When you switch off your lights during Earth Hour on March 26, you’ll be asked to help recreate an “unmissable sight online” by sharing a video in a bid to take over media feeds and put the planet in the spotlight.
“Over the years, we’ve switched off our lights in solidary, turning entire streets, buildings and city skylines dark, creating an unmissable sight that helped draw public attention to nature loss and climate change,” Earth Hour organizers note.
“This year, as you switch off your lights…we’re dropping a must-watch video on social media pages and inviting you to take one simple action: share it.” The Earth Hour Virtual Spotlight was held for the first time in 2021 and resulted in more than 20,000 social media shares and 2.4 million video views in the first 24 hours.
This year, Earth Hour presents what organizers call “an incredible, once-in-a-decade opportunity” to push leaders into action. That’s because the United Nations will be hosting a conference later this year that focuses on nature in biodiversity. Global plans will be made for the next 10 years.
“With enough public pressure, this could be the conference where we secure an ambitious global commitment – similar to the Paris Agreement but for nature – to reverse the loss of nature and biodiversity by 2030,” Earth Hour organizers explain.
The World Wildlife Fund and interested partners organized the world’s first Earth Hour in Sydney, Aust. in March 2007. More than 2.2 million people turned their lights off for one hour to show the government they were concerned about climate change.
The following year, 50 million people in 35 countries took part in the event. The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and the Colosseum in Rome were among the major landmarks that went dark for Earth Hour that year.
In 2021, people in a record-breaking 192 countries and territories took part in the first Earth Hour Virtual Spotlight, which highlighted the connection between nature loss, climate change and the rise of pandemics. Learn more about how to take part in this year’s Virtual Spotlight by visiting earthhour.org.
