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Nigeria, 189 others unite online to tackle nature, climate crisis

By Chinedum Uwaegbulam
13 April 2020   |   2:48 am
Global leaders, celebrities, individuals and businesses from 190 countries including Nigeria and territories came together recently, to lend their support for the planet.

Global leaders, celebrities, individuals and businesses from 190 countries including Nigeria and territories came together recently, to lend their support for the planet.

A people-led movement, Earth Hour 2020 beautifully exemplified the resilience of the human spirit amid a crisis. At a time when people across the globe are battling a health crisis of an unforeseen scale, and many countries are under complete lockdown, supporters rose to the challenge of marking Earth Hour with online events.

Earth Hour 2020 generated over three billion social media impressions globally and its related hashtags trended across 37 countries on Twitter and Google search, making it one of the most successful online events in its history.

 
Many renowned public figures, environmental activists and celebrities from across the globe supported Earth Hour 2020 to draw attention to the nature and climate crisis.

United nations Secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, Pope Francis, environmental activist Greta Thunberg, Canadian prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Indian file star Amitabh Bachchan, UN Environment Goodwill ambassador Dia Mirza, Kenyan singing sensation Nikita Kering, Colobian model Claudia Bahamon and British Singer Songwriter Cat Stevens were among the many public personalities who participated in Earth Hour this year.
 
Director-General, WWF International, Marco Lambertini said “The success of this year’s Earth Hour is a testimony to the incredible human spirit and the power of collective action. At a time when the world is facing an unprecedented challenge in the face of the COVID-19 outbreak, the need to unite and make our voices heard for a more harmonious relationship with the planet has never been greater.

“People from across the globe responded to this call for action by coming out in support for protecting the planet, and inspiring others to commit to halting nature loss with innovative online campaigns and events. I truly applaud their unflinching commitment for a sustainable future. As Earth Hour 2020 comes to a close, I urge you all to continue to work in solidarity with each other to safeguard the future of our planet. Let’s look after one another and our one shared home.”

As a symbolic gesture of support to Earth Hour 2020, over 100 iconic buildings including the Sydney Opera House, the Eiffel Tower, Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Tokyo Skytree, Brandenburg Gate, the Colosseum in Rome, Taipei 101, Shanghai Oriental Pearl Tower, Beijing National Stadium, the Ali Qapu Palace, the Hellenic Parliament in Greece, YTN Seoul Tower, Panama Canal, Moscow Kremlin, Tower Bridge in London and the Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong, switched off their lights, to invite urgent action against nature loss and climate change. Additionally, millions of people around the world switched off the lights of their homes in solidarity with the movement.
 
Earth Hour is WWF’s flagship global environmental movement. Born in Sydney in 2007, Earth Hour has grown to become one of the world’s largest grassroots movements for the environment, inspiring individuals, communities, businesses and organizations in more than 180 countries and territories to take tangible environmental action for over a decade.

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.

 

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