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SINGAPORE, March 28 (AFP): From Singapore to Buenos Aires, cities around the world turned off their lights on Saturday to mark Earth Hour, and this year’s event highlighted the link between the destruction of nature and the increased of disease outbreaks such as Covid-19.
After starting in Asia, the call to action on climate change swept across a planet reeling from the coronavirus pandemic.
When the day came to an end, it was the turn of the Americas, where the lights dimmed at the Obelisk in Buenos Aires, the Museum of Tomorrow in Rio de Janeiro and the BBVA tower in Mexico City.
In London, the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye Ferris wheel, the Shard skyscraper and the neon signs of Piccadilly Circus were among the landmarks that flicked the switches.
“It is fantastic news that Parliament is once again participating in Earth Hour, bringing together benchmarks across the country and the world to raise awareness on climate change,” said Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House of Commons.
In Paris, the three stages of the Eiffel Tower progressively darkened, but there were few people to look at with the whole country under the 7 p.m. Covid-19 curfew.
The giant metal tower has been closed to the public since October 30 due to the pandemic.
In Rome, the lights went out in the 2,000-year-old Colosseum as police enforcing coronavirus restrictions in Italy reviewed the papers of a small crowd of onlookers.
– Harmful human activity –
Asia-Pacific kicked off the event after nightfall there, with metropolis skylines from Singapore to Hong Kong darkening, as well as iconic landmarks like the Sydney Opera House.
As the event traversed time zones and continents, the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin and the Moscow Kremlin also joined the annual initiative.
This year, organizers said they wanted to highlight the link between the destruction of the natural world and the increasing incidence of diseases, such as Covid-19, making the leap from animals to humans.
Experts believe that human activity, such as widespread deforestation, destruction of animal habitats and climate change, is driving this increase, and they warn that more pandemics could occur if nothing is done.
“Whether it is a decrease in pollinators, fewer fish in the ocean and rivers, the disappearance of forests or a greater loss of biodiversity, the evidence that nature is in free fall is increasing,” said Marco Lambertini, CEO of WWF, which organizes Earth Hour.
“And this is due to the way we live our lives and manage our economies.
“Protecting nature is our moral responsibility, but losing it also increases our vulnerability to pandemics, accelerates climate change and threatens our food security,” he said.
In Singapore, people on the waterfront watched the skyscrapers darken and in a nearby park, Gardens by the Bay, the lights of a group of futuristic-looking tree sculptures went out.
– ‘Impact on the environment’ –
Earth Hour is about “more than just saving energy, it’s more like remembering our impact on the environment,” 18-year-old Ian Tan told AFP at the park.
But he wasn’t convinced that the event, which has been running since 2007, made a big difference.
“An hour is not enough for us to remember that climate change is actually a problem; I really don’t see (Earth Hour) as something very significant,” he said.
In Hong Kong, people at viewpoints over the city watched the lights dim on the hordes of crowded skyscrapers, while in Seoul, the South Korean capital, the historic Namdaemun Gate went dark.
In Thailand, Bangkok’s ultra-popular CentralWorld shopping mall counted until 8:30 p.m. before its outdoor glass displays went off for an hour, though inside, the mall seemed to be operating as usual. – AFP
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