By Chris Howe

At 12.45am on Sunday 28 March, the bartender at the Langham Hotel looked at me very firmly, and said "Sir, I think the rest of the staff want to go home now." I was having a celebratory drink with some of the local Earth Hour helpers that had made the evening in Auckland so successful. Reluctantly we took the hint and went our separate ways. But a year earlier I had shared a post-Earth Hour drink or two with some of the same people, and it was wonderful to see them back again, volunteering for something they felt passionately about.

The Langham crew were just one of hundreds of groups around the country who had made huge personal commitments to Earth Hour. Earlier in the evening I’d been down at Takutai lawn, behind Britomart in Auckland, to see Takutai Wikiriwhi, a kaumatua from Ngati Whatua o Orakei. He opened with prayers and a magnificent sweep across the history of Auckland. He was followed by the wonderful folk singer Mel Parsons, then a countdown and a spectacular switch-off of the Sky Tower and other iconic Auckland buildings. The talented Chris Cope followed up with a wonderful acoustic set. Natalie from Heart of the City, Tania from Britomart, Lee from More FM, as well as the WWF crew, the Northern Steamship company, and many others, combined to make it a night to remember at Britomart.

In Wellington, a ukulele collective played a gig in Civic Square while the group that arguably started the whole ukulele movement in New Zealand, the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra, returned to their roots with an impromptu gig at the Deluxe café. In Dunedin the fire dancers thrilled audiences in the Octagon, and in Hamilton the whole centre of the city went dark – including, this year, the street lights. They don’t do things by halves, those people from the ‘Tron.

But although by the early hours of Sunday morning, New Zealand’s Earth Hour was over, around the world millions were still preparing for their Earth Hour. In fact, by the time the Auckland-based WWF team had caught a few hours sleep and were back at work at 8am, getting the pictures and stories out, and responding to the many media enquiries, Earth Hour had only just reached Europe and had yet to cross the Atlantic. Watching the news feeds and the images flood in really brought home the truly global nature of the event, and the huge interest from hundreds of millions of people across the world.

A combination photo shows the Buenos Aires' Obelisk before and during Earth Hour.

It certainly sends a shiver down your spine to see the Forbidden City in Beijing, or the Sphinx and the Pyramids, go dark. I think it’s the combination of seeing icons that are thousands of years old being part of a truly 21st century event that makes it so moving. And in a way, that brings me back to Britomart. Takutai made a very personal connection between the first people to live in Aotearoa and those communities all over the country who are showing that they care about the future of our shared planet.

Of course the naysayers and the sceptics emerged to criticise the event. One of my friends questioned the effectiveness of Earth Hour and asked me why we were promoting this “meaningless” event? I am quite sure the 100s of millions of people who took part don't think what they did was meaningless. Some people may wonder, “but what difference does just one hour make?” The truth is that Earth Hour goes far beyond the hour. It encourages people to make simple energy saving measures in their everyday lives: changing your light bulbs to energy saving bulbs, and turning them off when you’re not using them; turning off your appliances at the wall; and driving your car less. Small actions that taken together make a massive difference.

My friend’s question brought home to me that we still have much to do in the fight against climate change. WWF isn’t running this campaign for the publicity or the feel good factor. It’s an important part of our work to build a more sustainable future for our planet. So although it can sometimes be disheartening to hear the sceptics, and see some media reports that missed the point by focusing solely on energy savings, I take great hope from the powerful symbolism of people from different communities, cultures and countries coming together.

What drives us at WWF is a real passion for the future of this planet and all the wildlife and people on it. And on Saturday night we were joined by hundreds of millions of people all around the world who care as well. As WWF, we’ll be doing our very best to make sure the message those people sent – we want action on climate change – is heard by politicians and business leaders the world over. It’s the least we can do to honour their commitment to the future of this planet.