Twenty eight landmarks across the “City of Lights” would plunge into darkness between 8:30 pm and 9:30 pm on Saturday (tonight) to observe Earth Hour.
Last month, the electricity load shedding-hit Sindh and its capital Karachi were declared “Earth Hour province” and “Earth Hour city”, respectively. The Earth Hour is being observed in Karachi by the World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan (WWF-P) in collaboration with the Sindh Environment Ministry and the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC). This decision was announced during the Earth Hour 2012 Declaration signing ceremony at a local hotel on Friday.
Sindh Environmental & Alternative Energy Minister Sheikh Muhammad Afzal, KMC Administrator Muhammad Hussain Syed, Sindh Environment Secretary Mir Hussain Ali, Earth Hour 2012 Official Ambassador Nadia Hussain and WWF-P officials were also present at the ceremony. A candle lighting ceremony also took place to officially inaugurate the Earth Hour in the province.
Afzal invited the citizens of Karachi to observe the Earth Hour 2012 with the provincial government and the WWF-P between 8:30 pm and 9:30 pm on Saturday.
Syed said, “As a nation, we have used our natural resources unsustainably, and if we don’t use our natural resources wisely, we shall have to revert to old times when people used candles and lanterns.” Hussain said, “It’s commendable that the Sindh government has taken such an initiative, and acts like these will play essential roles in the conservation of environment not only in Pakistan but across the world as well.”
Afzal and WWF-P officials signed a pledge joining the global fraternity’s commitment to reduce environmental degradation and to pursue energy conservation through the Earth Hour.
The list of the landmarks where the event would be observed include the Sindh Governor’s House, the Sindh Chief Minister’s Secretariat, the Sindh Secretariat, the Sindh Assembly Building, the Karachi Commissioner office, the MCB Tower, the State Bank of Pakistan, the State Life Building No 9 at the Dr Ziauddin Ahmed Road, the Habib Bank Plaza, the FTC Building, and the Dolmen Mall at Sea View.
Initiated in Sydney (Australia) in 2007, the Earth Hour has grown to become a global movement that now involves every continent across the world. The Earth Hour invites people everywhere to switch off all unnecessary lights for one hour as a symbolic act to show their commitment to saving the planet.
Pakistan joined 121 members of the international community on March 27 two years ago for the Earth Hour 2010. The Earth Hour 2011 saw 5,200 cities and towns in 135 countries switch off their lights, and the WWF hopes to unite even more people to come together and take part in the Earth Hour 2012 through the one thing that truly unites us all: the planet.
