Filipinos urged to join 'biggest' hour for planet on Saturday
MANILA, Philippines — Government agencies encouraged Filipinos to join the “Earth Hour” event on Saturday as the world faces the twin crises of biodiversity degradation and climate change.
In a statement Friday, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) urged the public to switch off lights from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. on March 25 in support of the event, which carries the theme “The Biggest Hour for the Earth.”
An initiative of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Earth Hour is an annual event that encourages individuals to turn off non-essential electrical lights for one hour on the last Saturday of March.
The DENR said the symbolic action “significantly lowers energy consumption, thus reducing carbon emission and harmful greenhouse gases.”
In a separate statement, the Department of Health said the environment plays a crucial role in promoting the well-being of people.
“Hence, it is also our responsibility to take care of the environment as it would then take care of future generations of Filipinos,” said Health officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire.
The Earth Hour celebration started in Sydney, Australia in 2007. The Philippines joined in 2008, making this year’s Earth Hour the 15th year it is observed in the country.
“As we face an uncertain future with our planet's deteriorating biodiversity, further threatened by our changing climate, two of the biggest challenges we confront, we must act sooner and more decisively,” said Angela Ibay, Climate and Energy Program Head of WWF-Philippines and Earth Hour Pilipinas National Director.
The Philippines is one of the countries most at risk from the impacts of climate change such as strong cyclones, droughts and sea level rise. A recent Social Weather Stations survey found that nine in 10 Filipinos have experienced the effects of the climate crisis.
The survey also found that 76% of Filipinos think that humanity could do something to stop or slow down climate change if everyone really tried.
While individual lifestyle changes are worthwhile actions, changes in energy, food, industrial, urban and societal systems across the world are needed to avert the catastrophic impacts of climate change.
The United Nations-backed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in a report released this week, said that “rapid and-far reaching transitions across all sectors and systems” are needed to “secure a liveable and sustainable future for all.”
This year’s Earth Hour—the first in-person event since 2020—will be held at the Quezon City Memorial Circle. — Gaea Katreena Cabico
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