1.4 billion people worldwide have no access to electricity and 2.5 billion still rely on collecting fuels like firewood for cooking and heating. Meanwhile, smoke from cooking in the home kills more people than malaria; mostly women and children.
In order to help spotlight this issue in lead up to the Rio+20 Summit, the international development organization Practical Action launched “The Make Your Point” campaign, asking participants to stop and think about sustainable energy for all. The campaign utilizes a shareable and visual online pin-board to showcase why advocates think energy access is critical. The site prompts you to choose one of five colored points. Together, user’s points create an array of colors that visually represents support for energy for all.
“We often take access to energy for granted in this part of the world and it’s easy to forget how much we rely on it for daily life and work,” says Helen Marsh, Lead Campaigner at Practical Action. “This campaign gets people to think about the importance of energy access for people in developing countries, and the vital role it plays in alleviating poverty.”
Energy for All 2030 is a cross-European project, dedicated to raising the public and political profile of energy access.
What do you think of this campaign? Is it effective? Which of the five points is most important to you?
This post is part 4 of the “Rio+20: Social for Sustainability Series” on ArmchairAdvocates. This week, world leaders and thousands of participants from all cross-sections of civil society will come together in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to discuss seven critical issues: decent jobs, energy, sustainable cities, food security and sustainable agriculture, water, oceans, and disaster readiness. ArmchairAdvocates will be sharing and discussing how organizations, businesses and individuals are using social media to make an impact in sustainability.
