Earth Hour 2022: Lights out at 8.30 pm, do your bit to conserve energy - know more

The symbolic lights-out event to raise awareness about climate change began in 2007 in Sydney and soon, found resonance globally. People across the globe will show solidarity and switch off their lights for one hour from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm (local time zone) today

Earth Hour: Every year on the last Saturday of March, Earth Hour is observed. Climate change and energy conservation are two key focus areas of the modern world and during this particular one hour, people across the globe - at home or in offices - switch off their lights as a show of support for the conservation of energy. 

In 2022, the Earth Hour has fallen on March 26, and in less than two hours from now, people will be urged to voluntarily take a plunge into 'darkness'. People across the globe will show solidarity and switch off their lights for one hour from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm (local time zone) and observe the Earth Hour.

This year’s event invites people around the globe to unite in a moment of reflection on our relationship with each other and our collective home, the Earth. 

What is Earth Hour?

Earth Hour was started by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and its partners in Sydney in 2007. The symbolic lights-out event to raise awareness of climate change found resonance globally and with each year, more and more countries joined hands to observe Earth Hour, hoping for a sustainable world and conservation of energy. This year 190 countries are reportedly taking part in Earth Hour. 

How is Earth Hour celebrated?

For one hour, lights are switched off on every Earth Hour. The timing is between 8.30 pm and 9.30 pm locally. This year, the theme for the event is "Shape our future". The World Wide Fund-India (WWF) has released the Earth Hour India anthem -  "Humari Prithvi". The anthem has been composed by Shantanu Moitra and sung by Mohit Chauhan, and it urges Indians to take urgent climate action.

The WWF India website reads, "2022 is a critical year for the future of our natural world. Although the evidence for environmental crisis and desire for change strengthens by the day, this has yet to translate into the necessary action. Following the climate conference COP26 at the end of 2021, this year, world leaders will make equally important and key political decisions on nature. These decisions will affect the health of our planet and our own future for decades to come."

In India, several corporates have lined up events to observe Earth Hour. Check HERE the initiatives taken by corporates. 

Meanwhile, BSES Delhi has appealed to its "over 46 lakh consumers and around 1.8 crore residents in our area to make the right choice for the planet and for the future generations that will inherit it." "This Earth Hour, all our actions, albeit small will 'Shape Our Future'. Citizens can help protect the natural world to safeguard our future by switching off," a BSES spokesperson said.