At 8.30pm local time, lights will switch off around the globe for Earth Hour, organised by WWF. In the past, this has been more of a symbolic gesture to highlight the issues of climate change and the environment generally. This year, WWF are asking people to commit to actions that go Beyond the Hour. What will I do? What will you do? What will we do?
Well we won't be observing Earth Hour, as I forgot all about it, and while we have said Compline by candlelight in the past, it's now too late to suggest switching all lights off for the whole hour.
But here's an example of a small action: sign Christian Aid's letter to environment secretary Caroline Spelman. According to Christian Aid, she is "weighing up whether UK companies should be required to report their carbon emissions". The Climate Change Act requires the Government to introduce mandatory reporting by 6 April 2012, or explain to Parliament why this has not happened, so there is only just over one year to go. This sort of transparency is the first step in reducing the 1/8 of global carbon emissions for which UK-listed companies are responsible (compare the Toxic Release Inventory in the US).
PS. The clocks go forward tonight.
Between September 2010 and September 2011, I lived alongside an Anglican Benedictine community of monks and nuns. In November 2010, we moved from Broad Marston Manor near Evesham to Mucknell Abbey, a new eco-monastery near Worcester. This blog was about things that I observed and things that interested me. I have now stopped writing it. Thank you to all who were also interested.
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