Some of Jeddah's best known landmarks – including the National Commercial Bank (NCB), Jeddah Mayoralty, IKEA – fell dark Saturday to mark the Earth Hour event. This followed the lights out across the world, including Sydney's Opera House and Beijing's Forbidden City, as part of a global climate change protest. Hundreds of thousands of people across the Kingdom were turning off lights and appliances for an hour from 8:30 P.M. in a gesture to highlight environmental concerns and to call for a binding pact to cut greenhouse gas emissions. This year's event was the fourth annual Earth Hour, organized by the World Wildlife Fund. In Jeddah, the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF), along with a number of other private establishments, corporate houses, restaurants and individuals observed Saud Arabia's first Earth Hour Saturday between 8:30 P.M to 9:30 P.M. Commander of the RSAF Lt. Gen. Prince Abdurrahman Bin Fahd Al-Faisal had ordered the participation of all the Kingdom's seven airbases in Riyadh, Jeddah, Taif, Dammam, Tabuk, Al-Kharj and Khamis Mushayt. Streets of the Airbases Cities went dark during Earth Hour reflecting the commitment of the RSAF to the environmental cause. The airbases also distributed awareness brochures on Earth Hour. Some 4,000 cities in more than 120 countries - starting with the remote Chatham Islands off the coast of New Zealand - were voluntarily switching off Saturday to reduce energy consumption, though traffic lights and other safety features was unaffected, organizers said. “We have everyone from Casablanca to the safari camps of Namibia and Tanzania taking part,” said Greg Bourne, CEO of World Wildlife Fund in Australia, which started Earth Hour in 2007 in Sydney before it spread to every continent. Work at the building of the Jeddah Mayoralty was suspended for one hour, said Eng. Khidr Hussani Al Amir, the building manager. “For security reasons we could not switch off the street lights,” he said. “Even before switching off the lights inside the building, we had already made security arrangements.” As this was the first time the city joined the world during Earth Hour, the Mayoralty vowed more active participation in the future by switching off the lights at all the city's landmarks and main buildings. “It will be safe for all,” Khidr said. Meanwhile, Dr. Awadh Al-Juhany, Dean of the Science College at King Saud University and Head of Saudi Wildlife, the official sponsor of Earth Hour 2010 in the Kingdom, said that he was “glad that many people across the Kingdom were aware of the event. The participation has been very good. Many people have been visiting us at Saudi Wildlife and putting forward their views in this regard,” he said. Al-Juhany said the aim was to “reduce emissions in order to preserve life on earth. He said there were awareness posters and advertisements on Earth Hour put up a few days ago at King Saud University. Support for Earth Hour continued to intensify throughout the past week as many private companies and restaurants confirmed their participation, although the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) had earlier announced that it would not cut off power anywhere in the Kingdom. Al-Juhany said the SEC has been “trying to engage people and trying to do something (for Earth Hour) within their premises”. There may not be a major amount of electricity saved during Earth Hour here because “participation is not very high and it is only for one hour”. Many environment enthusiasts in Jeddah expected a bigger future participation in this global event. Some people told the Saudi Gazette they were not aware of the event. At the Baik restaurant in Sulaimaniah, which observed Earth Hour by dimming the inside lights, two young men kept trying to read an advertisement in English on Earth Hour displayed at the entrance of the restaurant. “It is time to show some respect for our environment,” said Muhammed Ali Yousef. “There is more work to be done than just turning off the lights,” he said, emphasizing cleaning up the streets across the city, especially at industrial areas. His friend Ali Al-Zahrani said that more awareness of the protection of the environment needs to be circulated in Arabic. “The Earth Hour logo and the instructions are in English and many people do not understand English here,” he said. “One or two sentences in Arabic would help,” he added, suggesting a greater media blitz on the event next year. Fatemah Al-Safhi, an Arabic language teacher, urged the ministry of education to boost environmental awareness in schools through visual aids to make it easier for children to grasp the importance of environmental protection. “It is also an Islamic principle,” she said. “A lot of effort goes into convincing people and ministries to participate in Earth Hour,” said Al-Juhany. “We have already started planning for next year's Earth Hour. A few months before the event we will set up teams, decide on the agenda, contact ministries, shopping centers and other establishments to take part,” he added. The main task will be to make a difference in the attitude of the public towards the consumption of energy,” he said, urging everyone to visit the Saudi Wildlife website and read about Earth Hour. Doa'a S. Jan, Senior Account Executive at IKEA store in Jeddah, said she did not have much knowledge about Earth Hour because of a lack of awareness. “But I am thinking of taking part in the event next year and even encouraging our partners to raise public awareness of the event,” she said. The new generation of Saudis are keen to join the world in such big events and “environment education is very important to help boost this culture in the Kingdom,” she said. A female shopper at IKEA said she came to IKEA just to see how they were going to participate in the event while the customers were shopping. “They just switched off the outside lights and at the parking lots,” she said. “If all the shopping malls and other organizations did the same, it wouldn't do harm to anyone. It's simple,” said Shazia Younis. “In Egypt the government has taken part in this for the past three years by switching off the lights at landmarks like the Pyramids,” said Shareef Zehar, and “I think the Saudi government should take part in this event and show their solidarity with Mother Nature.” “I am planning to get married on the same day next year in dimmed lights, and I think it should be extended from one hour to two hours,” he added. “I am so impressed with tonight's Earth Hour and I want it to become a lifetime memory,” said Mahdi Mohammed Al –Idrees, customer service manager at Kai fitness center. The center did not have workouts on Saturday night as it observed Earth Hour. The center had earlier urged its members to switch off the lights at their homes. “But next year, we will take our message to lots of people,” said Mohammed Bakhreba, the marketing manager of the center. “Our message is simple: Switch off your lights to switch on your future,” he added. “It's true that we can't save Earth just by switching off the lights for one hour but at least we can start with this and it's a step in the right direction for a bigger leap,” he said.
