Corporate Responsibility - Dim it! Lights out 6.21

Dim it! Lights out 6.21 2009

30-sec event highlights

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The “Dim it! Lights out 6.21” campaign was first organised by Friends of the Earth (HK) in 2008 and it has successfully raised the government and society’s awareness on the air pollution and light pollution issues in Hong Kong. The Campaign has now run into its second year and Aviva is pleased to sponsor it again. This year, the event took place again at 8-10 pm on 21 June 2009. Worsening air and light pollution have deprived Hong Kong of clear skies and starry nights. Thus, FoE (HK) will join the International Year of Astronomy 2009 Hong Kong League, local astronomical groups and sky observers to provide telescopes for the public to do stargazing on the Avenue of Stars in Tsimshatsui on that night.

We are pleased that the Dim it! event this year has been a very successful one, with around 3,500 buildings/ outdoor signages switched off their lights from 8-10pm last night. The sky above Tsim Sha Tsui has dimmed by 60% compared with the same time on usual days. About 50,000 people were attracted to the Victoria Harbour for stargazing. The panaromic harbour view was still charming while the lights were out.

Dim it! Lights out 6.21 2008

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We support lights out

To raise public awareness about the importance of reducing energy consumption and combating air pollution, Friends of the Earth (HK) (FOE HK) organised a "Dim it! 6.21 Lights out" campaign on June 21, 2008. We act as the title sponsor of the event to support the initiative. We also invited our policyholders to dine in at a local restaurant chain which participated in the event by turning its house lights off, while part of the proceeds from the dinner went to HK FOE to support its efforts to raise public awareness of environmental issues.

On that night, Aviva also set up two webcams, each targeting one side of the harbor for a live view of the lights-out moments. This was broadcast to the people around the world, courtesy of the Aviva website.

In addition to Hong Kong, over 70 other Asian cities jointed the event by turning the lights off for an hour. In Hong Kong alone, over 100 landmark buildings, organisations, and Government departments switched off their exterior lighting for an hour from 8:30pm to 9:30pm.

The Importance of "Lights Out"

The facts are very clear. While the population in Hong Kong rose only by 6.8% between 1997 and 2007, the per capital electricity consumption for the same period rose by almost a triple - 18.6%!

This is important since power plants generate carbon dioxide (CO2) and pollutants when they generate electricity. CO2 is found to be one of the primary greenhouse gases responsible for global warming.

Is the globe getting warmer? According to The Hong Kong Observatory, February 2009 was the warmest February since recordkeeping began 125 years ago, with an average temperature of 20.5 degrees Celsius. This shows that global warming is affecting the city. It is time for us to step up our efforts to reduce energy consumption wherever possible.