For Earth Hour this year, Singapore saw a record 744 locations across the nation switch their lights off as a symbolic gesture of their commitment to preserve our planet.
Alongside the success of the Lights Out, the World Wide Fund for Nature Singapore (WWF-Singapore) also announced that its Singapore Kosong Plan, launched in early March, has seen more than 1,000 pledges from Singaporeans and businesses to change aspects of their lives and operations to make them more sustainable and build a climate-resilient nation.
As Singapore accelerates sustainable development with The Green Plan 2030, the Singapore Kosong Plan is designed to help educate and enable Singaporeans to take meaningful actions to mitigate climate change.
‘Kosong’, which means zero in Malay, focuses on inspiring Singaporeans to make small but meaningful changes across different aspects of their daily lives.
These include actions such as shopping/purchasing responsibly, travelling on public transport and working to preserve/restore nature.
Such actions will contribute to help Singapore move towards its goal to achieve net-zero emissions.
The digital nature of the Singapore Kosong Plan campaign has brought schools, communities, businesses, and organisations together and has driven conversations around how collective actions in Singapore can help build a low carbon and climate-resilient nation.
“Earth Hour 2021 delivers a message that is more important than ever. We hope to use this movement to drive greater awareness of the impact of nature loss and climate change on us and our future generations. The Kosong Plan helps to simplify the meaning of ‘net-zero’ to Singaporeans and educates them on how their everyday actions play a part in protecting our environment. What is heartening to see is that the number of participants in this year’s lights-out has increased five folds over last year. We hope that this is a step towards positive climate actions for a more sustainable future,” said R. Raghunathan, Chief Executive Officer, WWF-Singapore.
Prominent Kosong Plan pledgers include Louis Ng, the Nee Soon Member of Parliament and local personalities and sustainability advocates, Angelique Teo, Charlotte Mei and Paul Foster.
“The Kosong Plan provides an actionable step we can all take to help reduce our carbon footprint, and serves as a reminder that the steps we take, no matter their size, can be collectively significant. While we have seen a lot of progress on a national, business and individual level, the path towards a greener and sustainable future is a long one. We will need consistency, collaboration and careful execution to see us through. The Kosong Plan helps to guide us in the right direction ” said Louis Ng, MP of Nee Soon.
This campaign is supported by corporate partners, including HSBC Singapore, StarHub, Sky Premium and media content partners like Kiss92, ONE FM 91.3, Viddsee and TikTok.
Flipping the switch off for Earth Hour
Companies that participated in the 2021 Earth Hour Lights Out include CapitaLand, Esplanade, Helix Bridge, Jewel Changi Airport, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore Flyer and Watsons.
This reflects Singapore society’s commitment towards our Earth.
Be a part of the movement
While Singapore is making progress on these challenges, more can be done. Be a part of the movement and brew your own Kosong Plan today!
Website: https://earthhour.sg/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wwfsg/
Watch the My Kosong Plan series: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRvj6BrtcT-lMAoOS_aVz4w
About Earth Hour
Earth Hour is WWF’s flagship global environmental movement.
Born in Sydney in 2007, Earth Hour has grown to become one of the world’s largest grassroots movements for the environment, inspiring individuals, communities, businesses and organizations in more than 180 countries and territories to take tangible environmental action for over a decade.
Historically, Earth Hour has focused on the climate crisis, but more recently, Earth Hour has strived to also bring the pressing issue of nature loss to the fore.
The aim is to create an unstoppable movement for nature, as it did when the world came together to tackle climate change. The movement recognizes the role of individuals in creating solutions to the planet’s most pressing environmental challenges and harnesses the collective power of its millions of supporters to drive change.
About WWF-Singapore
WWF is one of the world’s largest and most respected independent conservation organisations. WWF’s mission is to stop the degradation of the earth’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature.
As one of WWF’s international hubs, WWF-Singapore supports a global network spanning over 100 countries. We work to meet key conservation goals, such as deforestation, haze pollution, food security, sustainable consumption and illegal wildlife trade.