The tenth edition of World Wide Fund for Nature’s (WWF’s) Earth Hour was observed across the World on 19 March 2016 from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm local time.
Earth Hour 2016 encouraged people to explore and adopt a cleaner and more sustainable lifestyle by embracing renewable energy solutions.
Key facts
- In the 2016 edition of Earth Hour, millions of people around the world took part in the event for the global climate change awareness campaign.
- Over 178 countries and territories participated in the event and more than 1,200 landmarks along with 40 UNESCO world heritage sites observed the Earth Hour.
- For India, the country-specific theme was to encourage usage of solar energy by individuals and organizations.
- Paris’s iconic Eiffel Tower, Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate and Hong Kong’s famed skyline also participated in the Earth Hour by switching off their lights for 1 hour from 8:30pm local time. In India, Rashtrapati Bhavan also participated by switching off lights for 1 hour.
About Earth Hour
- It is an annual global environmental event (movement) organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
- Earth Hour’s goal is to raise awareness for sustainable energy use and create a more environmentally sustainable lifestyle.
- This day encourages citizens, communities, businesses and organisations to switch the lights off from 8:30 pm local time for an hour to highlight the plight of the planet.
- The first Earth Hour was held on March 31, 2007 in Sydney, Australia. Since then it became annual global environmental event (movement).
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF): It is an international non-governmental organization (NGO) working in the field of the biodiversity conservation, and the reduction of humanity’s footprint on the environment.