HONG KONG, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 4,500 companies, organizations and buildings in Hong Kong on Saturday participated in the Earth Hour, an annual global green movement to promote low-carbon life.
WWF Hong Kong held a countdown ceremony for one hour's lights out here Saturday evening. At 8:30 p.m. local time, lights went out on the facades of iconic buildings on both sides of the Victoria harbor. Hong Kong's famous light show "Symphony of Lights" was also suspended.
The ceremony was held in private due to the threat of the COVID-19 and live broadcast was arranged to allow the public to join.
In a video message, Wong Kam-sing, secretary for the Environment of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) government, said that tackling climate change always needs concerted efforts just as people work together to fight the virus now.
The SAR government has taken various measures to encourage the industry and the public to jointly reduce carbon emissions, including introducing the Green Tech Fund to further promote the research and development, and supporting new energy vehicles and ferries, Wong said.
"Hong Kong is making solid progress in decarbonization in recent years. Per capita carbon emission has decreased from 6.2 tons in 2014 to 5.5 tons in 2017," Wong added.
Edward M. Ho, chairman of WWF Hong Kong's Executive Council, said, "It is our mission here at WWF Hong Kong to connect people to nature, and to promote sustainable living and avoid over-consumption of natural resources, which can place heavy burdens on our planet."
"A sustainable future for the Earth relies on all of us, and simple actions such as turning off unnecessary lights or saying 'No' to single-use plastics can have a big impact to sustain our living planet," Ho said.
The Earth Hour began in 2007 in Sydney, Australia, and has become a global event. This is the 12th time the event held in Hong Kong.
