In Hanoi, a switch-off ceremony was held at the August Revolution Square in response to Earth Hour on the same day. The event saw the attendance of member of the Party Central Committee, Vice State President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh; Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh; and Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Doan Toan.
In attendance were campaign ambassadors, including: Le Vinh Son, Chairman of Son Ha Group; H'hen Nie, Miss Universe Vietnam in 2017; Hoang Nam Tien, Chairman of FPT Software; Dang Hoang Giang, Deputy Director of the Center for Community Research and Development; Ousmane Dione, World Bank Country Director for Vietnam.
Earth Hour is an initiative of World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) since 2007. So far, 187 countries and territories with around 7,000 cities and billions of people all over the world have joined the campaign.
In Vietnam, the Earth Hour campaign is an annual event launched by the Ministry of Industry and Trade in collaboration with Hanoi capital city with the support of Vietnam Electricity Corporation (EVN), Hanoi Beer Alcohol And Beverage Joint Stock Corporation (HABECO, and Daikin Air Conditioning Company (Vietnam).
Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh calls on people, enterprises to join their hands to protect the environment.
Speaking at the ceremony, Vice State President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh stressed that Vietnam is assessed as one of the countries which is the hardest hit by climate change, and saving energy is a practical way to realize its international commitments to cope with climate change.
She said that the event showed the determination and efforts of Vietnamese people to protect the environment and respond to climate change.
At the ceremony, Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh called on organizations, people and businesses to turn off unnecessary electrical devices whenever possible to save energy, contributing to protecting environment and reducing the impacts of climate change as well as fulfilling the goals of sustainable economic development.
According to the National Power Dispatch Centre, Vienam saved 492,000kWh of electricity, equivalent to VND917 million (USD39,700), for one hour of powering off on Saturday night. This year’s figure represented a slight rise against the 485,000kWh of electricity saved during Earth Hour 2018.
In addition to the symbolic action of turning off unnecessary electrical devices for an hour on Saturday, many other power-saving activities were held in cities and provinces nationwide during March to raise public awareness about saving electricity and protecting the environment.
