Africa's Landmark Buildings to Switch Off in Bid to Create Awareness on Efficient Power Use
By Henry Neondo
African landmark buildings like the Kenyatta International Conference Centre in Nairobi, Kenya will on March 26 at 8.30 pm local time join other iconic landmarks and millions of people round the world to turn off lights for an hour in a global commitment to protect the planet and support environmentally sustainable action.
In an event called Earth Hour, KICC will join such landmarks as the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Gateway of India Berlin’s Brandenberg and Obelisk in Argentina in standing in darkness for one hour and thus represent world’s largest voluntary action for the planet.
We want Kenya to be part of the solution and by joining the rest of the world to mark the Earth Hour, Kenyans are adding their voice into the important issue of environmental conservation”, said Ann Githinji, CEO, National Environment Trust Fund (NETFUND), a government agency mandated to work with conservation supporters and partners to mobilize funding and avail resources for research into environmental initiatives.
Githinji said the event is a wake-up call not only to Kenya but the entire Africa, which is faced with challenges brought about by the climate change.
We can do better to minimize wastage of sources of energy, water and sustainably manage our wastes for cleaner environment”, she said.
The event will be the third since Earth Hour, a global initiative coordinated by the World Wide Fund for Nature, WWF. It first started in 207 in Sydney, Australia with 2 million switching their lights.
Kimunya Mugo, Director Communication and Branding, WWF Eastern and Southern Africa, said at least five African countries, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia, Nigeria and Kenya joined 123 other countries globally where millions of volunteers in 4616 cities across the worldswitched off their lights for an hour.
This time round, he hopes for more as more people are becoming aware of their responsibilities to environmental protection.
The event, he said will call upon Kenyans to think of energy savers such as use of sensors that switch off electricity when not in use, efficient sources of energy such as renewable energy and efficient lighting systems.
73 per cent of electricity produced in Kenya is hydro-electricity and a World Bank estimate of 1997 showed an average monthly expenditure on electricity of US$213 per month per household.
Some of the energy consuming activities within a typical household are lighting, cooking, refrigeration, water heating, laundry, ironing, and air conditioning.
The common home also has entertainment equipment such as radio, TV, DVD, and VCR.