Our planet has undoubtedly been facing the phenomenon of climate change in recent years. Millions of citizens, but also many businesses, institutions, and monuments around the world, will symbolically turn off the lights for one hour on Saturday, March 27, 2021, at 20:30 local time, to highlight the urgent need for nature protection and the combating of climate change.
Photo: WWF
Earth Hour has been a worldwide movement in recent years. But what is this international campaign all about? For years, our relationship with nature has been at a critical point. It is a relationship of over-exploitation, the consequences of which we face in our daily lives: extreme weather conditions, catastrophic fires, and crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, with painful consequences for human health, society, and the economy.
Earth Hour is one of the world's largest international environmental campaigns which is organized by the WWF, and every year it raises the voices of millions of people around the world. It is described as the world’s largest social event for the environment, which has been observed by around 7,000 cities in 172 countries so far. Earth Hour took place on March 31, 2007 in Sydney, Australia at 7:30 p.m. local time, for the first time. A few months later, in October 2007, San Francisco, following the example of Sydney, hosted the Earth Hour-inspired "Lights Out" event. Following its success, the organizers decided to gather worldwide in March 2008. Another great example according to the WWF took place in Bangkok, Thailand, when the city decreased electricity usage by 73.34 megawatts in 2008, which, over one hour, is equivalent to 41.6 tons of carbon dioxide. This year, as people try to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, the goal is to send a strong message that we need to turn, individually and collectively, to more sustainable choices and make a new start.
Already, thousands of citizens globally, have declared their participation in Earth Hour, while dozens of organizations have responded to the WWF’s call, to turn off the lights for an hour and send their own message. The Eiffel Tower in Paris, the City of Lights, is among the major landmarks that will turn off its lights for Earth Hour on March 27. Cities from around the world like New York, London, Athens and more will also become a part of this campaign for another year. Organizations such as AIESEC (a non-governmental youth volunteer organization present in over 120 countries) have also announced their participation in Earth Hour. Finally, the support of the educational community has been important, as well as voluntary groups of young people from various universities.
Moreover, everyone can find more information of what to do, on the official website of Earth Hour (www.earthhour.org), simply by staying home.
Will you be a part of this movement? It is just one hour from your whole day! Do you think that this movement is worth it? Share your thoughts and your opinions in the comment section below.