DUSHANBE, March 29, 2015, Asia-Plus – This year, Earth Hour was marked on March 28, from 8:30 to 9:30 pm during participants’ local time.
International media outlets report the Empire State Building dimmed its lights and the Eiffel Tower went dark as iconic landmarks across the world observed Earth Hour, the global climate change awareness campaign.
Millions of people around the world reportedly took part in the annual Earth Hour organized by conservation group the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), with a string of well-known sights plunging into darkness globally.
This year”s Earth Hour comes as the French capital prepares to host a crucial UN climate conference in December that will bring together the international community to discuss efforts to limit global warming.
In Berlin, activists at the unlit Brandenburg Gate placed candles in paper bags that were lined up to spell out “Save our Climate! Now!”, while the Kremlin in Moscow also shed its evening diamonds.
AFP cited the Earth Hour head Sudhanshu Sarronwala as saying ahead of the event that over 170 countries and territories already confirmed their participation; more than 1,200 landmarks and close to 40 UNESCO world heritage sites.
Earth Hour is a worldwide movement for the planet organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). The event is held worldwide annually encouraging individuals, communities, households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights for one hour, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. on the last Saturday in March, as a symbol for their commitment to the planet.
It was famously started as a lights-off event in Sydney, Australia in 2007. Since then it has grown to engage more than 7000 cities and towns worldwide. Today, Earth Hour engages a massive mainstream community on a broad range of environmental issues. The one-hour event continues to remain the key driver of the now larger movement.
The United Nations will also participate in the event. According to UN Radio, the United Nations will turn off the lights for one hour at its Headquarters in New York and other facilities around the world on March 28 in observance of “Earth Hour,” an annual global event to raise awareness on the need to take action on climate change through more sustainable energy consumption.
For the first time, the United Nations participated in the event in 2009.
