WWF´s Earth Hour will switch off landmark buildings across the globe

08/09/2014

Línea Verde

Once again, this initiative will mobilise hundreds of millions of people, businesses, governments and educational institutions, uniting them in protecting the environment. As an innovation, this year there will be a crowdsourcing platform to fund sustainable projects worldwide.

The eighth edition of WWF´s Earth Hour, the largest global movement to protect the environment, will take place on Saturday, 29 March. The campaign will involve hundreds of millions of people across the world who will turn off the lights for one hour as a powerful example of our ability to change the world.

It is noted that in 2013, more than 7,000 cities in 150 countries turned off the lights of their landmark monuments and buildings, thus sending a clear common message: symbolic gestures can also make significant changes if a global commitment is achieved throughout the whole year. In fact, more and more voices join this initiative. In Spain, the record of participating cities was beaten last year, and more than 200 cities joined, together with more than 100 companies and more than 150 organisations.

Miguel Ángel Valladares, WWF´s Communication Director, states that "Earth Hour is much more than an hour when the lights are switched off. It consists of joining the forces of millions of people to achieve real changes". He concludes: "We want this magical hour to inspire us all to build a more sustainable future".

WWF´s initiative this year poses a new challenge: to achieve collective financing through an online crowdsourcing platform to cooperate with sustainable projects around the world. Among many other initiatives, the funds raised will be allocated to installing efficient stoves for families in Madagascar, building climate resilient boats for communities in the Philippines or protecting the iconic nature reserve Table Mountain in South Africa.

For the first time, Spider-Man is also part of the initiative. This character will be the first superhero ambassador for the campaign, with a message to motivate citizens to use their great power to become superheroes for the Planet.

In Spain in 2013:

Last year, the Tower of Hercules in A Coruña, the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, the Royal Palace in Madrid, the Alhambra in Granada or the Torre del Oro in Seville were just a few of the hundreds of buildings and monuments that were left in the dark for sixty minutes to celebrate Earth Hour. Moreover, landmarks such as the Giralda, in Seville, or the Yuste Monastery, in Cáceres (World Heritage) joined for the first time.