Earth Hour 2018: Cities around the world go dark - in pictures

Global campaign to raise awareness of impacts of climate change

The Petronas Twin Towers as lights were dimmed during the Earth Hour in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Reuters

The ancient Colosseum is seen after the lights were switched off for Earth Hour in Rome, Italy. Stefano Rellandini / Reuters

Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House are plunged into darkness for the Earth Hour. Peter Parks / AFP

Taipei 101 with lights-off during the Earth Hour in Taipei, Taiwan. Ritchie B Tongo / EPA

Two women look at a mobile phone after the skyline buildings lights were switched off for the Earth Hour environmental campaign in Hong Kong. Philip Fong / AFP

Buildings of the Moscow International Business Centre, also known as 'Moskva-City', after the lights were switched off for Earth Hour. Sergei Karpukhin / Reuters

The Burj Khalifa skyscraper lit up and with the lights turned off during the earth hour environmental campaign in Dubai on March 24, 2018. Giuseppe Cacace / AFP

The Royal Palace, after the lights were switched off for Earth Hour, in Madrid, Spain. Juan Medina / Reuters

The Old Bridge is pictured during Earth Hour in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Dado Ruvic / Reuters

The Roman Temple of Hercules, an ancient Roman landmark at Amman Citadel, seen after the lights are dimmed to mark Earth Hour in Amman, Jordan. Muhammad Hamed / Reuters

The Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany is seen just after being dimmed during Earth Hour. Adam Berry / Getty Images

The Millennium Monument, a landmark of the Hungarian capital with its illumination switched off during the Earth Hour event, in Budapest, Hungary. Tamas Kovacs / MTI via AP

People hold candles as they gather at Amman Citadel to light candles that form the Earth Hour logo, in an official attempt to be registered in the Guinness Book of Records for the largest candle-shaped World Hour logo, in Amman, Jordan. Raad Adayleh / AP Photo

People gather in front of the Clock Tower that turned off its traditional lighting in Cartagena, Colombia. Ricardo Maldonado Rozo / EPA

The cathedral of Guadalajara is pictured without lights during Earth Hour, in Guadalajara, Jalisco State. Ulises Ruiz / AFP

The Sydney Opera House, the Eiffel Tower and Moscow's Red Square were among the world landmarks to go dark on Saturday, as part of a global campaign to raise awareness about the impacts of climate change.

Earth Hour, which started in Australia in 2007, was observed by millions of supporters in 187 countries, who turned off their lights at 8.30pm local time in what organisers described as the world's "largest grassroots movement for climate change".

"It aims to raise awareness about the importance of protecting the environment and wildlife," Earth Hour organiser WWF Australia chief Dermot O'Gorman said.

In Paris, the Eiffel Tower plunged into darkness as President Emmanuel Macron urged people to join in and "show you are willing to join the fight for nature".

"The time for denial is long past. We are losing not only our battle against climate change, but also our battle against the collapse of biodiversity," he said on Twitter.

Moscow's Red Square also fell dark and the Russian section of the International Space Station dipped its lights, the Ria Novisti news agency said.

Images from across Asia showed buildings including Kuala Lumpur's Petronas Towers, as well as the famous harbour skylines of Hong Kong and Singapore, blacking out to mark the occasion.

Other global landmarks to take part included New York's Empire State Building.

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Lights out across UAE as Earth Hour is marked

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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the event "comes at a time of huge pressure on people and planet alike".

"Resources and ecosystems across the world are under assault. Earth hour is an opportunity to show our resolve to change."

With global temperatures the highest on record, O'Gorman said this year's theme was the impact of climate change on biodiversity and plant and animal species.

"More than half of plant and animal species face local extinction in some of the world's most naturally rich areas in biodiversity by the turn of this century if we continue along the current path that we are trending in terms of global warming," he said.

Species at risk include Australia's green turtles, black-flanked rock wallabies and koalas, as well as the Adelie penguin colonies in Antarctica, the conservation group said in a report it commissioned that was published in the science journal Climatic Change.

The analysis, released last week, said key biodiverse sites around the world projected to be most affected by localised extinction include the Amazon, the world's largest tropical rainforest, and southern Africa's Miombo Woodlands.

While the lights-off event is a symbolic gesture, Earth Hour has led successful campaigns over the past decade to ban plastics in the Galapagos Islands and plant 17 million trees in Kazakhstan.

Sydneysider Dianna Ali, who was having dinner with family as the lights went off in the city, said the initiative had made her more aware of the impact of her lifestyle on the planet's health.

"Since Earth Hour started, it's made me more conscious of how much power I'm using," she said.

"I think... about how much one individual can make a difference."