Focus on water use this Earth Hour on March 28

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) On this year's Earth Hour, UAE residents have been urged to go beyond switching off power for an hour and reduce the usage of desalinated water that causes huge amount of carbon emission.

Observed on the last Saturday of every March, Earth Hour is a global symbolic initiative to protect the environment. Usually, people turn off lights and non-essential electrical appliances from 8.30pm to 9.30pm that day to reduce energy consumption and carbon emission that is harmful to Mother Earth.

However, Earth Hour 2015, which falls on March 28 under the theme "Use Your Power to Change Climate Change", should see UAE residents focusing on how their water consumption affects climate change, officials said at a Press conference on Wednesday.

"This year, we decided to illustrate the problem of climate change in a way that is locally relevant and unique," said Ida Tillisch, director-general of the Emirates Wildlife Society, which organises the UAE event in collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund and the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) in Dubai.

She noted that the UAE has the third largest water consumption per capita on the planet with the average resident using in excess of 550 litres per day, three times the normal human consumption.

"However, as we know, the majority of the region's water goes through a process of desalination, which produces large quantities of carbon emissions - a process that is harmful to our atmosphere and can contribute to climate change," she said.

Tillisch urged individuals and businesses here to make the conscious decision to take Earth Hour beyond the hour yet again and also this time to think about how their everyday habits contribute to climate change.

Dewa MD and CEO Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer called upon Dubai residents to actively participate in the official Earth Hour event to be held at Bay Avenue Park from 5pm on March 28.

He also urged residents to be part of the Earth Hour Walk, which will start at 8.30pm when the entire city will see non-essential lights and appliances being turned off for an hour. Al Tayer noted that Dubai was the first Arab city to participate in Earth Hour in 2008.

"During Earth Hour 2014, we managed to reduce electricity use by 255mWh and 153 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions in just one hour."

In addition, he said, the Dewa achieved significant results in reducing electricity use over the past six years. A total of 1,163gWh of electricity and 5.4 billion imperial gallons of water were saved during this period. "This is equivalent to Dh752 million, and over 536,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions."

In reply to a question by Khaleej Times, Al Tayer said Dubai was working to reduce power consumption through streetlights, which is estimated at 40 mWh. He said retrofitting streetlights with energy-efficient lamps is expected to reduce 30 per cent reduction in consumption.