Earth Hour 2009

Message of His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew

The environmental crisis, which afflicts our entire planet, constitutes one of the major problems of humanity, together with poverty and the absence of peace. It is however obvious, even to skeptics, that climate change provides undeniable evidence that the environmental crisis is the ecumenical and universal problem par excellence, since it affects every corner of the earth and, of course, each and every human, poor and rich, young or elderly.

Concerted action for the aversion of climate change, whose impacts on ecosystems, natural resources and human communities are expected by the scientists to prove catastrophic, constitutes a supreme manifestation of solidarity and unity, in the shadow of such a catastrophe. We should all keep in mind that we are responsible for the ecological crisis, both collectively, as humanity, and personally, each one of us. The time to redirect away from the route of auto-catastrophe is near. The Earth Hour has come! We invite all, irrespective of religion and nationality, to participate in the "Earth Hour", an initiative of WWF, the global conservation organization, which has eventually evolved into a worldwide collective action for the protection of our one and only planet. On the 28th of March, let us all turn off the lights of houses, offices, factories, services and other buildings for one hour, from 8:30 until 9:30 in the evening, thus declaring our personal commitment to the good cause of environmental protection and control of climate change.