Kohima, March 25 (EMN): Chief Minister Dr. Shürhozelie Liezietsu has conveyed his support to the global campaign 'Earth Hour' along with the rest of the world by reducing energy consumption on March 25.
In this regard, the chief minister and his staff and officers participated in the global cause by switching off the lights in their residences on Saturday evening from 8.30 pm to 9.30 pm to signify their support to the campaign. This was informed by the CMO media cell in a release.
Earth Hour is a worldwide movement organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature. The event is held annually encouraging individuals, communities, households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights for one hour, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. towards the end of March, as a symbol for their commitment to the planet. It was started as a lights-off event in Sydney, Australia, in 2007. Since then, it has grown to engage more than 7,000 cities and towns across 172 countries worldwide. In 2004, confronted with scientific findings, WWF Australia met with advertising agency Leo Burnett Sydney to "discuss ideas for engaging Australians on the issue of climate change".
The idea of a large scale switch off was coined and developed in 2006, originally under the working title "The Big Flick". WWF Australia presented their concept to Fairfax Media who, along with Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore, agreed to back the event. The 2007 Earth Hour was held on March 31 in Sydney, Australia at 7:30 pm, local time.
In October 2007 San Francisco ran its own "Lights Out" program inspired by the Sydney Earth Hour. After their successful event in October, the organisers decided to rally behind the Earth Hour being planned for March 2008.
