Earth Hour observed across country

ISLAMABAD: The Earth Hour, the world’s largest symbolic environmental event, was celebrated on Saturday across the country, including major cities like Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi, where hundreds of people became part of the global moment of solidarity for climate action.

At 8:30pm local time, buildings across Pakistan together with over 10,000 global landmarks such as Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco turned off their lights for one hour. Unnecessary lights remained switched off at the National Assembly of Pakistan, all provincial assemblies and other significant buildings across the country.

This year, the Earth Hour was celebrated only months after 195 countries agreed a new global climate deal in December 2015 in Paris, France.  As the lights were dimmed in homes, offices and landmarks, the world’s largest grassroots movement for the environment once again brought together millions of people to pledge their support for the conservation of the planet.

The Earth Hour coinciding with the T20 cricket World Cup, WWF and Earth Hour teams in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka teamed up with leading cricketers to encourage people to ‘bat for the planet’ and watch the match in the dark together as communities and to cheer for their favorite team and the planet by urging universal climate action from one and all.

The candle lighting event, held by WWF-Pakistan at the local hotel in Islamabad, was attended by Mayor of Islamabad Sheikh Ansar Aziz; Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Denmark Jakob Rogild Jakobsen, celebrities, including Nazir Sabir, Haroon Rashid, Hareem Farooq, the European Union Representative and various government officials. 

The buildings where unnecessary lights were switched off included National Assembly, Supreme Court, Election Commission of Pakistan, Shah Faisal Mosque, National Monument, Pakistan-China Friendship Centre, Damn-e-Koh, Lake View Park, Jinnah Convention Centre, CDA Buildings, Cabinet Block, Jinnah Avenue, Nazim-ud-Din Road, 9th Avenue, 7th  Avenue, D-Chowk, Constitution Avenue, Federal Directorate of Education, Fauji Fertilizer Company Building, Ufone Tower, ENERCON, Fazl-e-Haq Road, Islamabad Highway and National Defense University. 

WWF-Pakistan Director General Hammad Naqi Khan said that Pakistan is among the top 10 countries affected by the climate change, and this environmental challenge is already severely impacting the national economy.