Celebrating the Success of Earth Hour 2016

On Saturday March 19th, during the World Wildlife Fund’s 10th annual Earth Hour event, cities across the globe joined together in turning off their lights to demonstrate the power of united city action against climate change.

At 8:30PM local time, mayors in every corner of the world dimmed the lights in their cities and at various landmarks.

The impact was seen around the globe. With 178 countries and thousands of cities taking bold action during Earth Hour, 400 iconic landmarks dimmed their lights to conserve power and bring a spotlight to the urgent need for action against climate change. The Eiffel Tower, the Sydney Opera House, the Empire State Building, and hundreds more all went dark for the cause.

National and international actions to address climate change are essential, but the support of mayors and city leaders, who can work directly on the ground to implement climate action plans, is critical to their success.

While the Paris Agreement is a first step towards curbing the effects of climate change, cities are not waiting until 2020 to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius. Building a sustainable future means taking action now. Initiatives like the Compact of Mayors offer cities a platform to elevate their local activities, empower city action and make a global impact.

Ahead of the Paris Agreement signing, cities are critical partners in leading grassroots efforts like Earth Hour from the local level.

Thanks to the efforts of supporters in cities large and small, Earth Hour 2016 was able to reach over 18 million people on Facebook and generate over 2.5 billion impressions on Twitter, bringing Earth Hour’s message of greener living and sustainability to millions of people.

Earth Hour worked to show the world the role that cities have to play in addressing climate change.

As a global coalition, the Compact of Mayors will continue to help cities find their voice and work with them to lead the way on climate change.

Follow @CompactofMayors on Twitter and Facebook for more stories on city climate action.