In the dark… the Acropolis was submerged for one hour, as part of the WWF initiative, Earth Hourto protect the planet and tackle climate change.
In particular, the Acropolis and all the monuments of Athens, which participated in the WWF campaign, Earth Hour, turned off their lights from 20:30 to 21:30 on Saturday night (23/03).
See photos:
GIORGOS KONTARINIS / EUROKINISSI
GIORGOS KONTARINIS / EUROKINISSI
GIORGOS KONTARINIS / EUROKINISSI
Earth Hour is an annual event in which people, businesses and governments are invited to turn off their lights and switch off electrical appliances for one hour to take part in the fight against climate change and show action their support for environmental protection.
The vision, after all, is for each and every one of us to do more for our precious environment, and the light switch is just the beginning of that journey.
The movement Earth Hour is a global initiative, launched by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in 2007, with the aim of raising people’s awareness of issues related to the environment and climate change.
The goals
In recent years, people around the world have been taking part in Earth Hour to support efforts to tackle climate change and together build a powerful movement to help deliver strong global commitments to tackle this global threat. challenge.
But another urgent threat now demands our attention: the catastrophic loss of biodiversity and nature. Today’s Earth Hour seeks to ignite a global conversation on the protection of nature not only because it is our strongest ally against the climate crisis but mainly because of its importance in ensuring health, happiness, prosperity and ultimately of our survival.
Record attendance
The first Earth Hour event was held on 31 March 2007. WWF Australia inspired more than 2.2 million people and 2,000 businesses to switch off their lights for an hour during this first event.
2018 saw the first record number of countries (188 in total) and regions participating in Earth Hour. Millions of people switched off their lights for an hour and the Earth Hour 2018 campaign saw the hashtags #EarthHour and #Connect2Earth top trending on Twitter in 33 countries!
Milestones
WWF implements actions and projects throughout the year but the annual Earth Hour event is held worldwide towards the end of March to be close to the vernal equinox so that when the lights go out around the world, the spectacle and impact to be obvious.
The ever-increasing public awareness and greater participation of the world in Earth Hour has brought tangible results:
- WWF-Uganda created the world’s first Earth Hour forest.
- More than 250,000 Russians expressed their support for better protection of their country’s seas and forests.
- Argentina used the 2013 Earth Hour campaign to help pass a Senate bill for a 3.4 million hectare marine protected area in the country.
- Thousands of wood stoves were distributed to families in Madagascar.
- Solar-powered lights installed in three villages without electricity in India.
- In Paraguay, WWF used the Earth Hour platform to build public support and win an extension of the logging moratorium, thereby helping to reduce deforestation.
- Educational programs were incorporated into the education system of Thailand and Taiwan.
- Hundreds of thousands of LED lights were installed by Girl Scouts in the USA
- More than 2,123 mitigation actions were submitted by cities participating in the 2014 Earth Hour challenge.