Let there be darkness

On Saturday March 28, Botswana will plunge into darkness in celebration of Earth Hour, a global initiative that asks electricity users to cut back on usage for one hour, from 8.30pm to 9.30pm.
Earth Hour is a movement organised by the World Wildlife Fund that encourages global communities to unite in the battle against carbon emissions and climate change.

In celebration of the initiative, Gaborone will stage a march on Saturday as a way of raising awareness ahead of the pivotal hour. Individuals, companies and organisations are challenged to join in the march that will commence at 6am at Total Filling Station at Game City and end at Gaborone Secondary School playgrounds. The march will be characterised by exhibitions and presentations to raise awareness about climate change. In addition to the flagship lights-off hour and marches, there will be plenty of entertainment and fun activities during the day, including performances by musicians, among them Mogwana traditional group and Testify.

“The Earth Hour initiative has grown into a global event to draw attention to climate change, and we encourage Batswana to actively participate in this cause as a symbol of their commitment to the planet,” says Florah Mmereki, Botswana Earth-Hour Coordinator.  Mmereki says their full ambition as environmentalists is to see people take action beyond just the hour of lights-off. She wants to see people take Earth Hour as a one hour observance of a year round commitment.  “It’s not just for one hour that people should see the need for conservation. It should be a continuous effort because the battle against greenhouse emissions is a toxic one. It will take more than an hour to win this battle,” she says. Although turning off lights for one hour is voluntary, people should find it fit to participate in this gesture in order to save and preserve the environment in the long run. According to Mmereki, last year’s Earth Hour initiative decreased electricity usage by 86.2 megawatts. The target for this year is 100 megawatts.

She says although most African countries, Botswana included, contribute little carbon emissions compared to developed countries like Russia and the US, they suffer the consequences, especially in food production. “The United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP21, will be held in December. At this conference, there is a need for industrialised countries to enter into a pact to cut down their carbon dioxide emissions because we are suffering as developing countries,” she said.