Baku joins "Earth Hour 2017" ecological campaign

By Azernews

By Amina Nazarli

‘Earth Hour 2017’ took place in Baku on March 25 as the city joined hundreds of cities around the world which switched off their lights for one hour as a demonstration of concern for our planet.

Earth Hour, an international campaign that spreads the awareness of environmental issues, celebrated its 10th anniversary this year. As the official national coordinator for Earth Hour 2017 in Azerbaijan, IDEA and Azerbaijani representative office of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF Azerbaijan) encouraged everyone to take part, show support, and join in to take action on climate change.

The participants of the action, meeting in front of the Heydar Aliyev Center, one of the unique pearls of the world architecture, watched the process of switching-off of the lights for one hour on the facades of the largest buildings in the central part of Baku. Participants took part in the symbolic action of countdown "60+" and cycling. 

During this earth hour held under the motto ‘Shine a light on climate action’, the participants enjoyed performance of well-known dance groups, entertainment master classes on zumba, incendiary music and other surprises.

As the largest environmental movement in the world, Earth Hour brings millions of people together to fight climate change. The campaign, which began in 2007 in Sydney, was marked in 178 countries, 7,000 cities and even the International Space Station.

During “Earth Hour” actions, facade lights of famous buildings are turned-off in the big cities at 20:30 in the local time for an hour and the attendants promote energy saving through this symbolic action. With this symbolic movement, the participants of the action draw public attention to the threats that arise as a result of climate change, and encourage energy savings.