Egypt’s most iconic attractions turned dark for 60 minutes on Saturday marking ‘Earth Hour’, a global initiative and an annual event celebrated on March 24 around the world which functions as a symbol of commitment to the planet.
Minister of Environment Khaled Fahmy said in a statement that Egypt’s participation in 2018 serves under the slogan “we pledge to preserve our planet”. Egypt participates in the event to mark the importance of improving the efficiency of current energy sources.
The Egyptian Ministry of Environment also called on hotels and all the touristic areas to turn off their lights and participate in the initiative in line with the Ministry’s promotion to “Go Green” and the use of renewable energy.
The ministry also called on the importance of Egyptians to take part of the global event by reducing their consumption of energy for one hour. Cairo Tower has turned its lights off at 08:30 PM for 60 minutes in solidarity with the global movement.
The first Arab country that ever joined ‘Earth Hour’ initiative was Dubai in the year 2007; Egypt joined ‘Earth Hour’ for the first time in 2009.
The campaign was first launched in 2007 in the Australian city of Sydney when the lights were turned off all across the city including Sydney Opera House. Around 2.8 billion people from 182 countries take part of this event around the world, according to the Ministry of Environment.
Egypt has been taking steps towards using renewable sources of energy. It is currently constructing what is set to be the world’s largest solar park, Benban Solar Park, near the southern city of Aswan that aims to reach between 1.6-2.0 GW by the middle of 2019.
The new project is forecasted to produce eco-friendly power to about 350,000 residence and its main goal is to produce 20 percent of Egypt’s overall clean energy by the year 2022.