Tonight (26 March) people around the world came together for Earth Hour 2022 to show their commitment towards addressing the climate crisis and the rapid loss of biodiversity on Earth by switching off non-essential lights for one hour, starting from 8.30pm.
 
Earth Hour, organised by WWF, is one of the world’s largest collective environmental movements that urges everyone to put sustainability first and adopt zero-carbon lifestyles. This action in our communities and across all sectors, asks us to examine our lifestyle choices and the ways in which we conduct business.
 
In Hong Kong, Earth Hour 2022 lights out was supported by nearly 4000 companies, organisations and buildings, with prominent celebrities as event ambassadors joined us to call for everyone’s action in changing daily habits for habitats. This year marks the 40^th Anniversary of WWF-Hong Kong and also the 14^th consecutive year that Hong Kong has been participating in this global event.
 
As Hong Kong continued to be gripped by the COVID-19 pandemic, with in-person gathering temporarily not possible, WWF-Hong Kong from 8pm Hong Kong Time streamed Earth Hour into homes across the city through its and also Commercial Radio’s Facebook Live platforms.
 
Mr Dan Bradshaw, Chairman of WWF-Hong Kong, welcomed guests to the virtual event with a message, “Earth Hour is always more than an hour diming our lights. It also means standing up for the planet to show our care to mother nature. This year, we dedicate our event to wetlands, to remind ourselves how important they are and to save them by changing the way we live. Wetlands mean even more to WWF-Hong Kong as we start our work in Mai Po, which has now become a world-class wetland under our management. It is home to more than 2000 species of wildlife, also a vital stopover and wintering ground for migratory birds. We must secure our precious wetlands and restore our nature for humans and nature to thrive.”
 
In support of Earth Hour, Mr Wong Kam-sing, GBS, JP, Secretary for the Environment of the HKSAR, said, “The Hong Kong Government has been supporting ‘Earth Hour’ for years. This year’s theme ‘Habits Protect Habitats’ has strong ties with all of us. I would like to call for your support to transform your living habits to safeguard the natural environment and combat climate change. Support electricity saving and green mobility, go 'less waste, plastic-free' and go further in deep decarbonization in our daily lives to support Hong Kong achieve carbon neutrality.”
 
This year’s event is supported by AXA Hong Kong and Macau (AXA) as our Activation Partner. Ms Sally Wan, Chief Executive Officer, AXA Greater China, said, “AXA is pleased to join forces with WWF-Hong Kong to support this year’s event and activate a series of educational activities that go beyond the Earth Hour, to inspire our community to build habits on protecting our habitats in everyday life. As this year’s Earth Hour was in the midst of the 5th wave of pandemic, we leveraged our expertise to combine mind health elements into the event. We encourage all members of the public to take good care of their holistic wellness, while taking action to protect our nature.”
 
Ms Nicole Wong, CEO of WWF-Hong Kong and Ms Sally Wan, the Chief Executive Officer, AXA Greater China shared insights on the many environmental crisis faced by our planet, the inter-connection between mental health and nature, and call for attention to rekindle our relationship with nature.
 
As the co-organizer of this year’s event, Ms Amber Au, Director, Commercial Radio 2, said, “This year’s event has been shifted to virtual mode in response to numerous uncertainties and contantly changing situations caused by the pandemic. Commercial Radio hopes to support this meaningful event with the help of our twelve event ambassadors, and call for our actions to commit in transforming our living habits to save habits for habitats, and protect our irreplaceable wetland resources for our next generation.” 
 
Our ambassadors also joined us online and shared insights on changing daily habits to conserve our habits and the importance of conserving our wetlands. These luminaries included prominent local musicians Kay Tse, Terence Lam, On Chan, Cath Wong, Anson Kong and ToNick, and three hosts from Commercial Radio: Eugene Yip, Bonnie Wong, and Elsie Lui, who also took up the roles of emcees in the virtual countdown event.
 
At the event finale, the music video of a pop song “Dear Future Self in 10 Years” （給十年後的我）rearranged by the teams of producer Edward Chan and Raymond Wan was debuted. Performed by young children and featuring our event ambassadors in the Mai Po Nature Reserve filmed earlier, the video expressed their wishes for a better natural environment in the years to come.
 
An array of landmarks and iconic buildings turned their lights off to support Earth Hour, including the Tsing Ma Bridge, International Finance Centre, International Commerce Centre, the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, the Hong Kong Observation Wheel, Central and Queensway Government Offices, the Legislative Council complex, and the West Kowloon Cultural District. The daily harbour front light show “The Symphony of Lights” was also suspended for Earth Hour.
 
Earth Hour is more than an hour diming our lights. To continue the event momentum, WWF announced that an array of awareness-raising activities will be held, including a collaborative online concert with Commercial Radio on the World Migratory Bird Day on May 14; our “Post-Earth Hour 28-Day Challenge”, which encourage primary students to different aspects of conservation and sustainability; our upgraded e-game “Lolo’s Flying Journey”, to provide students from primary to secondary three with knowledge on wetlands and environmental issues. Please stay tuned at WWF’s social media platforms for further details.