Turn off the lights for an hour on Saturday the 19th of March from 20.30 to 21.30

As in previous years, the city of Lappeenranta is taking part in the Earth Hour event organised by WWF. Earth Hour is a worldwide annual campaign in which people from all around the world turn off their lights for an hour on the same day. This year, the lights will be turned off on Saturday, the 19th of March from 20.30 to 21.30.

The city of Lappeenranta and Lappeenranta Region Environmental Office challenge all businesses, communities and residents of Lappeenranta to join the campaign.

The campaign is aimed at inspiring people to start contributing to the fight against the climate crisis and building a better future. The goal of the Earth Hour is to influence world leaders to take combating climate change seriously.

This year’s Earth Hour theme is strongly associated with food and the sustainability of food. In addition to turning the lights off, citizens, companies, municipalities and other communities can take part in the Earth Hour by, for example, organising a candle light dinner or some other event that suits the theme.

Join the world’s largest candle light dinner! Turn off the lights, tune out the social media and invite your friends to enjoy sustainable food in candle light. The city of Lappeenranta turns off the lights of the water tower, among other buildings.

You can also show your support directly to WWF http://www.earthhour.fi/osallistu/.

Lappeenranta has received worldwide recognition for its climate protection work: it is one of the 45 finalists of this year’s WWF’s international Earth Hour City Challenge, designed to spur cities to take action to prevent climate change. The last time Lappeenranta made it to the final was in 2014.

In addition to the winner, which is selected by an independent jury, the public can also vote for their favourite city. People can voice their opinions by voting, proposing improvements, or using the city's hashtag #welovelappeenranta in the social media. Votes and proposals can be submitted at www.welovecities.org. The public vote is open from 26 April to 19 June.

Information about the city of Lappeenranta’s energy and climate actions is available on the city’s website at www.lappeenranta.fi > Environment > Green Lappeenranta.

For further information, please contact:
Lappeenranta Region Environmental Office

Director Ilkka Räsänen
+358 400 815 284
ilkka.rasanen@lappeenranta.fi

Project Manager Ville Reinikainen
+358 40 593 1403
ville.reinikainen@lappeenranta.fi