| Azlan Othman |
MOST parts of Brunei will go dark on March 25 as thousands of Bruneians with glow sticks and candles join people from 178 countries and territories in the global Earth Hour campaign, organised in the Sultanate by Earth Hour Brunei to raise awareness on climate change.
The world’s largest grassroots movement founded for the environment by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) will see millions of participants around the globe switching off lights for one hour starting 8.30pm in an effort to shine a light on climate action and the role people can play in the global efforts to fight climate change.
In Brunei, Earth Hour will be observed on Saturday night with two iconic landmarks in the capital – Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Complex and Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Mosque – as focal points as the event rolls across the globe simultaneously, uniting individuals, communities and organisations in the spirit of love for the nature.
“While the world is experiencing the impacts of climate change, we are also watching countries uniting to create climate-friendly legislation across the globe.
In Brunei, from a humble start in 2010, Earth Hour shows that even though we are affected by climate change, there are communities and organisations in the Sultanate putting their efforts to reduce our carbon footprint,” said Mohd Rimey, Country Manager, Earth Hour Brunei.
“More efforts are on the way to further highlight the importance of our natural resources, their benefits, contribution to communities as well as promote a green economy in our country… Switching off lights and/or changing one’s profile picture (on social media) are symbolic gestures – the first steps towards taking a stand on climate action.
“These are powerful visual reminders that not only make people care about climate change. When individuals unite, the power of the collective can create a massive impact as we have seen with Earth Hour observations over the past decade,” he added.
This year in Brunei, there will be cross events between Brunei-Muara, Tutong, Temburong and Belait districts.
Earth Hour was initially launched in 2007 as a global movement of solidarity for climate action and comes only months after governments agreed a new global climate deal and it is marked as the world’s largest grassroots movement for the environment.
After 10 years of the world’s first Earth Hour in Sydney, WWF’s landmark movement has seen unprecedented developments taking place in the battle against climate change.
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