The event is designed to raise awareness of the issue of climate change to the general public in each country that joins in. IKEA furniture stores in Jeddah, Riyadh and Dhahran and Al-Baik in Jeddah switched off their lights yesterday between 8.30 p.m. and 9.30 p.m. “It was never completely dark,” said Mark Stratford, IKEA’s marketing manager.
“For safety reasons and shopping purposes, we only extinguished non-essential lights.”
Earth Hour calls on individuals, companies, governments and local communities to turn off their lights simultaneously for 60 minutes, to show their support for the World Wildlife Fund global action on climate change. Estimates are that over 100 countries, including Saudi Arabia, participated in Earth Hour this year.
“We’re pleased to be taking part in Earth Hour for the third year in a row,” said Rami Abu Ghazaleh, CEO of Al-Baik Food Systems Co.
“The simplest task of just switching off lights to conserve energy can generate long-term improvements and lead to a change of habits. Further it leads to the preservation of our environment.” He added that in addition to raising public awareness, the message behind the campaign also addressed positive
thinking.
“What can be measured are the results obtained during each campaign with more children and people taking part in such initiatives and sharing their ideas with us.”
