Synopsis

The Singapore International Foundation (SIF) Ideas for a Better World Forum on Friday, 17 February 2012, will feature Mr Andy Ridley, co-founder and Executive Director of Earth Hour at the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

We invite you to explore the capabilities and affordances of technological enablers in Singapore and around the world to effect positive change in society.

At the forum, Mr Ridley will share insights on using social media to drive effective change and create enduring impact for the betterment of society.

Come connect and share your thoughts with global thought-leaders and opinion-shapers on how social media can become the tool for promoting your idea for a better world.

[Read: Earth Hour 2011 - A Singapore Kopitiam special]

About the forum

The SIF seeks to connect and promote understanding between Singaporeans and global thought-leaders and opinion-shapers, by inviting them to Singapore to share their ideas for a better world, with a public audience.

This platform also allows global thought-leaders to engage in dialogue with the larger Singapore community on issues ranging from health, education, environment, the arts and culture, as well as livelihood and business. In facilitating the discussions, SIF hopes to encourage more interest in these areas and generate a lively discourse where ideas can effect positive change and enrich lives for a better world.

Past keynote speakers include Dr Jane Goodall, primatologist and conservationist and also UN Messenger of Peace, Mr John Elkington, founding partner and Executive Chairman of Volans, Dr Thorkil Sonne, founder of Specialisterne, as well as other outstanding social innovators from the Ashoka Fellowship.

[Read: Jane Goodall on food, phones and friends]

Keynote Speaker: Mr Andy Ridley

Executive Director and co-founder of Earth Hour

Mr Andy Ridley is the Executive Director and co-founder of Earth Hour, the global environmental movement initiated in Sydney, Australia in 2007 as a campaign for action on climate change. By 2010, Earth Hour had swept the globe, drawing together hundreds of millions of people in 128 countries and territories spanning every continent.

Earth Hour 2011 marked the beginning of a new phase for Earth Hour, with the global community going beyond the hour by taking ongoing actions for the planet after they switched off the lights. Extending beyond climate change, Earth Hour has launched a dynamic online platform to showcase the environmental actions of individuals and organisations across the planet.

In 2004, inspired by the idea of a campaign to engage everyday people and businesses in the climate change debate through a simple action, Mr Ridley initiated a think tank involving Leo Burnett and Fairfax Media, forming a partnership to deliver a “lights out” campaign, which would later become known as Earth Hour.

His vision came to fruition on 31 March 2007, when over two million people and two thousand businesses in Sydney switched off their lights for the inaugural Earth Hour. By 27 March 2010, the open-source nature of the Earth Hour message had swept the globe, with hundreds of millions of people in over 4,500 cities and towns across 128 countries and territories on every continent participating.

Earth Hour has been supported by hundreds of media partnerships worldwide including international outlets such as TIME Magazine, CNN and the Discovery Channel to help spread Earth Hour’s message of hope and action for a better, healthier world to a global audience. Earth Hour has also been lauded for its ingenuity, vision and reach, receiving MTV’s Good Karma Award, The Gold Banksia Award (Australia’s premier environmental honour) and the Cannes Titanium Lion, among a host of international accolades.

Mr Ridley is internationally acclaimed for his work in the global environmental campaign which garnered the support of hundreds of millions of people around the world to engage in the movement on climate change. Earth Hour’s mission to unite people to protect the planet is driven by the use of digital – particularly social and mobile – media to empower individuals, organisations and governments to engage in action. 

If you have any enquiries, you can reach us at regina.kuan@sif.org.sg.