We Love Cape Town!

Congratulations to Cape Town, South Africa, crowned WWF’s 2014 Global Earth Hour Capital! An international jury selected Cape Town from 14 finalists selected from among 163 global city entrants in WWF’s Earth Hour City Challenge.

The judges credit Cape Town for its pioneering and ambitious actions on climate change, holding it up as a role model for the Global South – and an example of how by tackling climate change issues, cities can also address developmental challenges.
Global City Leaders
WWF also congratulates all 14 city finalists – many of whom celebrated with us at last night’s awards hosted by the City of Vancouver and the Vancouver Economic Commission.

These cities are to be celebrated for their global leadership on real climate action at the city level – Belo Horizonte, Brazil; Brussels Capital Region, Belgium; Chicago, U.S.; Coimbatore, India; Copenhagen, Denmark; Edmonton, Canada; Lappeenranta, Finland; Mexico City, Mexico; Monteria, Colombia; Muangklang, Thailand; Semarang, Indonesia; Seoul, South Korea; and Stockholm, Sweden.
The cities of Copenhagen, Chicago, Seoul and Stockholm also received honourary awards from the jury for the ambition, scale and impact of their actions, and commitment to transitioning to a 100 per cent renewable-energy based future.

We Love Cities
The City Challenge also selected a people’s choice We Love Cities winner. More than 300,000 votes were submitted from people around the world to select their favourite green city. Tied for first place were the cities of Khunhan, Thailand and Medellin, Colombia.
WWF’s Earth Hour City Challenge takes Earth Hour beyond the hour to working with cities to find solutions. With more than 70 per cent of the world’s CO2 emissions generated by residents in cities, the Challenge mobilizes cities and citizens in taking real steps on climate action. Cities from around the globe are invited submit inspiring and credible urban development plans that dramatically increase the city’s use of renewable energy.