Earth Hour has just concluded another record sweep around our planet

Earth Hour has just concluded another record sweep around our planet from Samoa on one side of the International Date Line to the Cook Islands on the other, with hundreds of millions again uniting to send a clear message – we are determined to create a sustainable future for our planet.

The event was observed in more than 7000 cities, towns and municipalities in more than 150 countries and territories, with many of the world’s best known human and natural landmarks going dark as the backdrop to a multitude of “beyond the hour” activities and initiatives generating outcomes for the movement and the planet on which we live.

“What is most important is the ever increasing extent to which Earth Hour’s supporters are participating in or taking actions themselves,” said Earth Hour CEO and Co-Founder, Andy Ridley.

“Now in its 7th year, Earth Hour is maturing from its origins as a consciousness raising event in one city, to a global movement that is not just calling for change but is engaging in it.”

Russian supporters, who last year helped secure legislation against oil pollution in the seas using the I Will If You Will campaign, now have more than 100,000 signatures on a new petition calling for forest protection; while WWF and Earth Hour partners in Madagascar handed out 1000 wood saving stoves to victims of February’s cyclone Haruna, passing significant savings on to families while reducing charcoal producing and wood gathering impacts on forests.

From villages in India without electricity being lit up with solar energy for the first time, to Libya where participants took part in an 80-kilometre walk from Gharyan to the capital Tripoli to celebrate Earth Hour 2013 at 8:30PM – people from all walks of life, all backgrounds went to amazing lengths to share what the planet means to them and what they are willing to do to protect it.

“In Earth Hour, people around the world, from all walks of life, have come together to express their concern about the planet's wellbeing and to take action,” said Jim Leape, Director General of WWF International. “I am inspired to see their commitment. Earth Hour has created a global community, and together we really can make a difference.”

Countries across the world have used Earth Hour as a tool to engage children in environmental issues, with Earth Hour organisers the Society of Wilderness (SOW) continuing to run their year-long education program on climate change in schools throughout Taiwan, engaging over 70,000 students and volunteers. Green Schools in Indonesia are also actively engaged in Earth Hour’s beyond the hour campaigns, and Earth Hour was also used to promote the Low Carbon School Network, which incorporates energy-­‐saving lessons in the curricula of Bangkok Metropolitan Authority-­affiliated schools, in Thailand.

With a call to action to become the generation to change our planet for good, this year’s event was marked by public concerts aimed at youth as a platform to share their passion for the environment. A rap concert in Benghazi in Libya, a rock concert in Nepal’s second largest city Pokhara, a band concert in Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur, performances in Hanoi, Vietnam and a free reggae show in Kingston, Jamaica were among the key events that took place around the world.