By Hana Namrouqa

AMMAN - The streets of Amman will go dark for one hour on Saturday as the capital switches off its lights to mark “Earth Hour”.

Households as well as public and private institutions are requested to turn off their lights on March 28 from 8:30pm-9:30pm in a “Vote for Earth” campaign, a worldwide initiative symbolising a global “election” between Earth and global warming.

“For the first time in history, people of all ages, nationalities, races and backgrounds have the opportunity to use their light switch as their vote. Switching off your lights is a vote for Earth, leaving them on is a vote for global warming,” according to the campaign’s website, www.earthhour.org.

The initiative aims at reaching a target of one billion “votes” which will be presented to world leaders at the UN Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, that aims to replace the Kyoto Protocol, later this year.

“Electricity will be switched off in certain parts of the capital on Saturday evening for one hour in a message to the public that excessive electricity use contributes to global warming,” Minister of Environment Khalid Irani told The Jordan Times on Sunday, noting that as certain street lamps and public agencies will go dark, Amman residents are requested to join the event voluntarily.

The ministry has addressed the concerned authorities including the Civil Defence Department and the Public Security Department, to ensure a smooth procedure, Irani noted.

He added that a celebration will be organised on Saturday at Wild Jordan Café in Jabal Amman which will feature a candlelight procession down Rainbow Street.

Experts believe climate change has caused a 30 per cent reduction in the country’s surface water resources, as well as a decrease in the volume of rainfall and agricultural production, both of which Jordan and the Arab world rely on heavily.

Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007 when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour. By last year, the message had grown into a global movement with 50 million people switching off their lights.

At the time, global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca-Cola billboard in New York’s Times Square all went dark in support of the initiative.