Wait…why are we turning off the lights?

Reflecting on Earth Hour

My daughter is two years old. She enjoys talking to her parents, playing with her friends, spending time with her mom, turning the faucet on and off — mostly on as opposed to off! — and, just recently, turning the lights in our home on and off. Repeatedly.

She is at an age where she is asserting her personality, beginning to understand cause and effect and is on the cusp of grasping complex issues. On the cusp but not quite, which is to say that she doesn’t grasp that the water flowing from the faucet is a finite, precious resource. Likewise, the concept that the lighting and heating for our home is powered by electricity generated at a distant power plant is perhaps still beyond her. As a result, I have been giving thought to how to explain that for an hour this Saturday, March 19th, our family may be sitting around in the dark to mark Earth Hour.

This gave me pause. How do I explain Earth Hour? Now in its tenth year, Earth Hour has become a de facto international symbol to represent one’s commitment to the planet. In 2015, 172 countries participated and 10,400 landmarks and monuments went dark. That is certainly a potent symbol, but is a symbol what the global environmental movement still needs?

2015 was a landmark year for sustainable development — it saw the adoption of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals and, to cap off the year, the negotiation of the Paris Agreement at CoP21.

This is a significant quartet of achievements. I think it is reasonable to say that, collectively, these accomplishments have helped shift the national and international discourse around development and climate change, not to mention having greatly raised broader, public awareness of the need for urgent climate action. This is particularly true of CoP21. According to research undertaken by Brown University during the course of the CoP, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today and The Wall Street Journal collectively published over 400 articles on the progress of the negotiation. These impressive numbers reflect the unprecedented agreement of 195 nations to seriously battle climate change. Nevertheless, the negotiation was, in some respects, the opening salvo in what will be a decades long fight.

Given the magnitude, not to mention the recognition, of the climate battle, I come back to my earlier question. Do we still need symbols? Perhaps, but I feel reminders are more apt: reminders to remain conscious of our energy usage, to commute wisely, to eat sustainably, to conserve water, to appreciate the earth. What better reminder of these pressing issues than Earth Hour? With so many cities, landmarks and icons involved, it provides something to which everyone can relate.

It is in this regard that, this year, I feel a sense of pride and a sense of excitement. Pride in that the Bahá’í House of Worship — the Bahá’í Faith being the religious movement with which I identify — will go dark for Earth Hour. Not only does this serve as a reminder to Bahá’ís across the United States — and perhaps the world — to be ever mindful of the environment, but it also serves as a potent reminder that faith communities have an important role to play in the implementation of the Paris Agreement. Increasingly it is recognized that faith groups can play a significant role in educating and influencing their congregations, can add a moral voice to the dialogue around climate change, and promote intergenerational responsibility.

I’m excited that I can use the House of Worship’s involvement in Earth Hour as a visual reminder to my daughter of why I am asking her to turn off the lights, to conserve water and to be ever mindful of the fragile planet on which she lives. I can only hope that over the coming months and years I can add working to protect the planet and promoting sound ecological stewardship to the list of things she enjoys. If so, I know I will have accomplished at least one worthwhile act as a parent.