UN Office together with Armenian people marks Earth Hour

The UN Office in Armenia urges the Armenians to join people of the planet and to turn off non-essential lights on Saturday night, 26 March from 20:30-21:30 to observe Earth Hour.

Turning off the lights for an hour will make a difference and will bring a positive change towards environmental protection. Hundreds of millions of people in 128 countries participated in the event last year, making it one of the largest public awareness-raising campaigns in the world.

The purpose of the Earth Hour, which is organized by the international environmental conservation organization World Wild Life (WWF), is to raise awareness about climate change and the need to use energy more efficiently.

Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia when 2.2 million individuals and more than 2,000 businesses turned their lights off for one hour to take a stand against climate change. Only a year later the Earth Hour had become a global sustainability movement with more than 50 million people across 35 countries/territories participating.

At the UN Headquarters in New York, the UN stuff will be turning off lights for the Hour, and field offices also will participate, as well as many countries and organizations around the globe.

On the occasion of this day, Dafina Gercheva, UN Resident Coordinator said: “Dear friends, colleagues and partners, let’s once again join the worldwide action “Earth Hour” in Armenia and let’s have our impact on the action against climate change, let’s protect the planet and ensure human well-being.”

The time for switching the lights off is 20:30 on 26 March: by scheduling the event right after the vernal equinox, 20:30 ensures that it will be dark in both the southern and northern hemispheres at the same time, the UN Office in Armenia reported.