DUBAI 26 March 2018: Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) recorded savings of 323 megawatts (MW) in electricity consumption in Dubai during yesterday’s Earth Hour – a 32% reduction compared to last year.
This is equivalent to a reduction in CO2 emissions of 140 tonnes.
Dubai residents joined millions of people around the world in expressing their solidarity with efforts to address the threats posed by global warming and climate change, and raising awareness about pressing environmental issues.
This was done by turning off unnecessary lights and electrical appliances during Earth Hour 2018, which the world observed from 8:30 to 9:30 pm yesterday (Saturday, 24 March 2018) under the theme ‘Connect to Earth.’ Dubai’s landmarks, tourist and government buildings also took part in the event by turning off their lights for an hour.
Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, said “The UAE sees a significant drop in power consumption during the annual celebration of Earth Hour. In 2017 and per official statistics, participating federal and local government entities recorded a reduction of 311MW in energy use. This resulted in offsetting 230 tonnes of carbon emissions.”
The Minister of Climate Change and Environment added that in addition to significantly reducing power use for one hour, celebrating Earth Hour is a symbolic act uniting people from around the globe to raise awareness of responsible consumption of resources to ensure their sustainability.
Earth Hour is one of the biggest public movements in the world. It aims to protect the environment from climate change. It is celebrated on the last Saturday of March every year, a day close to the spring equinox, when night and day are nearly the same lengths, so this will ensure participation of most cities around the world. Earth Hour was first organised in Sydney, Australia, in 2007.
It was launched by the WWF. About 2.2 million people and more than 2,000 organisations took part in switching off lights and unnecessary electrical appliances for one hour to take a united stand to preserve the planet. It quickly expanded into a global solidarity movement with 178 countries, and around 10,000 cities around the world, with 1.8 billion people who believe in the importance of protecting the planet from harmful emissions and Greenhouse Gases.