Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has achieved an impressive reduction in electricity use of 305 MWh and a reduction of 183 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions during Earth Hour 2015 in Dubai. This is an increase of 20% compared to last year, when DEWA recorded savings of 255 MWh of electricity and 153 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.
The Earth Hour event in Dubai was held under the patronage of HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, in partnership with the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, the Emirates Wildlife Society in cooperation with the World Wide Fund for Nature and Masat Property Management at Bay Avenue Park in Business Bay in Dubai.
The event was attended by Major-General Mohammed Ahmed Al Marri, Director-General of the General Directorate for Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai (GDRFA-Dubai) and Ahmed Buti Al Muhairbi, Secretary-General of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy (DSCE), and officials from the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, DEWA, and government and private sector staff.
DEWA marked Earth Hour 2015 by displaying the world's largest infinity mirror, measuring 7 square meters. Dubai represented by DEWA broke a new world record that was registered in the Guinness Book of Records. An infinity mirror is a set of mirrors that reflect an image back in a recursive manner, creating a series of smaller reflections that recede into an infinite distance. This infinity mirror communicates DEWA's message that its efforts are infinite.
During Earth Hour, tourist attractions, government and private buildings, and residents across Dubai turned off their lights and unessential electric appliances for a full hour. This underlined the belief by everyone that combining efforts will significantly contribute to establishing a culture of energy conservation, preservation of natural resources and environmental protection.
"Dubai marks the annual Earth Hour event in line with the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and under the patronage of HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, to strengthen the leading role of Dubai plays in supporting global efforts to reduce carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming and climate change," said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Managing Director & CEO of DEWA.
"Dubai was the first Arab city to participate in Earth Hour in 2008. Since then, DEWA has managed to make significant savings and support Dubai's objectives to reduce the use of natural resources and achieve environmental sustainability. This has been aided by the cooperation of DEWA's partners and greater social awareness. During Earth Hour over the last 7 years, DEWA managed to reduce electricity use by 1,291 MWh and saved 775 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions," added Al Tayer.
"DEWA achieved significant results in reducing electricity use over the past 6 years, saving 1,163 GWh of electricity and 5.4 billion imperial gallons of water. This is equivalent to AED752 million, and over 536,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions."
"The amount of savings achieved during Earth Hour and conservation campaigns reflects the strong environmental awareness among Dubai residents. It also underlines the effectiveness of combined efforts to achieve our objectives to create a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment for the benefit of present and future generations," concluded Al Tayer "On behalf of our parent company DPG, we are proud to extend our support to this initiative for the second year running and to host this event at our flagship retail destination Bay Avenue. Our involvement in this initiative reflects our commitment to promoting energy and water efficiency not only this evening, but on a daily basis. More importantly, initiatives such as these help us all to work towards a greener and sustainable economy," said Arif Mubarak, Chief Executive Officer of MASAT, DPG's dedicated portfolio management company.
Hundreds of residents and visitors attended the Earth Day activities, which started at 5pm. Earth Hour activities includes various entertaining and family activities including clowns, stilt-walking, flower displays, face painting, entertaining contests, souvenirs, heritage activities, and a traditional food corner. Children also celebrated the first anniversary of DEWA's conservation mascots, Noor and Hayat.
At 8:30pm, participants joined millions of people around the world in switching off lights to mark Earth Hour. The Earth Hour Walkathon then started where participants united, and held candles and environmentally-friendly lanterns together. The Walkathon was led by Al Tayer and officials from the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, DEWA, and government and private sector staff.
"We are very pleased with the size of public involvement and response to Earth Hour 2015. We recorded the largest participation to date, which underlines DEWA's successful efforts to raise environmental awareness among Dubai residents. This encourages us to continue our hard work and organise awareness campaigns and innovative initiatives that promote awareness of the importance of sensible use of natural resources, and instilling a culture of conservation among all groups and segments of society, particularly children, who were at the lead of the Earth Hour Walakathon, carrying candles and lanterns. They deserve a sustainable future that gives them the right to use natural resources and ensure a prosperous life. This will be achieved by the care and support of our wise leadership," said Amal Koshak, Senior Manager of Marketing Communications at DEWA.
