The Presidential Palace, Limassol Municipality and the Hilton Cyprus are among the Cyprus stakeholders who pledged to join the international worldwide campaign where millions of people across the Earth will switch off their lights for one hour on Saturday 28 March at 8.30pm local time.

In Cyprus, the Earth Hour campaign is being organised by the Green Party, which yesterday called all state agencies, businesses and individuals to participate. “The aim of the campaign is to create public awareness on global warming and to adopt an appropriate lifestyle in our daily routines,” said Ioanna Panayiotou, Green Party Press Representative at a press conference in Limassol yesterday.

On Saturday evening, Green Party members will gather at the Presidential Palace, where President Demetris Christofias will switch off the lights, while candles forming the word ‘Earth’ will be lit in the Presidential Palace’s garden for one hour.

Limassol Municipality will join the effort by switching off the light at Town Hall, the Municipal Library and the Water Tower at Gladstone Street.

The Hilton has also announced that it will be joining the campaign. “For one-hour non-essential lights of the hotel will be turned off, candle-light dinner will be served at the Fontana restaurant while guests will also be encouraged to support this global initiative. In addition, the hotel will be serving organic sweets in the Lobby throughout the afternoon,” the hotel announced.

Currently, 1,189 cities and towns across the world have committed to joining the campaign, exceeding the initial target of 1,000 cities. In Sydney, where Earth Hour began in 2007, every ferry in the city’s famous harbour will sound its horn at precisely 8.30pm to herald the beginning of Earth Hour in Australia, while in Melbourne a people-pedal-powered concert will be underway at Federation Square.

Arrangements are also underway for a number of concerts and parties in cities across Europe, including a ‘circle of percussion’ in Athens, where people will be given percussion instruments to play, led by a conductor, as the lights go out on the Acropolis.

In Oslo’s city centre, members of the public will take up the challenge of pedal-powered light bulbs, while residents in the city of Lisbon will sit down to an evening of outdoor candle-lit dining as they watch their city skyline go dark.