Marcos urges Filipinos to join this year’s Earth Hour

PRESIDENT Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Saturday called on the entire Filipino nation to join the observance of this year's Earth Hour to help mitigate the devastating effects of climate change.

In a video message, the President noted that the Philippines is battered with an average of 20 typhoons yearly, “making it one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change.”

“As the earth's temperature gets warmer, with the world's carbon footprint reaching a new all-time high of 36.8 gigaton in 2022, the world braces for the irreversible impact of climate change,” Marcos said.

“It only takes 60 minutes to do good for our future, 60 minutes to take notice and commit to saving Mother Nature to be united and take action because together nothing is impossible. Let's switch off and give Mother Nature 60 minutes to breathe,” he added.

The President said Malacañang will observe Earth Hour by switching off non-essential lights during Earth Hour on Saturday.

Earth Hour is a worldwide movement organized by the World Wildlife Fund.

The event is held annually, encouraging individuals, communities, and businesses to turn off non-essential electric lights, for one hour, from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on the last Saturday of March, as a symbol of commitment to the planet.

This year marks the 16th anniversary of Earth Hour. Since it was first held in 2007, in Sydney, Australia, great strides have been made in highlighting the dire state of the planet, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature, which organizes the event.

Marcos said the observance of Earth Hour would help the government enforce its action plans that would benefit the planet.

“We Filipinos unite with the rest of the world in standing up for Mother Earth. This yearly tradition invites us all to learn more about the world's biggest environmental challenge –that of climate change. It will help us enforce our action plans and it will benefit our planet,” Marcos said.

“So at this hour, let us stop, slow down and dedicate a moment to help the Earth breathe and heal anew,” he said.

The President hoped that this shared activity would remind everyone that environmental preservation is an “inter-generational responsibility” that should be a priority in the pursuit of progress and prosperity.

“Let us become part of the solution and embark on advocacies, programs, and initiatives that will help us protect and preserve the Earth, our only home,” he added.