Participants of the Earth Hour activity in Manila, Philippines, strike a pose for climate action. Photo by: LJ Pasion
Earth Hour has become an expression of unanimity and solidarity for a more sustainable path to progress, with millions of people across the globe taking part in the initiative every year.
As good as it is though, we must never forget that responding proportionately to the challenge posed by climate change it must not begin and end in an hour.
The 60-minute lights-off comes as a reminder that we should take it as a first step towards a long journey to a near future, where Earth Hour would no longer be needed to remind us to take action and seize opportunities to turn the world upside-down by changing the way we live and for paving the way for systems that prioritizes sustainability and meaningful change for a world that badly needs climate action.
The switch-off is a call for a sustained and conscious effort to become real agents of change in this struggle to switch on a fossil-free world by pursuing: energy efficiency, renewable energy, fossil-fuel divestment and climate justice as concrete steps that we can take for ushering in a sustainable and just future.
Of course we cannot do this alone that’s why we are counting on you to stand with us. Together, let us move beyond the hour expressing our personal commitment to climate action. Switching off is a good start. But it is only insurmountable if the inspiring feeling that we all had last night would be translated into daily actions that would be our individual contribution to the global movement that’s dedicated to combating the climate threat.