Press releases

MINSK, 17 March (BelTA) – The Belarusian capital will join the international Earth Hour movement on 25 March, BelTA learned from the Minsk City Committee of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection.

Minskers will be invited to turn off their lights from 20.30 to 21.30. The city will switch off the lighting of administrative buildings, homes, and architectural monuments.

Earth Hour is an international environmental movement that encourages individuals, communities, households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights for one hour to show they care about the future of the planet. The purpose is not to save electricity but rather to encourage responsible environmental behavior.

The annual Earth Hour campaign engages over two billion people in 7,000 cities and towns in 170 countries. People are free to decide which appliances to switch off and for how long, and the city authorities initiate turning off the illumination of municipal buildings. However, it is recommended that streets lights, traffic lights and aircraft navigation lights should stay on for safety reasons.

“We cannot improve the environment considerably by turning off the lights for one hour. Still, the Earth Hour event will raise people’s awareness of the fact that by saving electricity we reduce the release of harmful emissions into the environment. The campaign is an opportunity for everyone concerned to make their contribution to improving the health of our planet,” the committee representatives said.