Earth Hour
The Earth Hour ( German Hour of the Earth ) is a worldwide climate and environmental protection campaign in the form of switching off public lights. It was launched by WWF Australia in 2007 and has been held every March since then. The aim of the Earth Hour is to draw the public's attention to climate protection .
Emergence
The first action arose from a campaign by WWF Australia . Their goal was to reduce the CO 2 emissions of the largest Australian city Sydney by five percent within one year. At that time, Australia was one of the countries with the highest per capita emissions of CO 2 and had not signed the Kyoto Protocol until the 13th UN climate conference in Bali . Due to drought, lack of water and forest fires, climate change moved into public interest. The issue was also significant in the campaign for the 2007 general election . Also scientific prognoses, for example the fourth assessment report of the IPCC, attracted attention.
Earth Hour marked the start of WWF Australia's CO 2 campaign: on March 31, 2007, the lights were switched off between 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. local time to indicate the waste of energy due to unnecessary lighting and other power consumption. The event was organized and publicized in advance with the support of the Sydney Morning Herald . People and companies could register as supporters and have them entered on a website. The City of Sydney City Council officially supported the action. The Earth Hour 2007 received a lot of attention worldwide and was therefore repeated in the following years.
development
- 2007
The first Earth Hour took place on March 31, 2007, from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. local time. It stretched across the central business district of Sydney as well as outskirts and suburbs. The lights on Sydney Harbor Bridge and the Opera House , two famous landmarks in the city, have been turned off. The Coca-Cola neon sign in Kings Cross was also switched off for the first time since it went into operation in 1974. Most public buildings did without their outdoor lighting, while street lamps and other lights essential to public life were left on. Many shops and companies did without their nightly advertising and building lights, and restaurants served candlelit meals. In addition, numerous events took place, schools also took up the Earth Hour in various ways.
Internationally, the action was first taken up in England . Following the example of the Earth Hour, on June 21, 2007, the longest day of the year, numerous lights were extinguished in the British capital of London between 9:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. under the motto “Lights Out London” . This also included the neon sign in Piccadilly Circus . In October 2007, similar campaigns followed in the major California cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco , also under the motto “Lights Out”. In Germany , Austria and Switzerland , a campaign entitled “Lights out for our climate” took place on December 8, 2007. It was scheduled at the same time as the 2007 World Climate Summit . For example, the lights were switched off at Cologne Cathedral , Neuschwanstein Castle , Heidelberg Castle , the Alte Oper and the Zeil . Numerous churches also took part. IKEA gave away energy-saving lamps in some branches on the occasion of the campaign . The action did not last an hour, however, but was limited to five minutes.
- 2008
In 2008, the Earth Hour became a global event, with organizers anticipating 100 million people to attend. The event, in which 300 cities in 35 countries took part, took place on March 29 from 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. The lights of many sights were switched off for this hour, including for example at the royal palaces in Denmark and Sweden. The Earth Hour official website at earthhour.org reached 6.7 million visitors in the week leading up to March 29th. Other websites also supported the campaign, for example the Google homepage had a dark background for one day.
- 2009
As part of the Earth Hour on March 28, 2009, German cities such as Berlin , Bonn and Hamburg also took part in the campaign for the first time . In this context, Spiegel Online criticized Germany's reluctance in an international comparison. The United Nations headquarters in New York City was also blacked out in 2009. The city of Toronto saved over 15 percent electricity during Earth Hour. Since 2009, Earth Hour has always been between 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
- 2010
In 2010 the Earth Hour took place on March 27th, only in Israel the Earth Hour was postponed to April 22nd. This time around 4,000 cities in more than 120 countries took part. For example, Edinburgh Castle and Windsor Castle have been blacked out. With 500 megawatt hours, Vietnam saved three times more energy than in the previous year.
- 2011
Earth Hour 2011 took place on March 26, 2011, Israel set the date for the campaign to March 24, 2011 instead, as in the previous year. This year Vietnam saved around 400 megawatt hours of energy; worldwide it was an estimated 45 million megawatt hours. On the occasion of the campaign, WWF Germany not only called for the lights to be switched off, but also specifically for switching to green electricity . YouTube changed its logo for Earth Hour 2011 and introduced a "light switch".
- 2012
In 2012, YouTube visibly expanded its support for Earth Hour, this time on March 31st. Ban Ki-moon , Secretary General of the United Nations , called for participation in the Earth Hour. The Vatican, for example, switched off the lights on the dome of St. Peter's Basilica, in Austria the landmarks of all provincial capitals remained dark. In Berlin, environmentalists lit 5,000 blue and green candles in the shape of the earth. In 2011 a total of 5,000 cities took part in the Earth Hour.
- 2013
In 2013 Earth Hour was March 23. 7,000 cities and municipalities took part, including 144 from Germany. On Frankfurt's Römerberg, the silhouette of the skyline was reproduced from candles. In the media coverage, the global participation in the Earth Hour was a particular theme.
- 2014
Earth Hour 2014 took place on March 29 in 162 countries and territories, with 7,000 cities participating.
- 2015
Earth Hour 2015 took place on March 28th. At the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, activists formed the words “Save our climate! Now! ”From burning candles. For example, the Earth Hour 2015 saved around 200 megawatt hours of electricity in the Indian metropolis of Delhi .
- 2016
Earth Hour was held for the tenth time on Saturday, March 19th. In total, residents of 7,000 cities in 178 countries turned off the lights for an hour. It was a record, media such as n-tv then spoke of the “world's largest climate protection campaign”.
- 2017
The Earth Hour 2017 took place on Saturday, March 25th, from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Central European Time . More than 7,000 cities in 184 countries turned off the lights. According to the WWF, it was a record value that sent a clear signal against Donald Trump's climate policy.
- 2018
In 2018, Earth Hour took place on Saturday, March 24th. The motto of the campaign was “for a living planet”.
- 2019
Earth Hour 2019 took place on Saturday, March 30th, from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. According to WWF, around 180 countries around the world took part in the campaign. In the course of the climate crisis in Switzerland, lighting in the form of flames staged by the climate strike movement was directed onto the facade of the Swissmill silo in Zurich to indicate an impending food crisis.
- 2020
Earth Hour 2020 took place on Saturday, March 28th, from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
criticism
In 2007, representatives from business and science expressed concerns that too much participation in the campaign could lead to shutdowns in the power grid and thus to a large-scale blackout. The operators of the power grids gave the all-clear after the campaign: the power supply and grid frequency remained at a stable level and there were also no power outages.
The campaign, supported by media groups such as Bild , Google and ProSieben , but also by BUND , Greenpeace and the WWF , was also controversial in 2007 in the environmental protection movement due to its symbolic effect. An initiative by Attac , klimaretter.info , NABU and taz as well as other environmental organizations called for the use of energy-saving lamps and green electricity instead . It was under the motto "Lights on - but right".
A calculation by the Öko-Institut on behalf of the taz showed in 2007 that if 50 percent of German households switch off the lights for five minutes, around 343 tons of CO 2 would be saved across Germany. However, if 50 percent of households exchanged incandescent lamps for energy-saving lamps, 2.5 million tons less CO 2 would be produced in one year , which would correspond to a multiple of the “Earth Hour” campaign.
Web links
- International website of Earth Hour (English)
- Website of WWF Germany for Earth Hour
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Vera Sprothen: Calculated power failure . In: Welt am Sonntag . April 1, 2007, p. 15 .
- ↑ Climate protection: Sydney turns off the lights . In: New Westphalian . April 2, 2007.
- ↑ Skyline without light . Sydney sets an example for the climate. In: Frankfurter Rundschau . April 2, 2007, p. 2 .
- ↑ Thomas Teupitz: And how much pollutants does your car blow into the air? In: Hamburger Abendblatt. February 8, 2007, accessed April 25, 2016 .
- ↑ World Climate Conference: USA agree to participate. In: Stern. December 3, 2007, accessed April 25, 2016 .
- ↑ Rudolf Hermann: Australia's government discovers the climate issue . In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . June 8, 2007, p. 3 .
- ↑ Global warming is already here . Researchers call for action. In: Märkische Allgemeine . April 17, 2007.
- ↑ Vera Sprothen: A continent on standby . In: The time. April 12, 2007, accessed April 25, 2016 .
- ↑ Sydney switches off lights. In: The Sidney Morning Herald. March 31, 2007, accessed April 25, 2016 .
- ↑ City continues support for Earth Hour. City of Sydney, February 23, 2010, accessed April 25, 2016 .
- ↑ René Vautravers: An idea from Sydney goes around the world . In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . March 27, 2009, p. 13 .
- ↑ a b today . In: Basler Zeitung . April 2, 2007, p. 2 .
- ↑ Swiss Dispatch Agency: Sydney turns off the electricity for an hour to protect the climate . April 1, 2007.
- ↑ Dark earth hour . In: taz . April 2, 2007, p. 8 .
- ^ London's darkest hour . In: Evening Gazette . Middlesbrough June 22, 2007, p. 6 .
- ^ The World: Lights go out . In: Birmingham Mail . June 22, 2007, p. 4 .
- ↑ City's light relief . In: Wales on Sunday . June 17, 2007, p. 17 .
- ↑ London turns out its lights to highlight climate change cause. In: Getty Images. Retrieved April 25, 2016 .
- ^ Go dark for a bright future . In: San Gabriel Valley Tribune . October 6, 2007.
- ↑ Conserving power light out? In: Los Angeles Daily News . October 20, 2007.
- ↑ Peter Unfried: Lights out? Light on! In: taz . December 5, 2007, p. 3 .
- ^ Markus Tiwald: Courier . December 8, 2007, p. 15 .
- ↑ Switzerland is seeing a light . In: SonntagsBlick . December 2, 2007, p. 12 .
- ^ Dyck Castle was in the dark . In: Rheinische Post . December 11, 2007.
- ↑ Churches turn off lights . In: Thüringische Landeszeitung . December 5, 2007.
- ↑ Ikea is giving away energy-saving lamps today! In: look . December 3, 2007, p. 16 .
- ↑ Daniel Wetzel: "Lights off" can overwhelm the power grid . In: The world . December 6, 2007, p. 14 .
- ↑ Global lights go out . In: SonntagsBlick . March 30, 2008, p. 7 .
- ↑ Cities worldwide dim their lights . In: Sunday Gazette-Mail . March 30, 2008, p. 2 .
- ↑ Darkness for climate protection . In: Nürnberger Nachrichten . March 31, 2008, p. 4 .
- ↑ Lights out for climate protection . In: Nassauische Neue Presse . March 31, 2008, p. 1 .
- ↑ Dark hour . In: Schweriner People's Newspaper . March 31, 2008, p. 10 .
- ^ Earth Hour. Retrieved April 25, 2016 .
- ↑ 300,000 mark Earth Hour by switching off the lights . In: Winnipeg Free Press . March 30, 2008.
- ↑ The world turns off the light. WWF Germany, February 13, 2014, accessed April 25, 2016 .
- ↑ Frank Patalong: Earth Hour: A dark hour for the earth. March 28, 2009. Retrieved April 25, 2016 .
- ↑ UNEP to observe Earth Hour in support of action on climate change. United Nations Environment Program, March 20, 2009, accessed April 25, 2015 .
- ↑ Earth Hour prompts 15 per cent TO power drop. CTV News Toronto, March 29, 2009, accessed April 25, 2016 .
- ↑ Lights out for one hour "Earth Hour" . In: Bonner General-Anzeiger . March 13, 2010, p. 19 .
- ↑ Amir Ben-David, Yedioth Ahronoth: Israel to mark 3rd Earth Hour. In: ynet news. April 16, 2010, accessed May 7, 2011 .
- ↑ Alastair Jamieson: Big Ben in darkness as 4,000 cities switch off for Earth Hour. March 27, 2010, accessed April 25, 2016 .
- ↑ Tiết kiệm 450 triệu đồng trong giờ Trái đất. In: VN Express. March 28, 2010, Retrieved March 25, 2016 (Vietnamese).
- ^ Yedioth Ahronoth: Israel to mark Earth Hour on March 24. In: ynet news. March 17, 2011, accessed May 7, 2011 .
- ↑ Vietnam saves 400,000 kWh of power during Earth Hour. (No longer available online.) Vietnam Foreign Press Center, March 29, 2011, archived from the original on July 21, 2011 ; accessed on April 25, 2016 (English).
- ↑ Dave Barry's look at 2010: Worst year ever? In: Pittsburgh Tribune . January 2, 2011.
- ↑ Campaigns . In: horizon . No. 8 , 2011, p. 22 .
- ↑ Austria Press Agency: Earth Hour 2012: On March 31, the lights go out worldwide . March 2, 2012.
- ↑ Lights out for climate protection . In: Nordkurier . March 31, 2012.
- ↑ Youtube goes dark for Earth Hour. In: GMA NEWS. March 31, 2012, accessed April 25, 2016 .
- ↑ On Saturday the lights go out for an hour . In: Bonner General-Anzeiger . March 29, 2012, p. 21 .
- ↑ Austria Press Agency: Earth Hour: UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon calls for participation .
- ↑ Austria Press Agency: Earth Hour: Switch off the lights for one hour for climate protection . March 2, 2012.
- ↑ One hour of candlelight for the climate. In: Welt Online. March 30, 2012, Retrieved April 25, 2016 .
- ↑ The lights will go out on Saturday . In: Chemnitzer Zeitung . March 29, 2012, p. 14 .
- ↑ Instead of two there is a risk of five degrees more . In: New Vorarlberger daily newspaper . January 9, 2013, p. 16-17 .
- ↑ Earth Hour: 7000 cities turn off the lights . In: Badische Zeitung . March 25, 2013, p. 12 .
- ↑ Record participation in "Earth Hour" . In: Rheinische Post . March 25.2013.
- ↑ The skyline shone only as a sea of candles . In: Frankfurter Neue Presse . March 25, 2013, p. 4 .
- ↑ A planet sinks into darkness . In: Welt Kompakt . March 25, 2013, p. 28 .
- ↑ When the lights go out around the world. In: Berliner Morgenpost. March 24, 2013, archived from the original on April 29, 2016 ; Retrieved April 25, 2016 .
- ↑ A clear message to protect our earth: Record participation at the eighth WWF Earth Hour. WWF Germany, accessed April 25, 2016 .
- ^ Earth Hour 2014 event. WWF, May 8, 2014, accessed April 25, 2016 .
- ↑ Earth Hour hopes for record participation. In: Frankfurter Rundschau. March 28, 2015, accessed April 25, 2016 .
- ↑ "Earth Hour" 2015 reaches Germany. In: n-tv. March 28, 2015, accessed April 25, 2016 .
- ^ Delhi to join 10th Earth Hour on Mar 19. In: Business Standard. March 17, 2016, accessed April 25, 2016 .
- ↑ Environment: For the tenth time on "Earth Hour" the lights off for an hour. In: Zeit Online. March 19, 2016. Retrieved April 25, 2016 .
- ↑ Earth Hour: What you need to know about Earth Hour 2016. In: Focus Online. March 19, 2016. Retrieved April 25, 2016 .
- ↑ Geoffrey Lean: Earth Hour 2016: Lights go out worldwide in demonstration against increasing climate change. In: The Independent. March 19, 2016, accessed April 25, 2016 .
- ↑ Andrea Beu: It gets dark in Earth Hour. In: n-tv. Retrieved March 25, 2017 .
- ↑ Climate protection works together - for a living planet! In: WWF. March 19, 2016. Retrieved April 25, 2016 .
- ↑ Record at worldwide "Earth Hour" . In: Rheinische Post . March 27, 2017, p. 16 .
- ↑ Lights out for climate protection . In: Der Tagesspiegel . March 25, 2018, p. 32 .
- ↑ Lights out for an hour . In: Thuringian General . March 24, 2018, p. 16 .
- ↑ Earth Hour 2018: Record attendance for a living planet. WWF Germany, March 24, 2018, accessed on March 27, 2018 .
- ^ "Earth Hour": Lights out for the climate - in Zurich the Swissmill Tower "burned". In: watson.ch . March 31, 2019, accessed May 6, 2019 .
- ↑ The "Lights off" action can paralyze the power grid. In: Welt Online. December 6, 2007, accessed April 25, 2016 .
- ↑ Oliver Diedrich: "Lights out!" Without electricity chaos. In: heise online. December 9, 2007, accessed April 25, 2016 .
- ↑ Ludwig Greven: Climate protection: brain on! In: Zeit Online. 2007, accessed April 25, 2016 .
- ↑ Germany switches the light on - but correctly! Retrieved March 30, 2019 .
- ↑ Florian Rötzer: Blackout as a result of the “Lights off” campaign on Saturday? In: Telepolis. December 6, 2007, accessed April 25, 2016 .