Earth Hour action plan for Governments

To make Earth Hour successful in every city, we ask the local governments and leaders to commit to the following:

1. Switch off the lights in your state's CM's House and/or State Capitol Building at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 26, 2012.
2. Encourage major landmarks within the state to join the CM's House and/or State Capitol Building in "going dark" during Earth Hour.
3. Join our WWF state teams and collectively host public events, such as a press conference, launch event, Earth Hour rally, and/or Earth Hour VIP viewing to generate awareness and media coverage.
4. Reach out to the business community, the faith community, municipal and civic organizations, the media and other entities to create public awareness and support for Earth Hour. Encourage leaders within these respective groups to raise awareness about Earth Hour.
5. Encourage citizens to participate in Earth Hour in their homes and businesses.

 Go beyond the hour

The Government of India has a range of policies and programmes in development to aid ecologically sound growth.  As individuals and businesses increasingly take an active interest in understanding and taking action on climate change it is important that government a) continues to take tangible action as broader policies and programmes develop and b) engages and communicates with business and citizen stakeholders in an open manner. 

In the past Government organisations have successfully taken action during Earth Hour – this year governmental bodies can use Earth Hour + as a spring board to rejuvenate interaction and communication with citizens and promote leadership on environmental solutions.     

Policies and Programs:

• Augment policies supporting energy efficiency at a household level including expansion of product labelling schemes (moving more products into mandatory category).  Policy introduction needs to be supported by robust awareness campaigns that engage the wider public.
• Work is being undertaken to develop a set of sustainable procurement guidelines for Government. Where possible government departments can begin to take action by amending procurement policies to ensure purchase of star rated appliances where possible.
• Create a channel for clear communication of action and implementation of all National Action Plan on Climate Change Missions, most likely in the form of a website – perhaps linking from the PMO website.
• Build a set of guidelines for internal climate change action that can be scaled and applied to central ministries as well as municipal government.  This will include easy to implement measures such as behaviour change (switching off lights, turning off appliances at the wall) as well as more systematic changes (upgrading washrooms, installing more energy efficient appliances)
• Mandate energy audits at all Government and municipal buildings, with follow up action plans as part of the deliverable.

Communication and Interaction:

• Create a central repository (or portal) for government departments to be able to access information, tool and tips for energy efficiency and ‘green activities’
• Build a network of municipal councils (and perhaps state level governments) that share information and build capacity on relevant climate policies and programs
• Communicate activities clearly to the wider community (stakeholders) to encourage and inspire action, this can be done through websites, effective networks with NGOs and other public groups.  This also provides a mechanism for stakeholders to suggest action eg. Improved walkways, cycle safety, and increased numbers of buses.
• Encourage municipal governments to set climate targets and work towards them accordingly.  Targets should be around waste, transport and energy sources, which will all enable savings as well as better quality of life and cost savings.

Additional Points:

• Switch to LED table lamp while studying (in individual energy section)
• Switch to Laptop from desktops (in individual energy section)
• Switch off ignition of cars in traffic red lights when its more than 30 seconds as per Car Manufacturer guidance (in Transport section)
• Drive car at speed of 40-50 kmph as per PCRA to save fuel (in Transport section)
• Rainwater Harvesting systems wherever possible (under water section)
• Reduce unnecessary printing of papers and usage of formats
• Request for e-statement for your mobile bills, electricity bills, etc.
• Pass on used textbooks/books to juniors to avoid printing of a whole new book.
• Wherever possible take lunch/dinner together with your  family and avoid unnecessary usage of microwave oven
• Switch to front load washing machines than top up washing machines, it saves both water and energy.
• Use bright colour paints in home, it reduce the requirement of light.
• Wherever possible, promote community compost for organic waste which will reduce the methane emission
• Wherever possible, use kitchen grey water for gardens since it reduces the fresh water load and also contain manure property.
• Energy bill comes from your washer and your dryer, because these two appliances use quite a bit of energy. A dryer with a moisture sensor will help you to reduce your carbon footprint. Alternatively, dry clothes the old-fashioned way on a line;
• Add double layer glass else double pane windows to reduce energy consumption at both extreme weather conditions i.e. summer and winter;
• Go for local produced and unpackaged goods wherever possible;