What is Earth Hour 2022 and why is it important
What is Earth Hour
Earth Hour 2022 is an event run by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to raise awareness of the climate crisis. Since 2007, people across the world have turned out their lights for one hour on the last Saturday in March. It’s a symbolic gesture that aims to demonstrate how many people worldwide care about the environment by bringing it to the attention of government, businesses and individuals.
This Saturday evening, the 26th of March marks the annual Earth Hour. Millions of people and more than 18,000 iconic buildings worldwide — including the Eiffel Tower and the Empire State Building — will participate in this year’s event. They will all turn off their lights at 8.30 pm local time to raise awareness of what we can do to help reverse the effects of the current climate emergency and shift policy in the right direction.
Earth Hour 2022 Theme
The Earth Hour 2022 theme will focus on “Shape Our Future” to send a clear message that it is up to us to take action to solve the climate emergency our planet is facing today.
The campaign also encourages people to share what they are doing to protect the environment on social media with the hashtag #ShapeOurFuture. Need inspiration? Browse through the stories of individuals from all over the world.
Why Moixa supports Earth Hour
Currently, global actions add around 11 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere each year. In order to slow the rate and limit the amount of global warming, we must considerably reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and develop new methods for more renewable energy to power our economies.
Earth Hour manages to decrease our fossil fuel consumption, sparking global conversations on the importance of decarbonising our energy supplies to fight climate change. This event has progressed to more than just championing the environment but also harnessing the power of the people and advocating for legislative changes that can move the world towards a more sustainable future. In order to achieve this, we need to have everyone at the table, and Earth Hour is a powerful tool.
Moreover, Earth Hour is an example of where a coordinated, mass effort can achieve considerable reductions in electricity demand at the grid level. In such situations, distributed energy resources (like smart batteries) can play an important role in charging and discharging at suitable times to save money and enable more renewable energy onto the grid.
By making home batteries work smarter through AI, smart batteries can be aggregated into virtual power plants (VPPs) to deliver flexibility services and counteract the intermittent nature of renewable energy sources. By providing grid services, we will eventually be able to displace the fossil fuel plants that have historically met these needs, creating a new flexible energy system powered by clean energy.
How can I take part in this year’s Earth Hour?
There are several ways to support Earth Hour this year. At home, you can switch off your lights for the hour, or there might be an event taking place near you that you could attend. Browse the Earth Hour events here.
However you choose to spend Earth Hour, the goal is to increase awareness and spark global conversations on protecting nature, tackling the climate crisis, and working together to shape a brighter future for us all. Interested in knowing more about the environment and how to live more sustainably? Have a look at the best green reads recommended by the Moixa team.
Mark your calendar and join millions of people around the world to #ShapeOurFuture on 26th March, 8:30 pm your local time! 🌎