President Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina will mark Earth Hour today by turning off all non-essential lights at Áras an Uachtaráin.
The exception will be the President’s “light in the window” for the diaspora.
The lights will be turned off for one hour from 8.30pm.
President Higgins said he and Sabina requested that the lights be switched off as “a global moment of solidarity to highlight the importance of taking action to protect our vulnerable planet from the effects of climate change”.
Earth Hour, held on the last Saturday of March every year, is a global campaign that encourages people around the world to switch off their lights for one hour to show support for the planet.
The President said climate change matters become “policy victims of Covid-19. They must become centre stage once again as a matter of urgency”.
“Time is rapidly running out in our common battle against climate change and biodiversity loss. We must galvanise the sentiment that now exists for a greening of our economy and society, taking the necessary action, as indicated by the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals, to turn the will of the citizens of the globe into a lived reality."
President Higgins said the symbolic act of switching off the lights may be viewed as a call to action for people to switch on their power as citizens.
“Now is the time for us all to commit to building a more sustainable society and economy as we look ahead to a brighter post-Covid existence on our shared, vulnerable planet.”
