Egypt to turn lights off Saturday to mark global Earth Hour

Egypt is set to participate in shutting lights off Saturday to mark Earth Hour, a global initiative the country has been a part of since 2009, state news agency MENA reported.

In a statement on Wednesday, Egypt’s environment minister Khaled Fahmy said all Egyptian tourist attractions, including the Giza Pyramids, Cairo Tower, and Qaitbay Citadel will shut their lights off for 60 minutes starting at 8:30pm.

The tourism ministry called on all hotels, tourism establishments and others to participate in the initiative to promote going green and the use of renewable energy.

Organised by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Earth Hour originated in Sydney, Australia in 2007 with a simple appeal to people and businesses to turn off their lights for an hour to raise awareness about carbon pollution.

Since then, the initiative has grown to engage more than 7,000 cities and towns worldwide.

Source: Ahram online