Localities across Vietnam switched off their lights for one hour on the evening of March 24 in response to the global Earth Hour campaign.

Responding to the Earth Hour campaign in Hanoi on March 24. 

Starting at 8.30 pm on Saturday evening, the main ceremony for the worldwide movement themed “Go More Green” took place at the August Revolution Square in Hanoi, with the participation of leaders from the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT), the Hanoi authorities and thousands of local people and youngsters.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Cao Quoc Hung said that responding to climate change and natural disaster prevention is one of the vital issues in the development of each country. Vietnam has promulgated and implemented a number of policies and law provisions for the economical and efficient use of energy in order to protect the environment, reflecting its efforts to respond to climate change towards sustainable development.

In 2009, the first Earth Hour campaign in Vietnam was organised with the participation of six provinces and cities. So far, the movement led by the MOIT has become an indispensable annual activity, attracting the participation of many ministries, sectors and people throughout the country. During the past month since its launch, the campaign has received a positive response with various meaningful activities.

Vice Chairman of Hanoi People's Committee Nguyen The Hung said that the campaign in 2017 helped to save more than 400,000 kWh of power. He also called on locals to continue to take actions to protect the environment.

This is the 10th year that Vietnam has responded to the Earth Hour campaign to highlight energy saving and raise public awareness over environmental protection and response to climate change.

As an initiative from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the global campaign has been organised in around 7,000 cities in 187 countries and territories worldwide with billions of people joining in.

The Ho Chi Minh City Youth Union also launched a Green Movement project to train youth volunteers to propagate information about the Earth Hour campaign 2018 and knowledge on energy use. There are voluntary events for social security, energy saving and climate change response, including renovating the power system for 100 local policy households.

Following are some pictures on the activities in response to the Earth Hour campaign in Vietnam:

Nhan Dan