Türkiye will participate in "Earth Hour" by switching off its lights as a way to remember and commemorate victims of the last month's devastating earthquakes that killed more than 50,000 people.
In a statement, the World Wildlife Fund for Nature-Türkiye (WWF-Türkiye) said the Earth Hour event is held around the world on the last Saturday of March every year at the call of the foundation, and this year will take place on March 25 between 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. local time (5:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. GMT). Countries around the world shut off their lights for 60 minutes in a global call for international unity on the importance of climate change.
As part of the event led by WWF-Türkiye, the lights of monuments, institutions and houses in Türkiye will be turned off in memory of those who lost their lives in the twin devastating tremors on Feb. 6.
The nongovernmental organization (NGO) also calls for a "green recovery" mobilization to rebuild earthquake-affected areas in a disaster-resilient manner during Earth Hour. Participants will be able to support the "green recovery" campaign by signing up on the Earth Hour event website.
"Time almost stopped on Feb. 6. For 16 years, we have turned the lights off for an hour to draw attention to the steps to be taken for the future of our world, this time we will turn off the lights to commemorate our losses," Asli Pasinli, the head of WWF-Türkiye, was quoted as saying in the statement.
"This year, Earth Hour is the hour for us to commemorate the losses of the most devastating earthquakes in our country's history," she added.
Business Council for Sustainable Development Türkiye Chairperson Ebru Dildar Edin, who also talked to Anadolu Agency (AA) on the occasion of Earth Hour, pointed out that the restructuring of the disaster area on the basis of sustainability is of vital importance.
Started in Sydney in 2007 as a symbolic lights-out event, WWF's flagship global environmental action Earth Hour has grown to become one of the world's largest grassroots movements for the environment, inspiring individuals, communities, businesses, and organizations in 190 countries and territories to take tangible environmental action.