Earth Hour is a global climate change initiative started by the World Wide Fund for Nature in March 2007. It is one of the most important environmental conservation events of the year (celebrated every last Saturday of March), and it aims at creating awareness of people taking responsibility toward a sustainable future by turning the lights off. Earth Hour is different from Earth Day and it is not to be confused with it.

During the Earth Hour people and businesses turn off their lights for an hour at 8.30 pm, local time, usually on the last Saturday of March as a sign of solidarity, globally. This hour is intended to put in evidence the need to take action regarding this important issue i.e. global climate change. From Europe to Asia to the Americas iconic building (such as for example the Eiffel Tower in Paris) have stood in darkness during previous Earth Hours.

Earth Hour started in Sydney, Australia, in 2007 but now it touches 180 countries all around the globe and it goes far beyond the symbolic action of switching off the lights for one hour. This event caused positive environmental impact and drived major legislative changes to safeguard our environment. On this theme, i.e. climate change, the EU is working and implementing dedicated climate policies and strategies. The EU is also taking a leading role in international negotiations on climate change and promoting new policies to safeguard our environment. The EU is thus committed to ensuring the successful implementation of the Paris Agreement. The EU is also working on the so called Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). EU countries, on the point, have agreed to meet various targets to reduce emissions and transit toward a greener sustainable economy. Therefore the EU seeks to ensure that climate concerns are taken seriously into consideration also when planning and preparing policies dedicated to other areas (e.g. transport and energy).