hour is just one of the many ways that Brisbane City Council works to preserve the lifestyle that Brisbane residents are so lucky to enjoy.  In line with WWF’s aims, they aim to raise awareness of how to live sustainably in today’s environment.

Not just on Saturday March 31, but beyond Earth Hour, Brisbane City Council is dedicated to becoming carbon neutral by 2026.  Through its Green Heart program, Council encourages residents, businesses and the community to make changes in their everyday lives to help the city achieve the goal of becoming more sustainable.

Brisbane citscape at night with city lights off, Earth Hour 2010 © Glenn Hunt

Green Heart provides information and tips on smarter energy use, rethinking waste, being water smart, cleaner transport alternatives, helping to protect Brisbane’s native plants and animals, and encouraging sustainable food choices.  Actions like turning off lights and appliances at the wall when they’re not in use, switching to energy efficient light globes and GreenPower, walking or cycling where you can, car pooling or using public transport more often, all add up to something big and are great ways we can all make a difference.

In May, Brisbane City Council will host the Green Heart Fair, where residents can learn practical skills and tools to live more sustainably.  Join in the fun, and get some great inspiration to assist you in your ‘Beyond the Hour’ actions for a cleaner, greener Brisbane.

Show your support for Earth Hour and sustainable living.  Register your participation for this year’s Earth Hour at www.earthhour.org.au

How do we overcome challenges and exploit opportunities in food production, processing and distribution to achieve greater security of supply?

Can we improve environmental and social outcomes in food supply chains without increasing costs?

These are the questions that will be answered next Monday when WWF and Net Balance convene a workshop for the 2nd National Sustainable Food Summit.

The workshop will feature:

•    Talks by expert co-chairs Joshua Bishop (WWF) and Cameron Neil (Net Balance)
•    Case studies from Australian business and civil society including Coles Supermarkets and the Cattle Council of Australia
•    Discussion and working groups targeted toward putting the emergent ideas into practice

Attendance details:

Monday 2 April 2012
9am – 12pm
Level 2, 332 Kent St
Sydney NSW 2000

The second in a three-year series, this year’s National Sustainable Food Summit aims to examine what frameworks and emerging solutions will support a sustainable and resilient food system in Australia.

A limited number of tickets are still available. Register here.

Download the flyer (click image to download)

In just over a week, thousands of cities across the globe will dim their lights at 8:30pm for an hour, joining together in the world’s largest voluntary environmental action: Earth Hour.

The growing importance of this global environmental action is reinforced by the unprecedented challenges our planet is facing.

Our growing population is consuming at a rate that requires much more than the one planet we have can provide. We are not living sustainably. Biodiversity is shrinking while our hunger for natural resources grows. Living beyond our planet’s means is putting increased pressure on food security, water security, and our climate security.

WWF’s mission is to build a future in which our population can live in harmony with nature. But NGOs and governments cannot do this alone.

Earth Hour’s growth from 2 million people in the city in which it all started, Sydney, in 2007 to hundreds of millions in over 5,000 cities across more than 130 countries and territories shows that individuals across the globe recognise the challenges our planet is facing.

This year we hope to see Earth Hour grow further, with new countries taking part and iconic landmarks from Las Vegas, Times Square, the Brandenburg Gate and the Eiffel Tower to the Burj Khalifa, Swaziland and even the International Space Station, committing to switch off for the planet.

However, the real value of Earth Hour does not lie in its sheer scale. The real value is in the individual, grassroots actions being taken. When you consider the potential of hundreds of millions of people all making small changes for the future of our planet, it isn’t just uplifting; it serves to give us hope for the future of our planet.

Paris, France, Earth Hour 2010 © WWF Nina Munn

Earth Hour is about much more than an hour of darkness, it is about people showing their commitment to sustainability and environmental action. It is about individuals moving beyond NGOs, governments, and businesses to express their personal commitment to living more sustainably.

The outstanding Australians being recognized in this year’s WWF Earth Hour Awards highlight the power of one person to make a difference. From Indigenous communities making artworks that highlight the threat of unsustainable fishing practices, to school students planting wildlife corridors and protecting turtle nesting sites, the Awards showcase a grassroots commitment to the environment that is truly uplifting.

It gives me hope for a better future for our planet.

Earth Hour takes place at 8:30pm, Saturday 31st March. Sign-up to show your support at earthhour.org.au  

This post originally appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald on Friday 23 March, 2012.

On March 31, 2012 at 8:30pm it’s time to send our message. The message is that we care and we want to make a difference. It won’t just be you alone sending this message, it is hundreds of millions of people across the globe turning off their lights and power for one hour: Earth Hour.

Look at it this way, it is New Years Eve for the environment. We celebrate, turn the lights off and make resolutions to change our behaviours for the year ahead. These resolutions don’t include stopping yourself from eating two extra pieces of cake and then going to the gym for a month, it means changing how we do things in our day to day life that make an impact on the health of our planet.

In Australia we have a lot to protect and be thankful for. Think of the Great Barrier Reef, Ningaloo Reef and the Kakadu region. You may think “How am I meant to make a difference to these places?”, well that is the easy part. How about trying:

1) Reduce the amount of power you use every day.

Entwined plug © WWF / Cathy Bjork

This is an easy one! Think about unplugging lamps you don’t use very often, the microwave, toaster and kettle in between uses. Don’t leave lights on when you leave a room, or open the curtains to get more sunlight. Obviously don’t leave your laptop, computer or phones plugged in and turned on all the time. If you go out, turn it all off. When you go to sleep, make sure you have shut your computer and monitor off.

2) Reduce the amount of plastic you use and throw out.

Discarded plastic bottles, Mexico © Edward Parker / WWF-Canon

This is hard for a lot of people. Think about a product such as muesli bars; they come in a box with a plastic window

and they are all individually wrapped in plastic and you toss them in the bin when you are done, right? Well this plastic has to go somewhere. It heads to landfill which can be blown into our oceans or litter our streets. Think when you go shopping about what you are buying. Make sure all the plastic is recyclable and make sure you put it in the recycling containers provided by your councils.

3) Reduce the amount of food you throw out.

Typical supermarket stocked aisle after aisle © WWF-Canon / Richard Stonehouse

We all do it, some more than others. Let’s all do our bit and stop throwing out food! Make sure you buy what you know you can eat.  Make shopping lists, meal plans and freeze food. This will save you money and also reduce the silly amounts of food we are throwing out each week. Feel like you need a fruit bowl full of apples for the kids? How about buying only three and see if they get through that. If so, then go and buy three more. Easy!

This year my Earth Hour resolutions are avoid plastic cutlery and carry my own reusable set with me (lucky I have a huge handbag!) and commit to 3 computer free nights and start reading more books.

I support Earth Hour as more than just an hour to save power and become unplugged, but as something bigger. It helps keep me focused on my goals and how big a difference I can make.

What are your resolutions for Earth Hour? Share your ideas on the Earth Hour Australia Facebook page!

This post was contributed by Rebecca Goodwin of My Green Australia, an online site dedicated living green in Australia and enjoying our wonderful country while not spoiling it for future generations.