Millions of people around the world will turn the lights off for one hour on Saturday evening at 8:30 p.m. Deutsche Telekom is taking part in “Earth Hour 2012” in 15 countries across five continents.
On March 31 at 8:30 p.m., lights will be switched off in countless buildings and historic landmarks like the Eiffel Tower in Paris or Big Ben in London for 60 minutes. Citizens around the world will be doing the same in their own homes. They’ll be participating in the sixth “Earth Hour” in a symbolic gesture for protecting the planet.
“We’re taking part in Earth Hour because we want to send a clear signal,” says Birgit Klesper, Head of Corporate Responsibility at Deutsche Telekom. “Information and Communication Technology is an energy-intensive sector, and we’re aware of that.” By 2020, Deutsche Telekom plans to reduce its own CO2 emissions in Germany by 40 percent. “By joining in Earth Hour, we want to show that the topic of energy efficiency has high priority in our Group-wide CR strategy,” Klesper continues.
No outdoor lighting at the Service Center in Bonn Just as in previous years, Deutsche Telekom and many of its subsidiaries and affiliates in Germany and abroad will be taking part in Earth Hour with various initiatives. During this hour, Deutsche Funkturm will turn off the lights in the television tower in Berlin. The Service Center in Bonn will switch off its outdoor lighting, including the “T” logo and the lights on the pedestrian overpass above the B9 road. Locations in Darmstadt and Cologne will also go dark.
Deutsche Telekom initiatives on five continents Support for Earth Hour spans across the entire Group. National companies in 15 countries and across five continents will join in with energy-saving initiatives. In the succession of time zones, T-Systems in Malaysia will be the first to start, by switching off all of its outdoor lighting. T-Systems in South Africa will be turning off its office lights. Almost all DT national companies in Europe are taking part in Earth Hour: T-Hrvatski Telekom in Croatia will turn the lights off in all Shops across the country and at its headquarters in Zagreb. Buildings will also go dark in Spain, Macedonia, Slovakia and Austria. OTE and COSMOTE in Greece, as well as their subsidiaries in Albania, Bulgaria and Romania will get involved in the event with many different initiatives. As well as going dark in all of its major buildings, Magyar Telekom will be organizing a concert on the “Chain Bridge” – one of the most famous landmarks in Budapest – in association with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). On the other side of the pond, too, T-Mobile US and T-Systems do Brasil will show their support.