The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) on June 28 recognized Hue City as a National Earth Hour Capital 2016. Hue is one of 125 cities of 21 nations to attend WWF’s Earth Hour City Challenge 2016 and the first city in Viet Nam that has taken part in the contest.
Participating in the challenge, Hue committed to cut 20% of greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 compared to 2011. The city also mapped out seven specific moves, focusing on developing urban green coverage, eco-tourism products, wastewater and garbage treatment, smart public lighting system, renewable energy and environmentally friendly building materials.
WWF also recognized as National Earth Hour Capitals 2016 seventeen other cities around the world, including Belo Horizonte (Brazil), Boulder (U.S.), Chiangrai (Thailand), Edmonton (Canada), Jakarta (Indonesia), Lappeenranta (Finland), Montería (Colombia), Murcia (Spain), Paris (France), Petaling Jaya (Malaysia), Quito, (Ecuador), Rajkot (India), Santa Rosa (Philippines), Shenzhen (China), Singapore, Tshwane, (South Africa), and Umea (Sweden).
Paris took home the title Global Earth Hour Capital of WWF’s Earth Hour City Challenge this year.
Van Ngoc Thinh, director of WWF Viet Nam, was quoted by Tuoi Tre newspaper as saying that Hue can pioneer in green and sustainable development.
“Viet Nam has been and will be suffering negative impacts of climate change and what Hue City has been doing should be encouraged and applied nationwide,” he told a WWF ceremony for handing over the National Earth Hour Capital 2016 certificate to Hue.
Hue City chairman Nguyen Van Thanh said the city will work harder to make it greener and carry out its socio-economic development plan with a focus on environmental protection and cultural-historical preservation.
Earth Hour City Challenge was launched by WWF in 2011 to call on cities around the world to build a planet which is more environmentally friendly, as well as to develop and implement plans to adapt to climate change and reduce its impacts.