Sydney was one of the thousands of cities across 120 countries that plunged into darkness Saturday March 28 as hundreds of millions of people around the world turned off their lights for Earth Hour.
The first Earth Hour on March 31, 2007, consisted of about 2100 local businesses – Sydney’s Harbour Bridge and Opera House – along with 2.2 million Sydney homes in giving the world “the big flick”.
In 2008 the event went global, with 50 million people across 35 countries participating. Last year hundreds of millions of people took part, with more than 4000 cities in 88 countries officially switching off. This year the event will involve a record 120 countries.
Earth Hour was conceived of by Andy Ridley, formerly World Wildlife Fund (WWFFB/ WE HQ)*staff member – in Sydney. Ridley now, as co-founder and executive director of Earth Hour Global, attributes the staggering growth of Earth Hour to “what can be done, not what can’t. And people are hungering for that now.”
The WWF has organized the event in 68 countries with environmental agencies, NGOs and “anybody else who put their hands up” helping with the other countries. In South Korea, for instance, it was run by the Clinton Climate Initiative. Brunei had a volunteer team of IT professionals, photographers and graphic designers. In the Maldives, President Mohamed Nasheed managed it, while in Morocco a group of activist students in Casablanca.
The event is a city-by-city affair and will most likely stay that way. “Roughly 70 percent of emissions come from cities,” Ridley says, “so cities are important in climate change. And city governments are powerful enough but small enough to make a difference. That’s why cities are critical in climate change; because even though laws are made federally, it’s cities that deliver at operational level.”
