Earth Hour 2024: Does the Global Environmental Movement of Switching Lights Off 'Really' Help Protect Our Planet?

Earth Hour is a global environmental movement involving lights being switched off for an hour. It is held on a single day towards the end of March every year. The first "lights off" event took place in Sydney, Australia, in 2007, led by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). The movement aims to provide a symbolic message and a call to action as the planet is threatened by natural forces and other environmental challenges.

As Earth Hour 2024 is approaching at 8:30 p.m. EST (local time) on Saturday, March 23, the United Nations reminds the world to take urgent action amid the climate crisis and biodiversity loss. While the worldwide environmental initiative has gained momentum from many people, businesses, organizations, and government entities across the globe, it has been asked in recent years if the initiative really help protect our planet.

Earth Hour History

The world's first Earth Hour started in Australia on the 31^st of March 2007, which saw over 2.2 million people and approximately 2,000 businesses turning off their lights for one hour. This is to show a "climate-sceptic" government that the public were also concerned about the repercussions of climate change, as stated on the website of the global environmental movement. Since then, multiple countries worldwide joined in.

The conceptualization of Earth Hour had its roots dating back in 2004, a time when scientific findings suggest the growing threat of the climate phenomenon during the onset of the 21^st century. It was this period when WWF Australia collaborated with an advertising agency called Leo Burnett Sydney on ways how to engage a large section of Australian society to engage on the climate change problem.

In 2006, the notion of a widespread switch off event was coined and developed. With an initial working title as "The Big Flick," WWF Australia presented the concept to Fairfax Media. Clover Moore, who was the Sydney lord mayor at that time, provided a green light to back the event. As of 2023, supporters of Earth Hour provided more than 410,000 hours to our planet in over 190 countries and territories, according to the event's organizers.

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Earth Hour 2024

In a video message earlier in March, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated that our planet's "climate is collapsing" and called on people to join Earth Hour 2024. Guterres also cited that 2023 was the hottest year on record and emphasized the need to show solidarity by switching off our lights this coming Saturday. The worldwide movement continues after previous research shows the long-term impact of the climate crisis.

According to experts, the lights switch off event physically does little to the environment and climate. However, advocates of the Earth Hour initiative highlight that it is more about raising awareness about the environmental threats the planet is facing. According to the World Health Organization in October 2023, research estimates that 3.6 billion are already living in areas vulnerable to climate change.