Hong Kong landmarks, buildings go dim on Earth Hour 2018

HONG KONG, March 24 (Xinhua) -- The dazzling view of Hong Kong's Victoria Harbor "disappeared" for an hour on Saturday night as the light of most buildings went off in response to global environmental movement Earth Hour 2018.

This is the tenth year that Hong Kong has participated in the movement, which aims at raising the public's awareness of climate change.

The World Wide Fund (WWF) Hong Kong held a countdown for the one-hour lights out event at the Hong Kong Cultural Center Open Piazza situated on the waterfront.

At 8:30 p.m. local time, the Victoria Harbor, known for its night scenes, turned dim as most of the famous landmarks on both sides of the harbor had their lights switched off. They included International Finance Center, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center, and Tsim Sha Tsui Clock Tower.

Other landmarks such as Tsing Ma Bridge, the Government House and Legislative Council Complex also went dark for the movement.

WWF Hong Kong said that a total of 11,200 pledges from different organizations and buildings were received this year for the participation of the movement.

Edward Ho, chairman of the board of WWF Hong Kong said "We are throwing down the gauntlet to everyone in Hong Kong to follow up this one hour by pledging to reduce their energy usage by 1 percent over a 12-month period."

Wong Kam-sing, secretary for the Environment of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government, called upon the public to save energy and electricity in their everyday life for a better environment.

According to WWF Hong Kong, power consumption in Hong Kong dropped 3.47 percent during last year's Earth Hour, equivalent to a reduction of 114 tons of carbon emissions. Enditem