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WWF - Sky supports Earth Hour

This week, Sky is encouraging its 21 million customers across Europe to switch off their lights in support of WWF’s Earth Hour with the message “small changes make a world of difference”.

As part of the celebrations, Sky 1’s Baz and Nancy, from the hit adventure series 50 Ways to Kill Your Mammy, brought some of WWF’s ‘60 things to do in the dark’ to life in a fun photoshoot. 

Sky is bringing Earth Hour into people’s homes with a hand-picked collection of programmes, including Sir David Attenborough’s Conquest of the Skies and Richard Hammond’s Jungle Quest, showing on demand and on Sky 1. Sky has also created an inspiring advert, which will air in the lead up to Earth Hour encouraging customers to join the millions of people around the globe to switch their lights off in support. 

On the night Sky’s offices will be turning out all the lights they don’t need, joining iconic landmarks in each country, including The Houses of Parliament in London, St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome and the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.

Sky has been working with WWF since 2009, most notably on the award-winning Sky Rainforest Rescue project which helped keep one billion trees standing in the Brazilian state of Acre.

Baz Ashmawy said: “Me and my Mammy had great fun trying out some of WWF’s suggestions. From a daring night cycle to a candle lit dinner with friends they’ve pulled together a list of ideas to suit everyone. Whilst the message behind Earth Hour is a serious one - the need for us to come together to protect our planet - the campaign is really celebratory and about having fun on the night.” 

Glyn Davies, Acting CEO of WWF-UK said: “WWF have had a long and successful partnership with Sky through Sky Rainforest Rescue. Bringing the important Earth Hour message to all of Sky’s customers across Europe will greatly extend the impact of our campaign, reminding people of the importance of taking action to protect our planet from the effects of climate change.”

Lucy Carver, Director, Bigger Picture, Sky UK said: “Over the years our customers have shown that they really care about protecting our beautiful planet. We had a great response when we went carbon neutral 10 years ago and through Sky Rainforest Rescue they helped raise over £9 million. Now we’re excited to be encouraging our customers to join us in supporting this year’s Earth Hour.” 

To follow Sky’s Earth Hour campaign on social look up #SkyandWWF#EarthHour

For programme schedule details please check www.skyprogrammeinformation.co.uk 

For more on what Sky is doing to minimise its environmental impact visit www.sky.com/biggerpicture or follow @skybiggerpic on Twitter.

Further information:
Pamela Anderson, pamela@anderson-pr.co.uk
077110 19829
Euan Fordyce
www.skypressoffice.co.uk

Note to Editors 

About Sky
Sky is Europe's leading entertainment company, serving 21 million customers across five countries: UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria and Italy. We offer the best and broadest range of content, deliver market-leading customer service and use innovative new technology to give customers a better TV experience, whenever and wherever they choose.

Sky has annual revenues of over £11 billion and is Europe's leading investor in television content with a combined programming budget of £4.9 billion. The group employs 30,000 people and is listed on the London Stock Exchange (SKY).

Sky is committed to making a contribution to the communities where people live and work, supporting young people to unlock their potential through Sky Academy and taking positive action on the environment.

Environmental Leadership

Sky’s operations and products:
• Sky has been carbon neutral since 2006.
• 100% of the products returned to Sky are reused or recycled.
• Sky Studios is Europe’s most sustainable broadcasting facility. 
• In London, Sky maintain their own on-site renewable energy sources to power their buildings including bespoke bio-mass boilers, a wind turbine and solar panels. 
• Sky exceed the industry benchmark for how they run and manage their data centres. 

Reaching beyond our business to inspire action through Sky Rainforest Rescue:
• Since 2009, Sky has been working with WWF, creating the award-winning Sky Rainforest Rescue, a partnership that helped save one billion trees in the Amazon. Achievements included 12 weeks of rain-forest themed programming, 1 million visitors to UK Sky Rainforest Rescue experiences and 5 million people engaging with the online campaigns, leaving 7.3m customers with an increased understanding of deforestation. 
• Following the end of Sky Rainforest Rescue in September 2015, the project’s legacy was cemented at COP21, the United Nations conference on climate change, where the Brazilian and Acre governments announced an ambitious zero net deforestation commitment and a conservation region in the Sky Rainforest Rescue project area.
Earth Hour:
• WWF’s Earth Hour is an annual global celebration where people switch off their lights for one hour to show they care about the future of our planet. This year’s celebrations will be on Saturday 19 March from 8.30pm to 9.30pm.

Programming:
Earth Hour Programming - Scheduled highlights - Saturday 19th March –
• Sky 1 takeover from 1-7pm: 
o 1-3pm - Flintoff’s Road To Nowhere Pt 1 & 2
o 3-5pm – Richard Hammond’s Jungle Quest Pt 1 & 2
o 5-7pm – Big Cats: An Amazing Animal Family Pt 1 & 2
• Sky Movies special Earth Hour Collection, featuring family favourites Ice Age: The Meltdown, March of the Penguins, and Rio 2 (throughout the day, 19th March – check website for details)
• Discovery – Evolution of the Polar Bear (19:00, 19th March)
• Nat Geo – Man and the Wild (From 15:00, 19th March) 

On Demand highlights:
• Attenborough Conquest of the Skies
• Attenborough Galapagos 
• Richard Hammond’s Jungle Quest
• Freddie Flintoff’s Road to Nowhere 
• Lily Cole’s Amazon Adventure

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