An hour without light to give a respite to the planet – La Prensa (Bolivia)

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The City of Madrid , who joined the light off buildings around the world on the international day promoted by WWF. Photo: El País – Guest Reporter

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One year, hundreds of millions of people around the world joined their voices in defense of the environment with one simple action: turn off the light

<. p class="MsoNoteLevel1CxSpMiddle"> “Earth hour” proved yesterday that it has become the biggest campaign mobilization and citizen participation.

After Asia and Europe, Latin America turned out the lights for one hour with the aim of raising awareness on the commitments against global warming adopted at the cop21, in December last year

in more than 180 countries, at 20.: 30 local, monuments or buildings like the Kremlin in Moscow, the Trevi Fountain in Rome or the Eiffel tower in Paris were plunged into darkness for this tenth edition of the initiative.

in Bolivia, since about three to four years actively involved in the campaign, people also joined. In Cochabamba, dozens of citizens participated in a rally in the main square, where the light was turned off at the appointed time.

Around the world

in Athens, the Parthenon disappeared from the top of the hill of the Acropolis. And in Bucharest, the gigantic Palace of Parliament and the headquarters of the Presidency kept their lights off for one hour. In total, 54 Romanian city participated in the initiative, according to its sponsor, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

In Spain, more than 300 cities joined the initiative this year, shutting down its main monuments and public buildings, including the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, the Alhambra in Granada -the most visited monument of Spain, the Royal Palace of Madrid or the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.

in Sydney, where he began this initiative, numerous harbor buildings were plunged into darkness.

“the movement started from a city in 2007 and gradually extended to reach today 178 countries and 7,000 cities worldwide, “he said with satisfaction the general director of” Earth hour “Siddarth Das. “Millions of people currently involved in the operation,” he told AFP by telephone from Singapore, just before lights out.

The aim of the initiative is to remember that the energy consumed is a cost to the planet and to encourage governments and individuals to act on climate.

Latin America

Peruvians joined also turning off the lights of the main public buildings in Lima, Cuzco and Arequipa, and gathered in parks and squares. Environment Minister Manuel Pulgar Vidal, led a ceremony sponsored by the district of Miraflores in the Redoubt Park that jurisdiction in which it was explained about saving energy.

Argentina is he joined “Earth hour” and gave the idea to “give birth” to the pampas deer, a species of the country is in danger of extinction, officials said.

the Argentine government joined shutting down for 60 minutes the lights of the Casa Rosada (seat of the Executive), public buildings and emblematic monuments and collaborate about the dangers of climate change and raise awareness of the use of renewable energy.

fossil fuels (coal, gas, oil) for electricity are responsible for three-quarters of emissions of greenhouse gases, the main cause of warming.

Through an agreement reached in December in the cop21 Paris, the international community pledged to keep global warming below 2 degrees.