Voting opens to celebrate cities making strides toward sustainability

TORONTO, April 26, 2016 /CNW/ - Canadians can start voting on social media today for their favourite sustainable city, as part of the third WWF We Love Cities campaign. The three Canadian cities in the running – celebrated for going above and beyond to create a more sustainable, climate-friendly future – are Vancouver, Edmonton and Saanich, B.C.

In all, 46 cities were selected by We Love Cities for setting the pace for environmentally friendly innovation. We Love Cities is a component of WWF's annual Earth Hour City Challenge, which this year focuses on "Bridging the Gap," the difference between the global climate commitments and the additional actions necessary to keep global warming below the 2°C mark.

Along with voting, residents can share photos and videos on Twitter and Instagram, and submit suggestions on other actions they believe cities can take to improve sustainability.

What happens next:

• Voting on at welovecities.org, and on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for your favourite sustainable city remains open until June 19, 2016;
• For eight weeks, WWF's We Love Cities campaign will help the public learn more about real-world solutions for global issues like climate change;
• Canada's Earth Hour Capital will be announced in May. The winning capital will then contend for the title of Global Earth Hour Capital;
• The winner of the We Love Cities campaign, along with the national and global winners of the Earth Hour City Challenge, will be announced on Wednesday, June 22.
• Awards will be presented to the winning cities in October in conjunction with Habitat III, the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, Oct. 17-20, 2016 in Quito, Ecuador.

Cities are home to more than half of our planet's population, and generate more than 70 per cent of the world's carbon emissions. Innovation in energy systems, transport and infrastructure at the municipal level can help power the global transition toward a climate-friendly future.  Smart solutions like making public transport reliable and widely available can also lead to better air quality and time savings.

We Love Cities invites cities' biggest stakeholders – the people – to play a part in their efforts.

"The We Love Cities campaign is about using an engaging social media platform to connect citizens with local leaders so that they can work together to build climate resilient cities," said Barbara Evaeus, global campaign manager, We Love Cities.

"Sustainability needs to become a part of our day-to-day lives and these cities are showing extraordinary vision to make that happen," she noted.

To vote, visit:

• welovecities.org
• facebook.com/WeLoveCities
• twitter.com/wwfcities
• instagram.com/wwfcities
• #WeLoveCities

Other cities in the running:

• Brazil: Belo Horizonte, Recife, Rio de Janeiro
• China: Shenzhen
• Colombia: Bogota, Cali, Monteria
• Ecuador: Quito
• Finland: City of Lappeenranta
• France: Bordeaux, Paris, Toulouse
• India: Coimbatore, Pune, Rajkot
• Indonesia: Balikpapan, Bogor, Jakarta
• Malaysia: Melaka, Penang Island, Petaling Jaya
• Peru: Miraflores, San Isidro
• Philippines: Makati, San Carlos, Santa Rosa
• Rwanda: Musanze, Nyagatare, Nyarugenge
• Singapore: City of Singapore
• Spain: Murcia, Palma de Mallorca
• South Africa: Cape Town, Tshwane
• Sweden: Eskilstuna, Lund, Emea
• Thailand: Chiangrai, Thungsong
• USA: Boulder, Burlington, Evanston
• Vietnam: Hue City

About WWF-Canada
About World Wildlife Fund Canada
WWF-Canada creates solutions to the environmental challenges that matter most for Canadians. We work in places that are unique and ecologically important, so that wildlife, nature and people thrive together. Because we are all wildlife. For more info visit wwf.ca.

About the Earth Hour City Challenge
The Earth Hour City Challenge was created in 2011 to mobilize action and support from cities in the global transition towards a climate friendly one-planet future. The challenge invites cities to report ambitious commitments and big win climate actions, in terms of GHG reductions as well as the co-benefits they provide in relation to food, water and energy security challenges.

SOURCE WWF-Canada

Philippe Devos, director of communications and media, WWF-Canada, [phone] [email protected]