Welsh landmarks turn off lights for Earth Hour
LANDMARKS across South Wales fell into darkness for an hour on Saturday night as part of a global stunt to raise awareness for the environment.
The Senedd and Principality Stadium in Cardiff were among dozens of famous sites in Wales that switched off their lights between 8.30pm and 9.30pm to show they care about climate change.
They joined landmarks, businesses, organisations and homes from across the world as part of a coordinated effort organised by WWF called Earth Hour, which aims to put global temperature rises in the spotlight.
Anne Meikle, head of WWF-Cymru, was pleased to see Wales playing its part.
She said: “We’re delighted to see so many people supporting Earth Hour and climate change action. Climate change will have a massive impact on people’s lives here in Wales and around the world. There is real appetite for the Senedd to take action now.”
This year was the 10th Earth Hour, which was first organised by WWF in 2007.
To mark the occasion in Wales, WWF-Cymru invited people to write down what action they want to see on climate change and share it on social media.
The environment charity plans to gather these messages and include them as part of a special report to be submitted to AMs in the weeks following Earth Hour.
Support for the event has grown each year across the world, with a record 178 countries taking part last year, including an estimated half a million people in Wales.
Other iconic Welsh landmarks that pledged to turn out their lights included Caernarfon Castle, the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth, and the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea.
All of the 22 Welsh local authorities signed up, along with 286 schools throughout the country.
Elsewhere, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Big Ben in London and the Sydney Opera House were among the global landmarks that turned off their lights.
WWF Cymru is still calling for people to submit their climate change message on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #WWFMessagein aBottle.