Earth Hour: The Greatest Show on the Planet

It never felt so good to be left in the dark: At 8:30pm on March 28, more than 1000 cities in over 80 countries will turn out the lights to protest against climate change. Earth Hour Executive Director Andy Ridley of WWF discusses the greatest community event ever.

What is the purpose of Earth Hour? How did it begin?

Earth Hour started in Sydney in 2007. We were trying to engage a broader Australian audience with the issue of climate change but not through the traditional form of a protest but in a way that communicated the sense of a shared problem that needs a shared response.

We always had an eye on the Copenhagen negotiations at the end of 2009. We felt that without some way for people to engage with the climate change issue nobody would care about what happened in the negotiations.

We hoped a few thousand people in Sydney would take part: At least 2 million did. Last year, 35 countries and 370 towns and cities joined in, 50 to 150 million people. This year, over 80 countries are participating and at least 1066 cities and towns.

How does the grid cope with sudden falls and surges in electricity demand?

That presumes that everyone is doing everything at the same time. In fact, because we are talking about thousands of independent actions the power does not go off in one go and does not come back on in one surge.

In Sydney 2007, instead of the city suddenly going dark the lights went down gradually. All the big advertising billboards went off, including the big Allianz one, and then the Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge and so on.

A lot of people used the event as a celebration. In Sydney, thousands were picnicking by the harbor. It is an hour, but we hope people spend a longer time together as a community.

Allianz