Nelson Mandela tweets his support as Earth Hour sweeps Asia

SYDNEY:  As the largest ever Earth Hour wraps up across Asia, Nelson Mandela has taken to Twitter to express his support for the cause to unite the world to protect the planet.

"Let us stand together to make of our world a sustainable source for our future as humanity on this planet" #NelsonMandela #EarthHour”, the anti-apartheid hero and former President of South Africa tweeted.
At the same time, Earth Hour’s I Will If You Will campaign went viral, engaging tens of thousands of people to Dare the World to Save the Planet.
The challenge platform hosted at www.youtube.com/earthhour is receiving an estimated 20,000 visits per minute from people all over the world and has reached 2 million views in the last 14 hours.
More than 100,000 visitors have now accepted the 80 feature challenges from celebrities, governments, organisations and individuals including global ambassador Miranda Kerr, Kumi Naidoo from Greenpeace International, Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, Latin American ambassador Claudia Bahamón, TV stars Giuliana and Bill Rancic, actress Isabel Lucas and local WWF ambassadors Nadya Hutagalung and Marc Nelson.  More than 2000 unique challenges have been created, which will take Earth Hour participation for the benefit of our one fragile planet well “beyond the hour”.
As the lights went off across south-east Asia, record participation in one of the campaign’s major growth regions has ignited more passion for the movement.
The Philippines  participation in the event is “hoped” to have topped last year’s estimated figure of 18 million, cementing it as one of the top participating countries in the largest voluntary action for the environment.  
“We believe the key to our success is the interconnected global community,” said Earth Hour Co-Founder and Executive Director Andy Ridley, who is in The Philippines for the event.
“For the first time in history we have the power to connect behind a common purpose and the ability to create a network without national borders, based on the most influential voices and the smallest voices. The growth in social media, the world’s news media outlets and the digital revolution has allowed that to happen.”
The main Earth Hour event at the Great Wall of China saw hundreds of university students and International Earth Hour ambassador Li Bing Bing visually pledge their ongoing commitment for the environment in 2012.
The China World Trade Center and the Olympic Park’s Bird’s Nest Stadium and Water Cube also turned their lights off  to mark Earth Hour.
Nearly 1,500 Singaporeans  stood shoulder to shoulder to create a massive ‘60+Singapore’ human formation along Orchard Road, one of the nation’s most glamorous shopping and entertainment neighbourhoods. Over 370 major businesses across the city state made commitments in support of Earth Hour, ranging from a simple flick of the switch to broader environmental commitments.    
An astounding 74,502 buildings in Korea switched their lights tonight from 8:30-9:30pm according to the Twitter account of the U.S. Embassy in Seoul.
By the time the lights off event had reached south-east Asia, ‘Happy Earth Hour’ became the #1 worldwide trend on Twitter.
In Indonesia, social media has helped drive the localized version of the I Will If You Will campaign, Ini Aksiku! Mana Aksimu?, with participants using digital media to organise grassroots action from across the archipelago.  Celebrities Titi Dwijayanti (Titi DJ) and Jessica Iskandar pledged their IniAksiku commitments via YouTube.
Social media is again responsible for the massive turn-out in India, which culminated in an alternative power sourced MTV Unplugged concert in New Delhi.  A similar concert and lights off event has been held at the Mysore Palace, India’s most popular tourist attraction. Megacities competed right across India for the title of Earth Hour Champion.
Nepal also celebrated its largest ever Earth Hour with dual events in capital Kathmandu and Lumbini, birthplace of Lord Buddha - with Earth Hour, supported by six monasteries, seven musicians and nearly 10,000 youth contributing to an ambitious plan to plant 1 million trees by 2020.
“Through Earth Hour, we want to promote the message of conservation – starting with Lumbini and travelling beyond its borders – as the way of life for human beings not just in Nepal but across the world,” said the Venerable Maitri Mahastavir, Spiritual Advisor of the Lumbini Development Trust.

Earth Hour 2012 is taking place in a record 150 countries and territories across 6494 towns and cities.

Follow Earth Hour as it happens across the world via our social media:

Facebook:  facebook.com/earthhour
Twitter:  twitter.com/earthhour
YouTube: youtube.com/earthhour
Flickr:  flickr.com/earthhour_global
Tumblr:  earthhour.tumblr.com
Google +: gplus.to/earthhour

Note to media:

Downloadable video footage of the global event will be available in four B-rolls for media covering major regions on the night at

http://www.earthhour.org/media-centre/videos http://www.youtube.com/user/earthhour/featured

Images of landmarks switching off and global Earth Hour events will be available at http://earthhour.org/media-centre/images

http://www.flickr.com/groups/eh2012/

Media Contact:

Rebecca George, Earth Hour Global, Rebecca@earthhour.org +61 421 988 035

Benjamin Vozzo, Earth Hour Global, Benjamin@earthhour.org +61 415 194 219

About Earth Hour

Earth Hour is a global environmental initiative in partnership with WWF and Leo Burnett. Individuals, businesses, governments and communities are invited to turn out their lights for one hour on Saturday March 31, 2012 at 8:30 PM to show their support for environmentally sustainable action. In 2012, Earth Hour’s I Will If You Will concept invites individuals and organisations to challenge others to an ongoing environmental commitment beyond the hour. Earth Hour began in one city in 2007 and by 2011 reached over 1.8 billion people in 135 countries across every continent, receiving reports as ‘the World’s largest campaign for the planet’.

About WWF

WWF is one of the world’s largest and most respected independent conservation organisations, with almost five million supporters and a global network active in more than 100 countries. 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, by conserving the world’s biological diversity, ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable, and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption.