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| (Image Source: World Wide Fund For Nature Philippines) |
Filipinos, in a collective effort, dedicated over 1.3 million hours doing something positive for planet Earth as part of the annual Earth Hour celebration held last March 22, 2025 led by WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) Philippines. This remarkable feat is a testament to the Filipino spirit and their demand for concrete actions to protect the environment according to Earth Hour Philippines National Director and WWF PH Climate and Energy Programme Head Atty. Angela Consuelo Ibay. Data collated on the EarthHour.org website through self-reporting of individuals showed Philippines had 1,377,368 hours while China and India had 783,674 and 359,652 hours, respectively. The global celebration of Earth Hour in 2025 collected a total of 2,925,040 hours from 118 countries and territories, underscoring the collective effort towards environmental and climate action.
“Filipinos want breathable air, cooler weather, clean water, healthy forests and ecosystems, and more renewable energy. This is the strong message they sent when they joined the global switch-off of Earth Hour. A clear sign that leaders and officials should do more for the environment and our planet. The growth of this global grassroots movement has been phenomenal, especially here in the Philippines, where we have achieved our highest number of hours this 2025,” said Atty. Ibay. The global Earth Hour “Hour Bank” allows individuals to self-report the hours they spent doing something positive for nature such as doing outdoor activities like coastal cleanup, cooking zero waste meals, planting or growing vegetables, watching nature documentaries, teaching about the environment, reading a book about nature, having an acoustic music session, and many more. The over 1.3 million hours logged in the Philippines for 2025 is a more than 1000% jump from 2024 where 116,273 hours were logged. This surge in Earth Hour participation is a clear indication of the growing demand for environmental and climate action.
The Philippines' observance of Earth Hour this year saw 28 partners from national government agencies as well as local governments and multiple corporations contributing through switch-off activities in their respective localities and establishments. The Department of Energy (DOE) saw a significant increase in the amount of energy saved during the 1-hour lights-off for this year. An electricity supply grid load drop of 161.98 megawatts (MW) was recorded on 8:30-9:30 pm. In 2024, DOE reported a 132.11 MW load drop. “While Earth Hour started as a movement to raise awareness on climate change back in 2007, it has now evolved into a bigger movement towards societal, cultural, and more importantly political, actions for a more environment-friendly world. Our country has been consistently the top-ranked country in the world when it comes to disaster risk. It is about time that Filipinos demand concrete actions, not just promises, from leaders to put measures in place that will protect people from the adverse effects of climate change,” said Atty. Ibay.
Earth Hour, celebrated this year with the theme “Switch Off And Secure Water For All”, is the world’s biggest grassroots movement, promoting awareness of the impacts of climate change and environmental protection and the actions people can take to address them. WWF-Philippines led the celebration by supporting activities at different locations and cities, allowing for a wider reach and bigger impact across the country. The aim for Earth Hour this year is to highlight issues on water security and its connection to climate change impacts and protecting nature.
