Millions celebrate WWF’s Earth Hour 2023, creating The Biggest Hour for Earth

• Global leaders, celebrities, individuals, youth groups and businesses from over 190 countries and territories came together at 8:30pm on Saturday 25 March, to Give an Hour for Earth, with 410,000 hours of planet-positive activities pledged as part of Earth Hour’s ‘Hour Bank’.
  
  
• The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, South Korea’s Choi Si Won from boyband Super Junior, one of the world’s youngest climate activists, Tanzanian Activist, Sharon Ringo and Malaysian singer-songwriter Zee Avi were among the many influential leaders and celebrities who supported Earth Hour 2023, as part of the Biggest Hour for Earth yet.
  
  
• Landmarks across the world took part in Earth Hour’s signature switch off moment, including China's Beijing National Speed Skating Hall and the Zhouzhuang in Kunshan, the Sydney Opera House in Australia, the Christ the Redeemer Statue in Rio de Janeiro, the United Nations Headquarters in New York, Cambodia's Independence Monument, and the Notre-Dame de Paris in France.

(26 March 2023) – Yesterday at 8:30 pm local time (25 March) millions of people from around the world came together in a moment of global unity to celebrate the planet during WWF’s Earth Hour - the Biggest Hour for Earth.

More than 190 countries and territories, and key public figures including the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, pledged their support by Giving an Hour for Earth. Other public figures that showed their support for Earth Hour included India's Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, Indonesian Mayor of Surakarta Gibran Rakabuming Raka and President of the Commonwealth of Dominica, Charles Angelo Savarin. President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and Pakistan's Prime Minister Shebaz Sharif both lent their support across Twitter, as did Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Many of the world’s best-loved influencers and celebrities also expressed their support for this year’s Earth Hour 2023. They include Indonesian model and actor, Arya Saloka, one of Colombia's most popular TV presenters, Claudia Bahamon as well as former Australian football player, Harry Kewell. Cambodia’s DJ Nana also shared their support for Earth Hour, as did Malaysian singer-songwriter Zee Avi and Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach. Others include German musician Peter Schilling, Choi Si Won of South Korean boyband Super Junior, one of the world’s youngest climate activists, Tanzanian Activist, Sharon Ringo, Zambian-based pop star, James Sakala and India’s Three-time Grammy Award winner, composer and environmentalist Ricky Kej. The popular children's show, Pocoyo also expressed support for this year's Earth Hour via TikTok, with a fantastic animation showcasing the characters' love for nature. 

This year, WWF’s Earth Hour campaign encouraged individuals, communities and businesses to give an Hour for Earth. WWF challenged the public to give as many hours as possible and log them in its online ‘Hour Bank’ - an online count of all the planet-positive activities pledged by people for Earth Hour this year. With a target of reaching 60,000 hours or seven years’ worth - mirroring the time we have left to restore nature and course-correct for the sake of people and planet – WWF saw an incredible total of more than 410,000 hours pledged on the ‘Hour Bank’.

Across the world, a host of global landmarks also took part in Earth Hour’s iconic switch off moment, including the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, the Esplanade, in Singapore, the Budapest City Lights in Hungary, the Sydney Opera House in Australia, the Christ the Redeemer Statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and the United Nations Headquarters in New York. Other landmarks that took part in this year’s Earth Hour include China's Zhouzhuang in Kunshan and the Beijing National Speed Skating Hall, Egypt's Ministry of Environment, Cambodia's Independence Monument, the Old Mutual Tower in Nairobi, and The Musée du Louvre and the Notre-Dame de Paris, both in France.

The public were also encouraged to ‘switch off’ from everyday distractions and Give an Hour for Earth. Earth Hour events and celebrations popped up all over the globe which saw people from all walks of life come together to celebrate our one shared home:

• Building on China's leading role in negotiating the historic Kunming-Montreal agreement, WWF-China hosted Earth Hour's ‘Give an Hour for Earth’ celebrations with a series of sustainability forums and music events in cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, Chengdu and Kunshan. WWF China brought the #BiggestHourForEarth to life in over 150 cities, while working with more than 20 cities to switch off key landmarks. This incredible series of events and activity was topped off with an outdoor exhibition running on solar power that looked back on the 15 years of success of Earth Hour in China. 
  
  
• Tree clearing and deforestation are major contributors to climate change, with Eastern Australia among the top 24 global deforestation fronts - the only developed nation on the list. For this year's Earth Hour, WWF Australia asked its supporters to ‘Take Time Out For Nature’ while being mindful and reflective about the benefits of nature and how to press pause on nature loss. Audiences in turn had the chance to witness 60 minutes of Slow TV, featuring incredible nature locations around Australia. Australians who signed up for Earth Hour also had the chance to win a dream wilderness escape on the Bay of Fires Lodge Walk, in partnership with Tasmanian Walking Company.
  
  
• WWF's European Policy Office this year dedicated Earth Hour to bringing nature back to Europe, by launching a much needed public mobilisation campaign calling for the adoption of a game-changing EU Nature Restoration Law. By participating in a dedicated email action targeting Members of the European Parliament and national governments, EU citizens will be able to express their support for a strong law, including legally binding restoration targets for all EU Member States. The action will run until July 2023.
  
  
• A series of engaging Earth Hour events took place across Africa. WWF Uganda drove incredible efforts to make Kampala car free, shining a light on the importance of reducing carbon emissions. Meanwhile, WWF Zambia and WWF Tanzania used this year’s Earth Hour as a chance to champion mental and physical wellbeing with outdoor aerobics and cycling. WWF Cameroon brought their supporters together with an inspiring forest hike. WWF Kenya marked Earth Hour in partnership with the Javelin Morans of the Mara by highlighting Lion and Elephant conservation in the Siana Conservancy. WWF Madagascar and WWF Zimbabwe mobilised more than 12,000 individuals as part of a series of indigenous tree planting projects.
  
  
• For this year's Earth Hour WWF Peru enjoyed the support of communities and policymakers across the country, including the Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Education, and Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation. To mark the occasion, the Ministry of Environment also brought together communities to plant more than 19,900 plants in the Peruvian Amazon. Together with young activists in the Amazon, WWF Peru and Amo El Río mobilized citizens to clean up the river collecting half a ton of waste.
  

Dr Kirsten Schuijt, Director General, WWF International: “The creativity, the commitment and unity I’ve witnessed over the past 24 hours around Earth Hour sparks hope in me that, if voices are heard, platforms used and people of influence demand more for the planet, we can halt and reverse nature loss by 2030. It’s been incredible to see the true reach of WWF’s supporters from every corner of the globe, from Bermuda to Japan to Brazil. Together we’ve created the Biggest Hour for Earth yet – we’ve managed to turn a single hour into millions of hours of positive actions for the planet – keeping a light on our crucial 2030 goals and the people ready to defend them. Thank you”

This year’s Earth Hour follows the historic Kunming-Montreal Agreement at COP15, which in December last year committed the world to halting and reversing biodiversity loss by 2030. WWF warns that alarming and unprecedented rates of nature loss are putting species at risk of extinction, with an increasing number of communities across the world set to lose their homes and access to basic necessities like food, clean water and a livable environment. 

Last year’s WWF’s Living Planet report highlighted that one million species are now threatened with extinction and global wildlife populations have declined by a staggering 69% since 1970. At the same time, WWF is warning that we are on track to breach the 1.5°C limit by 2030, at the latest by the early 2030s, risking global destabilization and irreversible environmental degradation. Earth Hour is therefore more important than ever, for ensuring that millions of people across the globe gather in this moment of solidarity, to celebrate and protect our planet. 

-Ends-

Notes to editors:

For more information, please contact: news@wwfint.org

Supporting assets

• Global image/video highlights
• WWF International’s Director General b-roll
• Earth Hour 2023 Website
• Earth Hour 2023 Campaign video
• Earth Hour 2023 Socialisation video

About Earth Hour 

Earth Hour is WWF's flagship global environmental movement. Born in Sydney in 2007, Earth Hour has grown to become the world's largest grassroots movements for the environment, inspiring individuals, communities, businesses and organizations in more than 190 countries and territories to take tangible environmental action. Historically, Earth Hour has focused on the climate crisis, but more recently, Earth Hour has strived to also bring the pressing issue of nature loss to the fore. The aim is to create an unstoppable movement for nature, as it did when the world came together to tackle climate change. The movement recognizes the role of individuals in creating solutions to the planet’s most pressing environmental challenges and harnesses the collective power of its millions of supporters to drive change. Visit www.earthhour.org to find out about Earth Hour events around the world. Together, let’s create the Biggest Hour for Earth.

About WWF

WWF is an independent conservation organisation, with over 5 million supporters and a global network active in over 100 countries. WWF's mission is to stop the degradation of the Earth's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by conserving the world's biological diversity, ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable, and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption. Visit www.panda.org/news for the latest news and media resources and follow us on Twitter @WWF_media.