(17 March 2023) – WWF is calling on individuals, communities, and businesses across the world to Give an Hour for Earth and help bank as many planet positive pledges as possible, aiming to amass seven years’ worth - mirroring the time we have left to take action to secure a nature positive world for the sake of people and planet. 

The initiative is being launched to create the Biggest Hour for Earth to celebrate this year’s Earth Hour, the world’s largest grassroots environmental campaign, which sees millions of people worldwide every year celebrate the moment, serving as a powerful reminder of the importance of our planet, the need to protect it, and how little time we have to do so.

The new Hour Bank provides different options on how to pledge an hour in what WWF expects to be the biggest Earth Hour yet. Anyone can sign up and decide how to get involved during Earth Hour which is taking place at 8:30pm local time on 25 March 2023. 

Earth Hour is the annual event that provides a collective moment of optimism to celebrate our one shared home, and raise awareness to address the dual biodiversity and climate crises the planet is facing. WWF’s bid this year is to clock over 60,000 hours – or seven years' worth of action in just one Earth Hour – to help maintain momentum to achieve a nature-positive and people-positive world by 2030, just seven years away, and create the Biggest Hour for Earth.


The Hour Bank has already received pledges from people around the world from [78 countries], including: Argentina, Suriname, Saudi Arabia, Cambodia, Bulgaria, France, Jamaica, Nepal, Romania, China and Bulgaria.

In line with the campaign’s historic “switch off” tag line, participants are being encouraged this year to not only switch off their lights, but also switch off from everyday distractions, and instead celebrate our one home by spending the hour reconnecting, restoring, learning or inspiring others to take care of the planet.

“Earth Hour has been one of the most successful global public-awareness building campaigns for the nature crisis over the last 17 years, with ‘switch offs’ of globally recognised landmarks from the Eiffel Tower in France, the Sydney Opera House in Australia to the Christ Statue in Brazil taking part,” explains Yves Calmette, Senior Director of Brand and Network Communications at WWF International and Global Campaign Director for Earth Hour.

“This year we want to compel millions more people to celebrate the planet and switch off in a different way, so we have launched the new Hour Bank, providing different ways to get involved in 60 minutes of global unity. 2023 must be a year of change to reach our nature-positive targets, and we need everyone to help clock as many hours as possible for the planet. Earth Hour is a collective movement that everyone can be part of,” adds Calmette.

Participants can submit their ‘hour for Earth’ by going to: www.earthhour.org/give-an-hour to be part of the change.  Pledges can be shared on social media using #MyHourForEarth.

 

 

Media contact

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

 

Notes to Editors

Supporters in over 190 countries and territories will create the Biggest Hour for Earth, part of WWF’s efforts to turn a single Earth Hour into thousands and millions of hours of action and awareness. In doing so, the world’s largest grassroots environmental campaign will shine an unmissable global spotlight on the twin perils of nature loss and climate change. At the same time, this year’s Earth Hour will also serve as a powerful reminder of the importance of our planet, the need to protect it, and how little time we have to do so.

The science is clear. We know the next 7 years are crucial in determining whether we can halt irreversible environmental degradation and runaway climate change.   It is known to all that there is an urgent need to hold global temperature rise below 1.5°C, but our planet has already been warmed by 1.1°C above pre-industrial levels and we are on a trajectory to hit a possible 1.5°C by 2030. At the sametime, one million species are now threatened with extinction and global wildlife populations have declined by a staggering 69% since 1970. Urgent action for climate, nature and biodiversity are even more necessary than ever. That is why Earth Hour is therefore needed more than ever, to inspire millions more to act, and make millions more take notice.

 

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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.