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From the famous Sydney Opera House to the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Big Ben in London, and Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, there were numerous sights.
“The more people participate, the stronger the global signal will be,” said WWF climate spokeswoman Lisa Plattner to ensure the house is also kept dark. In Austria, the Schönbrunn Palace and Belvedere in Vienna and the Ars Electronica building in Linz have announced their participation, WWF Austria reports for the 15th edition.
Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen also announced the action on social media on Friday. The presidential office distributed a video showing how Van der Bellen, accompanied by his dog Juli, flipped the light switches in the Hofburg. The lights also went out in the city hall for an hour. The European Parliament also turned off the lights in all its buildings. “Earth Hour” is now celebrated on all continents in more than 180 countries. More than 7,000 cities around the world are participating, he said.
The political differences were secondary: Russian President Vladimir Putin also had the Kremlin’s exterior lights go out for an hour. In New Zealand, which was one of the first countries at the time, the WWF asked the population to participate widely. In Russia, more than 30 cities across the country participated in the campaign. One of the first cities was Vladivostok on the Pacific, about eight hours by plane from Moscow. Russia has eleven time zones and is feeling the effects of rising temperatures around the world as permafrost thaws in Siberia.
Among other things, the Sky Tower telecommunications and observation tower in Auckland and the Parliament building in the capital Wellington were shrouded in darkness in New Zealand. Light campaigns were also planned in Australia and Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia and the Philippines. In addition, Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay park, which is one of the city-state’s highlights for its impressive light show, has confirmed its participation.
In early December, the New Zealand government declared a climate emergency. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern wants to put climate protection even higher on the political agenda and plans, for example, to make the entire public sector climate neutral by 2025. “The most frequent and extreme weather events, rising levels of Sea and the catastrophic loss of nature and wildlife are wreaking havoc on our environment and on our own lives, “said WWF New Zealand. “Earth Hour” is an opportunity to call for urgent measures.
Today, according to information from WWF, “Earth Hour” is the world’s largest campaign to protect the climate and the environment. Since 2007, millions of people around the world have turned off the lights on a certain day in March at 8:30 p.m. local time, thus setting an example for the protection of the planet. Many public buildings are also darkened. The starting shot was fired once in the Australian metropolis of Sydney, when around 2.2 million people turned off the lights on March 31, 2007, making history.
Also this year, “Down Under” was one of the first countries in the world to come out after New Zealand. The world famous Sydney Opera House participated for the fourteenth time in a row. Australia is particularly affected by climate change and has only experienced the worst flooding in decades in recent days.
