Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Tatarstan

“Earth Hour 2013” International Campaign

19 March 2013, Tuesday

Annual global campaign “Earth Hour” of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) will be held on Saturday, March 23, 2013, at 20:30 (local time). It is the most mass event in the history of mankind. Every last Saturday of March, millions of people all over the world turn off lights for one hour, because they care for the future of the Earth. Earth Hour is a symbol of careful attitude towards nature, care for limited resources of our planet, and a public appeal to take drastic measures aimed at climate preservation.

On the initiative of the WWF, Sydney (Australia) was the first city that urged in March 2007 to hold the international campaign “Earth Hour”. At that time, more than 50 million people from 270 cities and 35 countries participated in the campaign. In 2009, 88 member states, and more than 1.4 thousand cities were among the participants. Russia officially joined the campaign the same year.

Last year “Earth Hour” beat the record of previous campaigns. Approximately 1.5 billion people all over the world took part. More than 150 countries and 6525 cities joined “Earth Hour 2012”, including 40 Russian cities.

As for the Republic of Tatarstan, more than 120 companies and enterprises, as well as citizens of all cities and communities took part in “Earth Hour 2012”. Naberezhnye Chelny, Almetyevsk, Bugulma, and Nizhnekamsk were among the most active cities.

In the capital of Tatarstan, lights were turned off at Kazan Town Hall and Mayor’s Office, as well as at republican ministries and administrations. Schools, culture centers, sport complexes of the majority of cities joined the campaign as well. Moreover, 500 sky lanterns flew to the sky over the National Cultural Center “Kazan”. The campaign was able to unite people of various ages and social status seeking to support and preserve healthy climate on the Earth.

This year, the world is supporting the Earth Hour’s “I will, if you will. Dare the world to save the planet!” campaign. The “I will, if you will” concept is a public contract that binds two parties, one of which promises to do something interesting or useful, if the other party agrees to somehow help the planet. It unites them for the sake of positive ecological result.

The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Tatarstan invites everyone who cares for the destiny and the well-being of our planet to join the “Earth Hour” campaign and contribute into preservation of energetic resources and environment.

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