Millions of buildings around the globe including Buckingham Palace and the Eiffel Tower switch off their lights for annual ‘Earth Hour’ blackout as campaigners urge world leaders to ‘save the planet’
- The annual event organised by the World Wildlife Fund is to draw attention to environmental problems
- Sydney Opera House and Egyptian Pyramids are among famous landmarks observing the global blackout
- Charity claims over 10 million in the UK participated last year, with Shard and London Eye going dark tonight
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Hundreds off iconic landmarks around the world have been plunged into darkness after they switched off their lights for Earth Hour.
The annual event organised by the World Wildlife Fund is to draw attention to environmental problems and the impact humans are having on the planet.
Buckingham Palace, the Sydney Opera House and the Egyptian Pyramids are among the famous buildings observing the global blackout between 8.30 and 9.30 tonight.
And millions of ordinary households are also expected to turn off their lights to send a message to world leaders who they demand front up to protect the Earth, according to the WWF.
The charity – which asks the question: ‘will you switch off for your world this Earth Hour?’ – says that over 10 million people in the UK participated last year.
It says: ‘By making pledges to help our planet, and by being part of a movement of hundreds of millions more around the globe, we can show we’re fighting for our world.
‘We are the first generation to know we are destroying the world. And we could be the last that can do anything about it. We have the solutions, we just need our voices to be heard.’
In the capital, the Shard and the London Eye will observe the blackout while Brighton Pier and Edinburgh Castle are will also go dark.
St Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow was among the hundreds of iconic landmarks switching off their lights for this year’s Earth Hour
People visited the historic Brandenburg Gate in Berlin to watch the monument descent into darkness between 8.30 and 9.30 tonight
The hotel ‘Kazakhstan’ in the country’s largest city, Almaty, can be seen before and after it turned off its lights tonight
The Eiffel Tower in Paris, which is usually lit up in the heart of the French capital is blackened out except for a #WEACTFORGOOD sign on the front
In Russia’s St Petersburg, the Admiralty building, the Peter and Paul cathedral and the State Hermitage museum all observed the WWF’s blackout tonight
Piccadilly Circus in London turned off its screen for Earth Hour tonight. It marks the annual blackout to urge politicians to take action on environment issues
The Sydney Harbour Bridge which is usually lights up the water it stretches over joined millions of buildings across the world in turning their lights off to raise environmental awareness
Although Earth Hour is designed to attract the attention of world leaders, politicians in the Hungarian Parliament need no reminding as the building in Budapest went dark tonight
And 79 kms northeast of Budapest, Hungary, the Saint Bartholomew Church is seen after the lights were switched off for one hour to mark Earth Hour in Gyongyos
Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong is photographed lit up before its lights were switched off for the 13th Earth Hour
And there was a marked difference when the Asian city was plunged into darkness between 8.30 and 9.30 tonight
The Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station is seen after its lights went out for the Earth Hour environmental campaign in Mumbai
Malaysia’s landmark Petronas Twin Towers and surroundings with lights turned off to mark Earth Hour in Kuala Lumpur