Earth Hour observed in China to protect world and lives

An online commemoration in observance of the annual Earth Hour in China was aired on Saturday night as landmarks in Xi'an and Guangzhou joined the world in going dark from 8:30 to 9:30 pm.

As the worldwide fight against the COVID-19 pandemic is still ongoing, this year's observance went virtual to maintain social distancing and echo the theme, "in the name of lives". The backdrop of the pandemic also warned human beings to protect the earth and maintain biodiversity.

Organized by the World Wildlife Fund For Nature's Beijing office and One Planet Fund based in Shenzhen, Earth Hour 2020 marked its 12th observance in China. A live broadcast on the official social media accounts of Earth Hour and WWF aired people from different areas of China turning off their lights for an hour.

Initiated by the World Wildlife Fund in Australia in 2007, Earth Hour is the largest environmental charity event. Now the event has reached more than 7,000 cities from more than 180 countries across the world with hundreds of millions of fans.

During the Earth Hour event in 2019, Xi'an power grid reduced its electricity consumption by 157,000 kilowatt hours, which is equivalent to reducing the emissions of 549,500 cubic meters of smoke, 467 kilograms of carbon dioxide and 406.63 kg of nitrogen oxides.