From Sydney Opera House to Empire State Building, global landmarks go dark for Earth Hour

In the UAE, Dubai International Airport and the Expo 2020 Dubai Sustainability Pavilion also take part

For one hour on Saturday evening, landmarks around the world turned out the lights for Earth Hour.

The annual event, organised by the World Wide Fund for Nature, encourages people to turn off lights and non-essential electric appliances for one hour between 8.30pm and 9.30pm in order to reduce their carbon footprint. But, as the Earth Hour website states: “It is so much more than that. It is a symbol of unity. It is a symbol of hope. It is a symbol of power in collection action for nature.”

Among the global landmarks that turned off the lights were the Empire State Building in New York City, Brazil’s Christ the Redeemer statue, Sydney’s famous Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge, and the Colosseum in Rome.

Scroll through the gallery to see global landmarks go dark for Earth Hour

In the UAE, Expo 2020 Dubai’s Sustainability Pavilion went dark at 8.30pm, as did Legoland and The Green Planet, plus Dubai Holding Asset Management's residential properties across Bluewaters Island, City Walk, Al Khail Gate, Shorouq, Ghoroob and Layan. Dubai International Airport also turned off all non-essential lights.

In Abu Dhabi, Umm Al Emarat Park took part, as did Abu Dhabi Mall, the National Rehabilitation Centre and hotels on Sir Bani Yas Island.

Emirates Nature-WWF encouraged residents “to switch off their lights and create the biggest hour for Earth, spending 60 minutes doing something positive for our planet".

"Taking place during the Year of Sustainability and Cop28, this year’s campaign will serve as a powerful reminder of the importance of our planet, the need to protect it, and how little time we have to do so,” the group said.