Event Management: Global Movement of Earth Hour

The Earth Hour event is hosted to spread awareness among people to protect the earth and its natural resources. The mission is to inspire people to take actions to save the world and protect the planet. Over 30 organizations and businesses around the world have associated with the cause. Ellie Goulding is one of the latest ambassadors of the cause. India is one of the 188 countries that have participated in the event in 2018.

Running head: EVENT MANAGEMENT
Event Management: Global Movement of Earth Hour
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s note

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Table of Contents
Description of the event...................................................................................................................2
Organizations supporting the Earth Hour........................................................................................2
Ambassador of the Earth Hour........................................................................................................4
Country participating on the movement..........................................................................................6
Reference List:.................................................................................................................................8
Appendices....................................................................................................................................10
Appendix 1:...............................................................................................................................10
Appendix 2:...............................................................................................................................11
Appendix 3:...............................................................................................................................12
Appendix 4:...............................................................................................................................13

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Description of the event
Given the situation Plant Earth is in today more and more awareness regarding the
damage and its impact has to spread in order to stop the impact. There are a number of
organisations around the world that is operating to save and conserve the plant and its natural
resources. Some of the threats that have manifested as major issues are global warming, rapid
increase in sea level, decline of fresh water species, deforestation leading to the reduction of land
areas etc. People today are the first to observe the changes in the climate and have the potential
time and resource to do something about it. If nothing is done today, there will be nothing left for
the future (Awsassets.panda.org 2018). The Earth Hour is one of the initiatives taken World
Wide Fund for Nature (Awsassets.panda.org 2018). This event is hosted to spread awareness
among the people to protect the earth as the foundation of the event is set on the value that every
human being is connected to the earth and what is gain for the earth is a gain for the people as
well. This event is also based on the belief that when people unit they can achieve impactful
results. The mission of the event is to inspire common people to take actions to save the world
and to protect the planet (Awsassets.panda.org 2018). In 2018, Earth Hour was observed on 24
March 2018 at 8:30pm. In order to show the support people who had signed up for the event
would be asked to switch off their lights and any electronic devices at the given time. Millions of
people across the world around nine million from just the UK participated in this year’s event.
The idea is to accumulate small contributions from people around the world to make a large
impact (Awsassets.panda.org 2018).

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Organizations supporting the Earth Hour
Over the years there are a number of organisations that are now associated with the event
and want to contribute their bit to the protection of the planet. Around 30 organisations and
businesses around the world have associated with the cause. Refer to appendix 4 for the list of
organisations. The two that has been selected to discuss are:
Discovery Communications LLC: This is a multinational media organisation that has been
operating in the industry for a long time and over the years has garnered goodwill for the work
that they do towards spreading knowledge and awareness regarding various aspects of the world.
The shows that are produced by the organisation are associated with learning and growing apart
from entertainment (Corporate.discovery.com, 2018). The company has been a significant
partner with the project during 2017. As a media channel it is important for the business
functions to run on a 24*7 basis which requires significant consumption of energy and resources.
The organisation has associated with the cause and on March 27 2017, the company documented
their contribution by turning off the lights for an hour in the head quarters. The headquarters is
located in Maryland. Discovery is a global network that is motivated and aspires not only to
entertain people but also to inspire people. The employees of Romania interrupted the broadcast
for a minute and passed a message to their viewers to participate in the cause by keeping their
television off for an hour. It is a cause that was supported by the employees across departments
(Corporate.discovery.com, 2018). In 2016, discovery channel partnered with WWF India in
order to be the media partner of communication and spreading the message of the time and the
cause of the event. It was a promotional partnership and aired with every channel that is availed
in India. The campaign has received significant success in the country by not only people but

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also government and authoritative bodies supporting the cause and the case
(Corporate.discovery.com, 2018).
H&M: This is one among many organisations that has established the association with the cause.
The H&M group has nine brands under the banner and each of the brand share similar view and
mission of providing the customers with trendy yet classic designs at a cost effective rate. The
company has a number of corporate Social activities and the association with the Earth Hour
(Hm.com, 2018). H&M is a multinational organisation that has its CSR activities spread across
the areas of distribution and operation. Reduction of energy consumption has been one of the
major agenda of the CSR activities of the company. The stores, offices and the distribution
centers of the company across the world participated with the mission of Earth Hour. H&M has
been associated with the Event for a long time (Hm.com, 2018). The company has reported that
they will keep the lights turned off for an hour but for security of the employees some of the
lights which are necessary will remain on. In association with the event, the company has also
launched the climate strategy in order to contribute more towards the protection of the earth and
its resources (About.hm.com, 2017). One of the major objectives of the business is sustainability
and in order to keep up with the aspects of developing a sustainable future, the company is also
determined to spread awareness among the customers. The climate strategy that has been
undertaken by the company is set to target three areas of concerns: natural carbon sinks,
technological carbon sinks and reduction of waste in the value chain. The mission of the
organisation is to be climate positive throughout the H&M group’s value chain. The company
has aligned with the cause as the objective of the company in reduction of energy consumption.
The sustainability stand of the company and the event help in the association and shared values
(Hm.com, 2018).

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Ambassador of the Earth Hour
Ellie Goulding is one of the latest ambassadors of the cause; she has joined the event in
2017. Ellie Goulding is a celebrated singer and song writer whose talent is acknowledged around
the world and she has some of significant hits and awards as well as sold out concerts under her
name. She had attended a WWF lecture in 2016, which had an important impact on her lifestyle
(Fell 2018). She agrees with the stand for the organisation and supports the cause which is
created by the Earth Hour movement. Ellie was appointed as a global goodwill ambassador for
WWF, but she says that her association with Earth Hour is because of the alarming statistics that
the movement showcases (Fell 2018).
She has a significant presence in the social media which makes it easy for the cause to
reach out to a number of people. The target audience with the ambassador is to connect with the
youth in the society (Wwf.org.uk 2018). Rising awareness among the youth is another major
objective of the event as the people in this generation are the ones who have the chance to make
the future a better place. Ellie has expressed that her associated with leading a sustainable life;
she is an individual who understands that she has certain obligations and responsibilities towards
the environment and the society that she lives in. she has spoken with the media regarding her
concerns with the environmental impact that each individual have, in the interview she has
mentioned that after she had become vegetarian, she had slowly grown realization regarding the
way food production impacts the environment (Wwf.org.uk 2018). She shares the concern of the
movement where she is scared that the future generation will not get the opportunity to lead a life
like the one the current generation is. In an interview with Marie Claire, UK she has explained
that she understands the potential of an individual towards the contribution they can do towards
the hazards of climate change (Fell 2018).

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She has followers of people in the age group of 16-25, which is the group that has the
potential of change and thus she is one of the most appropriate ambassador for the event. She is
an advocate of nature and conservation of its beauty she acknowledges and shares the same
vision that the movement was created (Sison, 2013). With the help of her social media handle
she helped the marketing team of earth hour to spread the hash tag #MakeClimateMatter
(Sison, 2013). She encourages people to have a positive impact on the climate may be
contribution be as small as turning off the lights for an hour (Independent.ie 2018).
Country participating on the movement
India is one of the 188 countries that have participated in the Event in 2018, the country
has been actively associated with the event for past few years. There are also social media
websites that are dedicated to the event for the country. In 2018, not only the people but also the
government and several other authoritative bodies participated in the event in March. There are
also some major brands that have associated with the event this year. Over the years of
association with the movement the country has established an alignment with the mission and
vision of the cause. The idea of the movement is to spread awareness regarding the protection of
the environment and the wildlife (Economictimes.indiatimes.com, 2018).
The government of India also had an active participation in promoting the movement in
the country. WWF India has been also associated with organisation like Discovery network
previously to spread the message of the cause and its mission. The Union environment minister
Harsh Vardhan has also advocated for the movement and has urged the people to switch off the
lights if they are not necessary for an hour (Economictimes.indiatimes.com, 2018). Aligning the
view of the movement he said that the contribution from each citizen will have a large impact on

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the conservation of energy. He also pitched the campaign that the marketing of the movement
has created, “Give Up to Give Back" and "Connect2Earth”. As an environment minister, he
understands that it is not only the responsibility of the organisations that will help the climate in
today’s time rather it is the duty of each and every individual to understand the responsibility that
they have towards the environment as well as the society. The minister added that participating
in the earth hour is a part of the “Green Good Deeds" movement
(Economictimes.indiatimes.com, 2018).
WWF-India launched the movement of "Give Up to Give Back" in order to motivate
organisations and individuals to take responsible decisions in life regarding the climate and the
environment (Indianexpress.com, 2018). This initiative urges people to give up or control habits,
practices and lifestyles that burden our lives and the environment. Along with the government
and the WWF other organisations also organized Cyclothon and Walkathon aligning the
objective of the Earth Hour movement. Canara bank, HSBC bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce,
Life Insurance Company hosted an event as an extension for the Earth Hour movement called
“Pedal for the Planet”. Several other organisations like The Suryaa, ShopClues etc has also
associated with the cause (Indianexpress.com, 2018).
It can be concluded that Earth Hour is indeed one of a kind event that has bound the
people to think and realize their responsibilities towards the environment and the society. The
event is targeted to spread awareness among the people regarding the threat that the environment
is facing in the current scenario. This is one of the grass root level event that has been has been
able to successfully spread awareness among the target audience. With the right kind of back up
from the organisations and the right kind of ambassadors endorsing the idea and the movement,
Earth Hour has reached significant milestones in a very less time. People have signed up for the

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cause and there are a number of people who are trying to contribute as well as advocate the same
with others. Like India, other 187 countries have associated with the movement.
Reference List:
About.hm.com. (2018). CLIMATE POSITIVE VALUE CHAIN BY 2040 |about.hm.com.
Retrieved from http://about.hm.com/en/sustainability/sustainable-fashion/climate-
emissions.html
Awsassets.panda.org. (2018). Earth Hour Annual Report 2017 | Awsassets.panda.org. Retrieved
from http://awsassets.panda.org/downloads/Earth_Hour_Report_2017.pdf
Corporate.discovery.com. (2018). About us | discovery.com. Retrieved from
https://corporate.discovery.com/
Corporate.discovery.com. (2018). Discovery turns up dark for earth hour | discovery.com.
Retrieved from https://corporate.discovery.com/blog/2017/03/27/discovery-turns-up-the-
dark-for-earth-hour/
Economictimes.indiatimes.com. (2018). Earth Hour: Harsh Vardhan asks people to switch off
lights for an hour on March 24| indiatimes.com. Retrieved from
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/environment/the-good-earth/earth-hour-
harsh-vardhan-asks-people-to-switch-off-lights-for-an-hour-on-march-24/articleshow/
63434577.cms

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Fell. V., (2018). Ellie Goulding for Earth Hour | marieclaire.co.uk. Retrieved from
https://www.marieclaire.co.uk/entertainment/people/ellie-goulding-earth-hour-582048
Hm.com. (2018).About us|about.hm.com. Retrieved from
https://about.hm.com/en/media/news/general-2017/earth-hour.html
Independent.ie., (2018). Ellie Goulding urges action on climate change ahead of Earth Hour|
Independent.ie. Retrieved from https://www.independent.ie/style/celebrity/celebrity-
news/ellie-goulding-urges-action-on-climate-change-ahead-of-earth-hour-35521221.html
Indianexpress.com. (2018). When is Earth Hour? | Indianexpress.com. Retrieved from
https://indianexpress.com/article/when-is/when-is-earth-hour/
Sison, M. D. (2013). Creative strategic communications: A case study of Earth
Hour. International Journal of Strategic Communication, 7(4), 227-240. Retrieved
from /doi/abs/10.1080/1553118X.2013.826227
Wwf.org.uk., (2018). ELLIE GOULDING JOINS OUR CALL TO MAKE CLIMATE MATTER
FOR EARTH HOUR | Wwf.org. Retrieved from https://www.wwf.org.uk/updates/ellie-
goulding-joins-our-call-make-climate-matter-earth-hour

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Appendices
Appendix 1:
Image: Highlights of 2018
(Source: Wwf.org.uk 2018)

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Appendix 2:
Year Number of countries Highlights
2007 1 Sydney Australia around 2.2 million people
2008 35
The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and the Colosseum in
Rome were some of the major landmarks that went dark for
Earth Hour.
2009 88
In 2009, Earth Hour broke all records of mass participation,
becoming the world's largest grassroots movement for the
environment.
2010 121
Three months after the COP15 in Copenhagen, seen by many as a
setback to international climate efforts, Earth Hour became the
global call-to-action for a sustainable future.
2011 135
The 'Plus' sign was incorporated into the Earth Hour logo to
signify the campaign's evolution beyond the hour.
2012 152
Russia passed a law to better protect the country’s seas from oil
pollution after a digital petition launched by WWF-Russia for
Earth Hour collected over 120,000 signatures
2013 154
Fundacion Vida Silvestre Argentina used Earth Hour 2013 to
mobilise support for a then pending Senate Bill to create a 3.4
million hectare marine protected area in the country.
2014 162
Following a powerful crowdsourcing campaign by Earth Hour in
2014, the Galapagos Islands – a UNESCO World Heritage site –
became the first province in Ecuador to pass a law prohibiting
disposable plastic shopping bags and expanded polystyrene
packaging.
2015 172
A record-breaking 172 countries and territories participated in
Earth Hour with over 620,000 actions taken to change climate
change.
2016 178
12,700 landmarks and monuments joined the cause and turned
off their lights to join the movement
2017 187
350 plus AMBASSADORS & INFLUENCERS
JOINED THE MOVEMENT

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2018 188
Neaarly 9 million people only in UK participated on this global
event
Appendix 3:
Image: Ellie Goulding for Earth Hour
(Source: Wwf.org.uk 2018)

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Appendix 4:
List of organisations
1. AEG
2. Aramark
3. Avery Dennison
4. Azamara Club Cruises
5. Broadway Green Alliance
6. Caesars Entertainment
7. Celebrity Cruises
8. Cisco
9. Discovery Communications LLC
10. Earth Angel Sustainable Production Services,
LLC
11. General Mills, Inc.
12. GreenSigns
13. H&M
14. Hilton Worldwide
15. HP Inc.
16. HSBC
17. LA Kings

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18. Legg Mason
19. Marriott International
20. MGM Resorts International
21. Nasdaq
22. P&G
23. Royal Caribbean Cruises LTD.
24. Royal Caribbean International
25. RXR Realty
26. Sealed Air Corporation
27. The Coca-Cola Company
28. Times Square Alliance
29. Verizon Wireless
30. Walgreens