Earth Hour

Wednesday, 30 March 2011 02:20

South Korea
156 cities took part in the campaign. The lights of the Main Government Building were also turned off for Earth Hour.
China
84 cities in China took a stand against climate change.
Sichuan province has pledged to create 1,000 bicycles rental points, and to place up to 60,000 bicycles on its streets for low-priced public rental in order to encourage the citizens to use environmentally friendly vehicles.
Shenyang decided to opt for reforestation on 96.000ha of land.
Mongolia
5.000 people gathered at the Ulan Bato capital’s square under the freezing temperature to attend the event.
Malaysia
“Dance in the Dark” flashmob at Sunway Pyramid
Singapore
Earth Hour night walk around the historic Marina Bay
Brunei
Brunei announced “No plastic bag day” and pledged to implement a reduction in exercise duty of 5% for energy-efficient vehicles and of 15% for low-cc ones.
Indonesia
Taking the initiate in using renewable energy in some areas
Thailand
Lights were turned off at the Royal Palace, Wat Arun Rachawararam, Phuket beach, Chiang Mai memorial and a few other cities.
India
Leading Indian actor Vidya Blan and Jim Leape, Director General, WWF International and Ravi Singh, Secretary General, WWF- India turned off the light at the New Dehli’s India Gate.
Sri Lanka
4,000 people have gathered outside the cricket grounds to observe Earth Hour while watching the world cup semi final - and rejoiced in a Sri Lanka triumph. Music moguls Bathiya and Santhus exhorted their fans.
Nepal
The Government of Nepal has made one of the largest ‘beyond the hour’ commitments for Earth Hour with an undertaking to put a complete stop to tree-felling in the 23,000 sq km Churiya Range. Earth Hour commemorations will also take place at the nearby birthplace of Lord Buddha in Lumbini. Highlights of this event will include commitments to install compact fluorescent bulbs in all of the Lumbini Gardens monasteries and planting 108,000 trees in Lumbini Gardens this year (as an Earth Hour and Year of Forests pledge) with an ultimate target of one million trees within a span of ten years. The World Heritage site is also to be declared a plastic free zone. At celebrations at Boudhanath Stupa in capital Kathmandu, an Earth Hour logo drawn with 1000 traditional butter fat candles lit the sky.
Pakistan
In Pakistan, Sindh has been declared an Earth Hour Province, with the provincial assembly building going dark and Karachi leading the list of 15 cities taking part.
Iran
Going dark for the first time is Iran’s tallest tower, the 435 metre Milad Tower in Tehran.
Kazakhstan
Capital city Astana and largest city Almaty led 86 cities and towns in 10 provinces taking part in Earth Hour in the Central Asian republic.
Dubai
The newly completed Burj Kalifa tower in Dubai - at 828 metres the world’s tallest building - led a list of many of the world’s tallest buildings going dark for Earth Hour when it turned off about half a million lightbulbs. Six of the world’s 10 tallest buildings had registered their participation before the event - Taipei 101 in Taiwan, the Shanghai World Financial Centre, the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia and the Chicago, US, Willis Tower.
Kuwait
Kuwait celebrated its national day and Earth Hour by flicking the switch on the Twin Towers that are the country’s most noted landmark
Saudi Abria
The two tallest buildings in Riyadh, the Kingdom Tower and the Al Faisaliyah Centre also turned off their lights.
Jordan
Jordan’s enthusiastic participation will be marked with the lights going out on the Jabal al-Qal'a.
Irasel
Israel marked its fourth Earth Hour early on Thursday 24 March to avoid conflict with Shabbat. The main event was a green energy concert featuring leading Israeli bands operating off batteries powered by stationary bicycles and a bio-diesel fuel generator.
Turkey
Lights were switched off in capital Ankara's Opera House.
Russia
As the event traversed 11 time zones, riders in 20 cities saddled up on bicycles adorned with LED lamps – with the northernmost ride in Murmansk going ahead despite the forecasts of a strong snowstorm.
Finland
Over the border, the lights went out at the distinctive Helsinki cathedral, Finland and a special Tampere market place Energiatehdas (Energy factory) was set up with the energy being provided by dancers and stationary cyclists.
Egypt
The Earth Hour message was going out on the social media networks that recently played such a crucial role in the country’s transition towards democracy, thanks in part to spirited sponsorship by Egypt’s largest telco provider Mobinil. Mobinil engaged the participation of Egyptians, switching off the lights of their 5 office buildings across the country in recognition of their own commitments to go beyond the hour, including the establishment of one of Egypt’s first LEED buildings
Kenya
Lights went out at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre and United Nations Buildings across the East African nation as more than 10,000 gathered for a three hour concert in Nairobi with some of the country’s leading musicians, including acclaimed afro-fusion artist Achien'g Abura, who implored her fans to make a commitment to go beyond the hour for Earth Hour 2011.
Uganda
Earth Hour activists, officially participating in the event for the first time, have spread out into their communities with a range of beyond the hour activities. Enock Nimpamya committed to the training of 10 journalists in environmental reporting and to restore a hectare of degraded land in Kampala while Job Mutyaba will be assisting in the installation of efficient cook stoves in an Entebbe orphanage and its surrounding community. Around 20 individuals and organisations in Uganda have committed to planting 16,000 trees.
Swaziland
Nathi Mzileni, a 15-year-old boy from Swaziland, was inspired to take action in 2010 when he realised his town near Shewula Nature Reserve in the east of the country did not participate in Earth Hour. He started a group at his High School called Green Enviro to educate people about climate change, and this year single-handedly made Earth Hour a reality with major buildings in Simunye turning off including the Church of the Nazarene, the Simunye National Library, Simunye Country Club and major schools such as the Ngomane and Lusoti Primary Schools and Lusoti High.
Bostwana
Former President Festus Mogae was among members of the public who came in large numbers to plant trees, in Gakuto, to demonstrate one of the ways Botswana can go beyond the hour of switching electricity off on March 26. Earth Hour was observed with a candle-lit ceremony in Gaborone
Zimbabwe
The lights also went off at the Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.
South Africa
Almost 35 years after making global headlines as the scene of one of history’s greatest displays of grassroots action, Soweto, South Africa embraced the world’s largest environmental action by turning off the lights at Orlando Stadium to the soaring strains of a spirited candlelit concert headlined by the Grammy award-winning Soweto Gospel Choir. Other soccer stadiums turning off included Moses Mabhida (Durban), Nelson Mandela Bay (Port Elizabeth), and Soccer City (Johannesburg). Citizens of Durban which will in December host the next global climate change conference chose to follow a beach clean-up with a soccer in the dark event at popular tourist site, Shaka Marine World. Shutting off all lights in all municipal buildings were Durban and Bloemfontein, while Cape Town turned off its backdrop, the spectacular Table Mountain as well.
Greece
Greece, which recently passed admirable biodiversity protection legislation despite economic adversity, turned off its best known landmark, the Acropolis, crowned by the Parthenon dominating the ancient city of Athens
Cyprus
Cyprus celebrated Earth Hour in the Presidential Palace with a message from the President and members of the Green Party.
Bulgary
Bulgary celebrated Earth Hour for the third year, in part with free acoustic concerts staged simultaneously in top Sofia music clubs. Many of the musicians had previously recorded a video asking fans to turn off computers as well as lights. Lights went out at the National Theatre, the National Library and the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia and on administrative buildings, historic monuments and public spaces in 46 towns and cities outside the capital..
Croatia
Fifteen cities and towns signed up for the event and the lights went out for the first time on UNESCO heritage sites at old Dubrovnik and the sprawling palace of Roman Emperor Diocetian which dominates Split.
Romania
Romania turned out the lights on its Parliament Palace, one of the world’s largest buildings which consumes in one hour what a household consumes in a year. Other notable buildings to darken included the Romanian Athenaeum, the National Theatre in Bucharest, the Central Library, the National Opera and the National Art Museum.
Ukrainian
In Odessa, the historic centre of the city, including the Opera and seaside boulevard, were also shrouded in darkness. At 8:30pm people could join a street concert near the city hall, followed by fire shows and a flash mob with candles. At the end of the concert people could write their pledges to the planet on lanterns and let them fly into the night sky.
Thuỵ Điển
30 Swedish cities competed for the honour of being named ‘Earth Hour Capital 2011’ and it was Malmo that received the award from the King in the inaugural Earth Hour City Challenge for the most holistic, inspiring and credible plan for reaching zero carbon emissions.
Norway
Earth Hour celebrations broke records for the third year in a row with 181 cities and communities participating (up from 162 in 2010). One of the highlights included a ski resort that celebrated the event with a torch slalom event where participants were invited to ski down the slopes with torches in hand.
Czech
There was a fourfold increase in Czech Republic cities and towns participating in Earth Hour, including four regional capitals. Among the 131 was Brno, the country’s second biggest city, which invited citizens to “enjoy the darkness” with movies about darkness, lectures on climate and light pollution, concerts in the dark and a guided city walk to some of the “dark” corners of the city, stopping at art shops, cafés and restaurants operating only by candle light. The observatory in Valašské Meziříčí had an evening dedicated to climate and light pollution.
Hungary
Budapest Airport announced a commitment to turning off runway lights.
Spain
Spain also saw a record turnout with 214 cities and towns, 172 schools and universities, 76 companies and 153 other organisations supporting the event. Some 15,026 individuals have signed online.
France
A 25 by 25 metre Earth Hour logo of 1,600 LED lit Pandas was a new touch to Earth Hour celebrations in Paris, France, but the main spectacle remained an Eiffel Tower suddenly switching off.
The Netherlands
At the Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, a special event was created for Earth Hour: human energy will cast through the darkness to shine a message of hope onto the walls of the iconic Royal Albert Hall. For the duration of the hour, 60 static cyclists powered a projection of natural world animation and Earth Hour news.

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