2004 - WWF Australia begins to look at new ways to take climate change mainstream after being confronted with serious scientific data
WWF Australia meets with advertising agency, Leo Burnett Sydney to discuss ideas for engaging Australians on the issue of climate change
2005 - A campaign based on hope not fear, and the idea that everyone can take personal responsibility for the future of the planet we live on, is envisioned
WWF Australia and Leo Burnett Sydney start developing the concept of a large scale switch off. The project has the working title, "The Big Flick"
2006 -Leo Burnett is tasked with the challenge of coming up with a campaign name that represents more than simply flicking off lights –Earth Hour is born. The Earth Hour name allows the campaign to broaden the focus from “lights out” to sustainability
WWF Australia and Leo Burnett Sydney take the concept of Earth Hour to Fairfax Media asking Fairfax to back the event – they agree
Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore MP agrees to support
Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth movie is released bringing worldwide attention to the issue of climate change
The Stern Report, which discusses the effects of climate change and global warming on the world economy, is released in October. Words of warning for what lays ahead from an economist – not from a scientist - sends a warning to governments globally about the cost of ignoring the threat of climate change
31 March 2007
The inaugural Earth Hour is held in Sydney Australia 7.30pm - 8.30pm, 2.2 million Sydneysiders and 2,100 businesses participate
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) releases a report highlighting the risks of rising temperatures, further highlighting the need for urgent solutions
April 2007
Plans are developed to make Earth Hour a national event in Australia, but international interest is high and cities began signing up to the next Earth Hour campaign
29 March 2008
Earth Hour is held in 371 cities and towns in more than 35 countries globally at 8pm-9pm. A highly conservative estimate concludes that 50 million people participate. This number could have been as high as 100 million people
28 March 2009
Earth Hour held on Saturday March 28 at 8.30pm-9.30pm. Hundreds of millions of people in more than 4,000 cities and towns across 88 countries switched off their lights for one hour, creating a visual mandate for action on climate change effectively kick-starting the world’s first global vote.
July 2009
Earth Hour's Vote Earth campaign releases the Vote Earth symbol calling on citizens of the world to show their vote for Earth over Global Warming.
November 2009
Earth Hour’s Vote Earth launches The People’s Orb, a shimmering silver sphere encasing a 350 gigabyte hard drive with video, images and documents representing the hundreds of millions of people who voted Earth to call for action on climate change. A tangible representation of the voice of the world’s people, The People’s Orb relays from Sydney to Copenhagen in the care of a variety of custodians ranging from former heads of state to iconic rock stars.
December 2009
Global awareness of climate change soars to unprecedented levels during an historic meeting of 192 nations at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. Vote Earth campaign culminates on 16th December with Earth Hour Copenhagen. The People’s Orb, is entrusted to UN Chef de Cabinet, Vijay Nambiar to be presented to world leaders. The People’s Orb takes centre stage in the plenary on the final day of the conference alongside UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, in front of President of the United States, Barack Obama, Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, COP President and Climate Minister Connie Hedegaard and over 100 heads of state.
27 March 2010
Earth Hour is held on Saturday March 27 at 8.30pm-9.30pm and succeeds in being a global call to action to stand up, to take responsibility, and lead the global journey to a sustainable future. A record 128 countries and territories take part and iconic buildings and landmarks from Asia Pacific to Europe and Africa to the Americas stand in darkness.
26 March 2011
Earth Hour is held on Saturday March 26 at 8.30pm-9.30pm and continues to break records for participation with 135 countries taking part. Earth Hour 2011 is the first Earth Hour to go beyond the hour, by asking supporters to think about what else they can do to make a difference. Beyondthehour.org is launched to give supporters a place to share stories and pledge to do more.
31 March 2012
Earth Hour is held on Saturday March 31 at 8:30pm-9:30pm and breaks records to again cement itself as the largest voluntary action for the environment, with more than 6950 cities and towns across 152 countries and territories taking part. The campaign experiences the largest growth since 2009, and continues its effort to go beyond the hour by launching the“I Will If You Will” campaign, with more than 200,000 individuals accepting a challenge at YouTube.com/EarthHour. IWIYW asks everyone around the globe to share what they would be willing to do to save the planet, and what they’d expect done in return. Earth Hour 2012 went to extremes to protect the planet, with astronaut André Kuipers observing the lights off event from the International Space Station. Also, just months after the end of the Libyan uprising, two teenagers in Tripoli organised the very first Earth Hour in Libya.
30 March 2013
Earth Hour 2013 will be held on Saturday March 30 at 8:30pm-9:30pm wherever you are in the world. So save the date and keep coming back to earthhour.org to see the world unite to protect the planet.
