Thousands of Vietnamese people will turn off their lights and electrical equipment for one hour, starting from 8.30 pm on March 26 in response to the 2011 Earth Hour.

The central province of Thua Thien-Hue will host the campaign in Vietnam this year. This is the third time Vietnam has joined the event, which was launched by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to raise awareness of curbing global warming.

As of March 7, 29 provinces and cities have confirmed their participation in the event and that number is expected to increase.

The WWF has set up a forum at www.beyondthehour.org in 11 languages, including Vietnamese, so that enterprises, organisations and citizens around the globe will be able to share their experiences in environmental protection.

Earth Hour was first held in Sydney, Australia in 2007 and two million people participated and turned off their lights. In 2010, 128 countries joined the campaign.

The first Vietnam Earth Hour was held jointly by the WWF in Vietnam, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, in Hanoi in 2009.

(VNA)