Tehran, March 26: Main lights have been switched off in the Iranian capital of Tehran to mark the Earth Hour, a symbolic hour of darkness to remind people of global warming.
Iranians joined millions of people around the globe turning off unnecessary lights and electric appliances on March 26, 2011, from 20:30 to 21:30 local time.
“Tehran’s Milad Tower will also go dark for one hour,” said advisor to Tehran’s mayor Mohammad-Hadi Heidarzadeh.
Organized by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the Earth Hour is an annual event held on the last Saturday of March, asking households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights and other electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness towards climate change.
The first Earth Hour was held by WWF and The Sydney Morning Herald in 2007, when 2.2 million residents of Sydney turned off all non-essential lights.
Following Sydney, many other cities around the world started to participate in the event from 2008. Some 126 countries participated in Earth Hour 2010.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also said in a statement issued on March 25, 2011, that all UN communities around the world would take part in the Earth Hour 2011.
“Tomorrow, let us join together to celebrate this shared quest to protect the planet and ensure human well-being,” Ban said.
“Let us use 60 minutes of darkness to help the world see the light.”
—Agencies