UAE | Environment

Earth Hour sees light as residents celebrate 60 minutes of darkness

Thousands gather near Burj Khalifa to raise environment awareness.

  • By Emmanuelle Landais, Senior Reporter
  • Published: 00:00 March 27, 2011
  • Gulf News

Lights off
  • Image Credit: Javed Nawab/Gulf News
  • Lights were switched off at Burj Khalifa during the Earth Hour in Dubai yesterday. Dubai Electricity and Water Authority led celebrations that urged residents to switch off all unnecessary lights.
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Dubai: Thousands of people gathered last night at the Burj Plaza, with candle-lit lanterns, to celebrate Earth Hour with millions more people around the world.

For 60 minutes from 8.30pm the lights at some of the biggest landmarks dimmed to black including the Burj Khalifa, to raise awareness on environment degradation caused by climate change.

Dr Rashid Ahmad Bin Fahd, Minister of Environment and Water said in a statement that public participation is key in supporting the government's efforts to protect the environment.

According to the 2010 Living Planet Report by the World Wildlife Fund, if everyone in the world lived like a resident of the United Arab Emirates, we would need six planets to regenerate resources and absorb all CO2 emissions.

The 2010 report was compiled from the most recent statistics gathered in 2007.

First to take part

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In 2008, however, Dubai was the first Arab city to participate in Earth Hour. Yesterday, all emirates in the UAE took part and last year alone it was estimated that 400,000 people took part.

"There is no doubt that the growing participation in this initiative and other environmental initiatives is a clear indication of the level of awareness in the UAE, and the desire and enthusiasm to participate in the efforts to protect the environment and to achieve sustainable development," Bin Fahd said.

"Regardless of the economy and the amount of carbon emissions that are reduced during Earth Hour and other similar initiatives, which is important in all cases, the most important thing is that this initiative, with its message is very clear that individual choices, even in its simplest form, can have a real impact and important role in our quest for sustainability of our precious natural resources and contribute to making the planet a better place for our lives and livelihood of future generations," said Bin Fahd.

Developing and developed nations are striving to find an agreement that will bring down CO2 emissions to 350 parts per million.

In February 2011, global CO2 levels were 391.76ppm compared to 389.85 in 2010, according to the Earth Systems Research Laboratory (ESRL) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The Abu Dhabi International Airport turned off the lights of one of its runways to raise awareness on reducing energy consumption while all of Abu Dhabi Airports Company's (ADAC) five airports took part in this year's Earth Hour.

ADAC's five airports: Abu Dhabi International, Al Ain International, Al Bateen Executive, Delma and Sir Bani Yas, participated by dimming, or switching off, non-essential lighting along airports runways, in terminal buildings and management offices.

Demand to switch off

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority lead the celebrations that demand all individuals to switch off all unnecessary lights and electrical appliances for one hour. The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) switched off lights in several RTA buildings all over Dubai.

People had also gathered on Abu Dhabi Corniche, Al Qasba in Sharjah and Fujairah Fort to be part of the annual initiative.

Did you participate in the Earth Hour? How effective is the event in raising awareness about conservation?

Comments (13)

  1. Added 14:15 March 27, 2011

    Our family participated in Earth Hour! We turned out all of our lights from 8:30 to 9:30 pm and it was fun! We used a couple of camping lanterns during that hour when we needed to see. We made sure all electrical outlets were turned off and enjoyed the quiet that the hour of darkness brought to us. I was somewhat disappointed to see that most of my neighbors had their lights on, however. I honestly think that many people are still unaware of this important, Earth-saving campaign.

    Lisa, Arabian Ranches - Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  2. Added 12:51 March 27, 2011

    I participated in Earth Hour and also volunteered at the event at the Park near Burj Khalifa. While we managed to save some electricity, we also wasted quite a lot of plastic. The t-shirts given out were wrapped in plastic, and hundreds of individual candles were inside plastic cups. I didn't stay around to see how the cups were disposed, but I hope they were collected for recycling! As an avid recycler I think this is an issue we need to increase awareness on. Rania

    Rania Mostafa, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  3. Added 12:49 March 27, 2011

    I switched off all of the lights in my house. My house was completely dark. The Earth Hour should be done every six months in order to reduce the CO2 emissions; I think one year is too much.

    Abhda Batcha, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  4. Added 12:46 March 27, 2011

    We should make it as a normal practice to switch off lights and other electrical appliances when not needed. Such initiative collectively would bring in positive results on the environment, which is the only thing we pass on to next generation, a greener earth. All readers of the GN should spread this message to as many people as possible to sub-serve the purpose of salvaging our Earth from further deterioriation/erosion.

    Venkat.S., DXB, United Arab Emirates

  5. Added 11:57 March 27, 2011

    We'll I had made sure that the lights in my house were at minimal use, I also made sure all extra lights used in my building were set off i.e. entrance and some signboards. Besides my house I made sure that any additional lights at my work place were switched off or soft.

    Jibran Bhatti, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

  6. Added 11:55 March 27, 2011

    those 60 minutes of darkness was really good to see. i switched off my house lights at 8:15 itself and went out. i could see almost every resident had switched their lights off. each one played a small role in helping make a difference in our world and its future.

    Abin, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  7. Added 10:42 March 27, 2011

    I did participate in the Earth Hour by switching off my room lights and all electronic devices and I did advice my other colleagues to do the same. I took a stroll in the Park for that one hour. I also witnessed Burj Khalifa disappearing for that one hour, which I could normallysee from my apartment.

    Jos Cardozo, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  8. Added 10:23 March 27, 2011

    It was heartening to see important landmarks like Bur Juman and Burj Khalifa take part in the Earth Hour commemorations this year. At home too, we decided, as we have been doing for three years now, to follow the Earth Hour, much to the chagrin of the children, and husband, all of whom are so chained to the numerous gaming and electronic gadgets and English Premier League football on TV, respectively. The thought of going without the air-conditioning also seemed quite ridiculous to them. The point of all this brouhaha however, is precisely to make people understand, appreciate and take stock of our complete reliance on electricity, which is certainly not a renewable resource. It was a good experience to have some down time at home, though no one seemed to have a clue what to do with themselves, if they couldn't read, watch TV or play computer games or listen to music. We ended up talking as a family, which itself is rapidly becoming a thing of the past in today's frenetic rat-race. As I remember telling my children, this is as much a time to reflect on what we have done to our environment, because we manage finally to still the noise in our heads and actually think without checking our emails or catching the news on TV. I believe we owe that to our environment, living in a country which has the biggest carbon footprint in the world, despite its small size. While most of our neighbours did not seem to follow Earth Hour at all, so what was the point of all these individual lights-out sessions at homes - the fact of the matter is that it is the small drops that make up the ocean - every small initiative is a step in the right direction. So far from being disheartened, we must hope to spread some awareness and help in some small way, with our gestures.

    Anupama V. Chand, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  9. Added 09:46 March 27, 2011

    When the world was saving ABUSHAGARA IN SHARJAH was the bright as ever.

    Anonymous, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

  10. Added 09:33 March 27, 2011

    Well, we had a dinner in Burj Al Arab last night and we were so surprised that lights are off outside the prestigious hotel. It was just good to see that after an hour of darkness outside, we had seen the lights that made the hotel more fantastic and glamorous.

    Anonymous, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    11. View more comments

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