Earth Hour
Next: March 20, 2027
Switch off. Give an hour for Earth.
The story
Where it comes from
Earth Hour began in Sydney on 31 March 2007, when WWF-Australia, working with the agency Leo Burnett and Fairfax Media, asked the city to switch off its lights for an hour to show that people cared about climate change. More than 2.2 million people and 2,000 businesses took part, and landmarks such as the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge went dark. WWF made it a global event, held on a Saturday it chooses each year towards the end of March, and its focus has grown to include the loss of nature.
How it's celebrated
At 8:30 pm local time, households, businesses and famous buildings switch off non-essential lights for one hour. WWF also asks people to 'Give an hour for Earth' by spending those 60 minutes doing something good for the planet, through food, fitness, nature or creativity. It is a fade-out rather than a blackout: many offices dim their lights the evening before.
Did you know
- Just hours after the first Earth Hour, WWF-Australia's chief executive flew to Singapore to persuade WWF's South-East Asian offices that it could go international.
- Malaysia first took part in 2009, when the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur went dark as the clock struck 8:30 pm.
- WWF does not measure the energy saved during the hour: it calls Earth Hour a symbolic action and a commitment to change beyond it.
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