Earth Hour 2023: One Big Hour of Preservation

Swagata Borah

Did you know that every year millions of people around the world come together to save energy and protect our planet by celebrating Earth Hour?

The traces of climate change can be seen in every nook and corner of the planet.  Erratic weather patterns, rising sea levels, and melting glaciers due to climate change, are reshaping societies across the globe. 

Earth Hour is an annual event organized by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).  It is a global grassroots movement uniting people to take action on environmental issues and protect the planet.

The 'Earth Hour' event encourages individuals to turn off all lights and electrical appliances at their homes and offices for an hour to promote awareness of climate change challenges and energy conservation.

History:

With the involvement of a massive mainstream community, Earth Hour was famously started as a lights-out event in Sydney, Australia in 2007.

WWF Australia in 2004 met with advertising agency Leo Burnett Sydney to "discuss ideas for engaging Australians on the issue of climate change".

 The idea of a large-scale switch-off was cast out and developed in 2006, originally under the working title "The Big Flick".

WWF Australia presented their concept to Fairfax Media who, along with Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore, agreed to back the event. The 2007 Earth Hour was held on March 31 in Sydney, Australia at 7:30 pm, local time.

In October 2007, San Francisco ran its own "Lights Out" program inspired by the Sydney Earth Hour.  After their successful event in October, the organizers decided to rally behind the Earth Hour being planned for March 2008.

Earth Hour 2008 was internationally held on March 29, 2008 from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. local time. This marked the first anniversary of the event. Around thirty-five countries around the world participated and 400 countries supported the event.

The biggest year in the campaign's five-year history was Earth Hour 2011. The event was reaffirmed as the largest-ever voluntary action for the environment. In 2011, the tagline "Beyond the Hour" was adopted by organizers as a way to encourage people to take their commitment to the cause beyond the 60-minute event.

Although, many may say that the symbolic gesture of switching off the lights for just an hour might not solve everything, earth Hour has inspired tree-planting events, beach cleanups, community gatherings, mass candlelight vigils and more.

Also Read: People across the World to Observe “Earth Hour” today