Canon Middle East, a world leader in imaging solutions, and Canon Emirates, organised a community event at Fairmont The Palm to observe Earth Hour 2014, encouraging partners and customers to conserve electricity usage by taking part in the global initiative and switching off lights for one hour.

A conservation partner of World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the initiators of Earth Hour, and a member of Emirates Wildlife Society in association with WWF (EWS-WWF), Canon supports conservation efforts at a local and international level in line with is commitment to be a socially responsible and environmentally conscious company.

Anurag Agrawal, Managing Director, Canon Middle East, said: Our participation in Earth Hour 2014 supports WWF in its objective of promoting sustainable living through education and conservation initiatives. It is also aligned to our Kyosei philosophy of living and working together for the common good. At Canon, this corporate mission spans from our innovative technology development to waste recycling and improving the energy efficiency of not only our organisation, but also that of our partners.

Canons Earth Hour event was attended by employees and partners, and featured a fun-filled evening of family activities themed around protecting the planet for

future generations. Children enjoyed a dedicated arts and crafts area, quizzes and balloon modelling before the lights were switched out from 8.30 to 9.30pm.

Canon Emirates and their customers also focused on raising awareness on climate change, at the event venue Fairmont The Palm, which was the first major hotel to appoint Canon Emirates as an exclusive printing solutions provider. The benefits offered by managed print services transcend not only business operations, through cost saving and document security, but also support sustainability goals. Innovative solutions offered by Canon that support the environment includes the Uniflow Solution which controls an organizations printing and allows them to account for the number of trees saved per year.

Shadi Bakhour, General Manager, Canon Emirates said: By encouraging our customers to implement energy efficient practises, and involving customers in awareness initiatives like Earth Hour, we are working towards the common goal of protecting the planet. Our innovative products and solutions provide a platform and the tools for our partners to become more environmentally responsible.

In recognition of Canons CSR commitment the organisation received the Dubai Chamber CSR Label in 2013 for the second consecutive year and was recertified to ISO 14001 Environmental Management Standard. Honouring Canons regional CSR efforts, The Arab Organization for Social Responsibility recently awarded Canon Middle East for Best Environmental Practices in the Arab World.

Canon Group is ranked 8th in the Worlds Most Reputable Companies (2013), 30th on Interbrands 2013 Best Global Green Brands and its score on the Climate Counts scorecard is 66/100.

For further details of Canon Middle East, global operations, products and services visit www.canon-me.com