WWF invites supporters to celebrate

26 April 2016 - Gland, Switzerland The third edition of WWF’s We Love Cities digital campaign begins today. As part of the global contest, WWF invites social media users to show their support for cities that are going above and beyond to create a more sustainable, climate-friendly future. The social media component of WWF’s Earth Hour City Challenge, the We Love Cities campaign showcases existing, real-world solutions for global issues such as climate change. WWF urges urban dwellers, suburbanites and rural residents to vote for their favorite city among the 46 chosen by We Love Cities for setting the pace for environmentally-friendly innovation. “Today, people are increasingly connected with each other and eager to come together as a community to find solutions to improve their lives and protect the places they live in,” said Barbara Evaeus, Global Campaign Manager, We Love Cities. “The We Love Cities campaign is about using an engaging social media platform to connect citizens with local leaders so that they can work together to build climate resilient cities.” Cities are home to more than half of our planet’s population. That’s over 3.5 billion people who can tip the scales in favor of sustainability and critical climate action. Through innovation in energy systems, transport and infrastructure, cities can help power the global transition toward a climate-friendly future. We Love Cities invites their biggest stakeholders – people – to play a part in their efforts. For the next eight weeks, WWF’s We Love Cities campaign will help the public learn more about what cities are doing to become more sustainable. People can vote for cities that they think are leading the charge and boast about them through photos and videos shared on Twitter and Instagram. Voters can also submit suggestions on additional actions they believe cities can take to make a mark on sustainability. “Sustainability needs to become a part of our day-to-day lives and these cities are showing extraordinary vision to make that happen,” continued Evaeus. “From providing housing, transport, food and energy, there is so much that cities can do to reduce harmful carbon emissions while improving quality of life.” With more than 70 per cent of the world’s carbon emissions generated by cities, smart solutions like making public transport reliable and widely available can create co-benefits like better air quality and time savings while helping to take on climate change. The Earth Hour City Challenge aims to mobilize action and support from cities to create a sustainable future for all. Working closely with ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability to enlist cities to report their emissions through the carbonn Climate Registry, the challenge now draws applications from more than 125 cities in 21 countries in a competition to identify the world’s most climate-friendly cities. The winner of the We Love Cities campaign, along with the national and global winners of the Earth Hour City Challenge will be announced on Wednesday 22 June 2016. Awards will be presented to the winning cities in October this year in conjunction with Habitat lll, United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development. ---ends--- Notes to editor: 46 We Love Cities Participants Brazil: Belo Horizonte, Recife, Rio de Janeiro Canada: Edmonton, Saanich, Vancouver China: Shenzhen Colombia: Bogotá, Cali, Monteria Ecuador: Quito Finland: City of Lappeenranta France: Bordeaux, Paris,Toulouse India: Coimbatore, Pune, Rajkot Indonesia: Balikpapan, Bogor, Jakarta Malaysia: Melaka, Penang Island, Petaling Jaya Peru: Miraflores, San Isidro Philippines: Makati, San Carlos, Santa Rosa Rwanda: Musanze, Nyagatare, Nyarugenge Singapore: City of Singapore Spain: Murcia, Palma de Mallorca South Africa: Cape Town, Tshwane Sweden: Eskilstuna, Lund, Umeå Thailand: Chiangrai, Thungsong USA: Boulder, Burlington, Evanston Vietnam: Huế City WWF is one of the world’s largest and most respected independent conservation organizations, with over 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. www.panda.org/news for latest news and media resources About the Earth Hour City Challenge The Earth Hour City Challenge was created in 2011 to mobilize action and support from cities in the global transition towards a climate friendly one-planet future. The challenge invites cities to report ambitious commitments and big win climate actions, in terms of GHG reductions as well as the co-benefits they provide in relation to food, water and energy security challenges.