Cyclothon-Walkathon to raise awareness about climate change

MUMBAI:

WWF India

, in association with

Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce

Life Insurance hosted "

Pedal for the Planet 2017

", a Cyclothon and Walkathon to celebrate the world’s largest grassroots environmental campaign – Earth Hour 2017.

Earth Hour 2017 celebrates a decade of climate action with people from more than 7000 cities across the globe set to take a stand against climate change by celebrating Earth Hour 2017. In the last ten years, Earth Hour has gone from being a token switch-off event to becoming the largest voluntary movement ever witnessed in history. As the planet continues to witness climate records being broken and the need for greater ambition and commitment accelerates, Earth Hour is mobilizing individuals, communities and organizations globally to do their part to help change climate change.

Earth Hour 2017 was celebrated on Saturday, March 25, from 8.30 pm to 9.30 pm. The Earth Hour India campaign focuses on the need to inspire individuals, corporates and other organizations, schools, colleges, RWAs and housing societies to become Earth Hour Superheroes, undertake five simple actions and lend their voice to the largest grassroots level environment campaign in the world. As every year, this year too Earth Hour is seeing unprecedented support from all quarters across the country through various innovative Earth Hour events and the switching off of landmark monuments and buildings in India to mark the movement.

The exhilarating 21 kilometer Cyclothon, covered over two rounds and the 3.5 km walkathon. The residents enthusiastically participated to promote the cause of Earth Hour and ask people to switch off their lights during the hour later that night. Pedal for the Planet is a WWF-India initiative that aims to raise awareness about Earth Hour and promote a healthier, greener and more sustainable lifestyle at an individual level. Every year, since 2009, hundreds of citizens have been gathering in an enormous show of support for Earth Hour at the Pedal for the

Planet Cyclothon

and Walkathon. In the past decade, as global efforts to control climate change gained momentum, Earth Hour has helped bridge the gap between the grassroots and the corridors of power, taking climate action from conference rooms to living rooms in over 172 countries.

Anuj Mathur, chief executive officer, Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance, said, "We are pleased to partner for the 9th consecutive year with WWF-India for the Earth Hour 'Pedal for the Planet' initiative. We at Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance have always encouraged our employees in initiatives which promote sustainable lifestyle and safeguards the planet. It is heartening to see the increasing awareness around the world on the need to preserve the environment and within our organization we are taking all steps to contribute to this cause."

Speaking about the success of the campaign and the event, Ravi Singh, secretary general & CEO, WWF-India said, "Earth Hour is our attempt to inspire and empower individuals and help them fight against the complex issue of climate change. The enormous enthusiasm and support that we’ve witnessed for Earth Hour at the Pedal for the Planet Cyclothon is very humbling, it is great to see people coming together and committing to fight for a common cause that threatens the world as we know it."

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