Campaigners urge Government to strengthen action on nature ahead of Earth Hour
Landmarks across the world, including Buckingham Palace in the UK, will go dark for an hour on Saturday for WWF’s annual campaign.
Green campaigners are calling on ministers to ramp up efforts to protect nature ahead of landmarks going dark for Earth Hour.
Famed sites across the world, including the Palace of Westminster and Buckingham Palace in the UK, will turn out their lights for an hour from 8.30pm on Saturday as part of the annual initiative led by nature group WWF.
To mark the event, the charity has released findings from its latest poll of 2,346 people conducted by More in Common.
Findings suggest that more than half (52%) of Britons say the Government is not doing enough to safeguard the environment.
Support for stronger action is particularly high among young people, with 65% of 18 to 24-year-olds indicating they would like to see more help from ministers, the poll found.
The findings also suggest that only 24% of the British public feel the Government is doing enough to protect nature.
To mark Earth Hour, WWF is calling on people to take part by switching off lights in their homes and businesses on Saturday evening.
This would set legally binding targets to halt the destruction of nature and protect biodiversity by providing a legal framework to accelerate action, and hold the Government and businesses accountable for their environmental impact, the campaign group said.
Tanya Steele, WWF chief executive, said: “The public clearly care deeply about nature and the environment and are saying they want to see more action from the Government.
“We’re calling on ministers to bring forward a new law – a Living Planet Act – to make sure the needs of people, nature and climate are balanced, now and for future generations.
“It comes at a time when people around the world are uniting for Earth Hour – a powerful collective moment to appreciate the natural world, reflect on the urgency of saving it and demand the leadership needed to secure our future.”
Other UK landmarks set to go dark include the Palace of Westminster, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Lights, the London Eye, Windsor Castle, Tate Modern, Tate St Ives, The Liver Building, Stirling Castle, Arbroath Abbey and Linlithgow Palace.
A Defra spokesperson said: “After years of failure, nature across Britain is suffering. We are losing our precious species, our rivers are awash with pollution, and many of our iconic landscapes are in a state of deep decline.
“This cannot continue. As a part of our Plan for Change, the Government is already taking significant steps to protect and restore nature. This includes investing £400 million on tree planting and peatland restoration, delivering the Water Bill to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas and setting up a Nature Restoration Fund to deliver large scale environmental improvements across whole communities.”
