Environmentalists hail Earth Hour as a big success: "probably the largest public demonstration on climate change ever... (and) first-ever global vote about the future of our planet"
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Russian students stand with candles in the city centre of Vladivostok as they mark WWF's Earth Hour, March 28, 2009. More than 80 countries have signed up for Earth Hour on Saturday in which homes, office towers and landmarks will turn off their lights from 8.30 pm local time to raise awareness about climate change and the threat from rising greenhouse gas emissions.
REUTERS/Yuri Maltsev (RUSSIA ENVIRONMENT SOCIETY)
Play Video Reuters – Chinese cities go dark for Earth Hour 
Customers dine in candlelight inside a restaurant during Earth Hour in Manila March 28, 2009. More than 80 countries have signed up for Earth Hour on Saturday in which homes, office towers and landmarks will turn off their lights from 8.30 pm local time to raise awareness about climate change and the threat from rising greenhouse gas emissions.
REUTERS/John Javellana (PHILIPPINES SOCIETY ENVIRONMENT)Environmentalists hail Earth Hour as a big success
BONN, Germany – For environmental activists, the message was clear: Earth Hour was a huge success.
Now they say nations have a mandate to tackle climate change.
"The world said yes to climate action, now governments must follow," the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said Sunday, a day after hundreds of millions of people worldwide followed its call to turn off lights for a full hour.
From an Antarctic research base and the Great Pyramids of Egypt, from the Colosseum in Rome to the Empire State building in New York, illuminated patches of the globe went dark Saturday night to highlight the threat of climate change. Time zone by time zone, nearly 4,000 cities and towns in 88 countries dimmed nonessential lights from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
WWF called the event, which began in Australia in 2007 and grew last year to 400 cities worldwide, "the world's first-ever global vote about the future of our planet."
The United Nations' top climate official, Yvo de Boer, called the event a clear sign that the world wants negotiators seeking a climate change agreement to set an ambitious course to fight global warming.
Talks in Bonn this week are the latest round in an effort to craft a deal to control emissions of the heat-trapping gases responsible for global warming. They are due to culminate in Copenhagen this December.
"Earth Hour was probably the largest public demonstration on climate change ever," de Boer told delegates from 175 nations. "Its aim was to tell every government representative to seal a deal in Copenhagen. The world's concerned citizens have given the negotiations an additional and very clear mandate."
Earth Hour officially began when the Chatham Islands, 500 miles (800 kilometers) east of New Zealand, switched off its diesel generators. It moved on through Asia, Europe and then crossed the Atlantic to North and South America.
"Earth Hour has always been a positive campaign," said Earth Hour executive director Andy Ridley. "It's always around street parties, not street protests, it's the idea of hope, not despair. And I think that's something that's been incredibly important this year because there is so much despair around."
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Associated Press writers around the world contributed to this report.
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On the Net:
Earth Hour: http://www.earthhour.org
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's Earth Hour video: http://sn.im/enqwn
Article: HERE
A combination picture shows a view of the Hong Kong's financial district's (L-R) Bank of China Tower, Cheung Kong Centre, HSBC headquarters, Standard Chartered Bank and Legislative Council before (top) and during Earth Hour March 28, 2009. More than 80 countries have signed up for Earth Hour on Saturday in which homes, office towers and landmarks will turn off their lights from 8.30 pm local time to raise awareness about climate change and the threat from rising greenhouse gas emissions. REUTERS/Bobby Yip
(CHINA CITYSCAPE ENVIRONMENT SOCIETY IMAGE OF THE DAY TOP PICTURE
These two combo photos show Malaysia's landmark Petronas Twin Towers being turned off the lights to mark Earth Hour in downtown Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Saturday, March 28, 2009.
(AP Photo/Lai Seng Sin)
A combination picture shows the Sydney skyline before (top) and after the lights were turned off for Earth Hour March 28, 2009. Lights went out at Sydney's famous Opera House and Harbour Bridge on Saturday for Earth Hour 2009, a global event in which landmarks and homes go dark for an hour to highlight the threat from climate change. REUTERS/Patrick Riviere
(AUSTRALIA CITYSCAPE ENVIRONMENT SOCIETY IMAGE OF THE DAY TOP PICTURE)
People ride push bikes fitted with custom made electric generators in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, March 28, 2009, marking Earth Hour 2009. The activity named Future Spark, ran from the 23rd March to 28th finishing at the completion of Earth Hour and generated enough power to run the free open air concert, boasting it was all powered by people.
(AP Photo/Rob Griffith)
The Eiffel Tower in Paris, seen here illuminated in blue lights, is just one of 371 world landmarks which powered down for an hour to make Earth Hour. The waters of Sydney Harbour plunged into darkness with the iconic Opera House and Harbour Bridge killing their lights for an hour in a global call for swift action on climate change.
(AFP/Stephane de Sakutin)........
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