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Earth Hour gets lukewarm reception
The light and the shadow: Three children spell out 60+ using candle flames as part of the annual Earth Hour campaign at the Borobudur temple complex in Central Java on Saturday
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The light and the shadow: Three children spell out 60+ using candle flames as part of the annual Earth Hour campaign at the Borobudur temple complex in Central Java on Saturday. Residents, institutions and companies in dozens of cities across the country participated in the event by keeping their lights turned off between 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.(JP/Tarko Sudiarno) (JP/Tarko Sudiarno)
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span class="inline inline-center">The light and the shadow: Three children spell out 60+ using candle flames as part of the annual Earth Hour campaign at the Borobudur temple complex in Central Java on Saturday. Residents, institutions and companies in dozens of cities across the country participated in the event by keeping their lights turned off between 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.(JP/Tarko Sudiarno)
Earth Hour this year received more or less the same level of participation that it did last year, while some residents say the program is not effective.
Businesses and homes in Jakarta and other cities that participated in the campaign were urged to voluntarily keep their lights off between 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Environmental activists believe that the campaign is an effective strategy to save energy and the environment.
Director of Advocacy and Communication of World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Indonesia, Nyoman Iswarayoga, said the organization had asked the Jakarta administration to turn off lights in certain locations. 'Through the campaign, we want to see how much citizens care about climate change issues. The campaign aims to urge citizens to pay attention to the impacts of climate change,' he told The Jakarta Post over the phone.
He said that besides Jakarta, another 47 cities in Indonesia were involved in the Earth Hour campaign last year. Nyoman added that although the WWF was not directly involved, volunteers outside of Jakarta had collaborated with WWF to organize Earth Hour campaigns. Provincial and municipal administrations collaborated with local companies to support the campaign.
Among the cities are Pontianak in West Kalimantan, and Bandung and Depok in West Java.
Nyoman said that as of 5:42 p.m. on Saturday, 32 cities throughout Indonesia had agreed to participate.
Dimas Caraka Ramadhan, a public affairs consultant in Jakarta said the campaign was not effective. He criticized the campaign as being unable to resolve interests between the environment and industry; namely that although industry creates a lot of jobs, it also is the source of carbon dioxide (CO2), which is the main driver of climate change. 'The campaign is not important. It only occurs for an hour,' Dimas said.
Sekar Laras Kinanti, a civil servant who lives in Cikini, Central Jakarta, said she would not participate in Earth Hour, but added that she ensured energy usage at her home was as efficient as possible.
Meanwhile, Ibrahim Siregar a lawyer who lives in Tebet, South Jakarta said that Earth Hour was a good campaign that led people to understand the significance of each individual action for the well-being of the planet. 'However, we have to remind ourselves that we don't do it just for the hype. It will be our loss if we only think about protecting our planet for one day, but forget about it the remaining 364 days,' he said on Saturday.
'Saving the environment needs more effort and willingness than just turning lights off for an hour. It needs the government to take action and stop issuing licenses for businesses that harm the environment,' Ibrahim added.
Separately, the Jakarta administration through the energy and industry agency turned off lights at six locations. 'We ordered light operators at City Hall, the National Monument (Monas), the Arjuna Wijaya Statue, Youth Statue, Hotel Indonesia Traffic Circle and offices on Jl. Sudirman and Jl. MH Thamrin in Central Jakarta, as well as Jl. Gatot Subroto and Jl. HR Rasuna Said in South Jakarta to turn the lights off,' agency head Yuli Hartono said.
The agency is supporting the campaign to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in Jakarta through more efficient use of energy, since Jakarta's power plants depend on fossil fuels.
Despite criticism from some residents, Muhammad Rizki Imansyah a businessman who lives in Meruya, West Jakarta, said that he supported the campaign. He even said that the event should be held more regularly. 'The campaign would be better if it was held monthly rather than annually,' Rizki said. (rez)
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