Department of Environment  Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Maria Antonia “Toni” Yulo-Loyzaga has issued a call to action, particulrly for Filipinos to participate in Earth Hour 2024 in response to the looming planetary crisis.

This year's Earth Hour, themed 'Switch Off Plastic Pollution, Switch On Nature,' is scheduled for March 23, running from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

“While global discourse on climate resilience continues, we must face the urgency of our planetary crisis,” Loyzaga said in a statement released on Saturday, March 23.

The Earth Hour, according to her, is a reminder of both the “promise and the perils of our current trajectories.”

“The choice is ours and there must be no other than to be stewards and captains of our Earth’s future,” the DENR chief stated.

“We renew this commitment this year as we stand with the World-Wide Fund for Nature – Philippines (WWF Philippines) in the global observance of Earth Hour 2024.”

Loyzaga has also urged knowledge and innovation leaders from all sectors to tackle the socioeconomic reality of plastic use and create alternative materials that are as functional and economical as petroleum-based plastic.

“Our responses to this complex challenge must not only be bottom-up but also top-down, cutting across all sectors. Industry, government, and academia must lead the CHANGE lest our Earth choke in the hands of the most intelligent species that ever lived,” she said.

“We broke this planet. We may still have a chance to fix it – but we must ACT TODAY,” the DENR chief ended.

Organized by the WWF, Earth Hour is an annual global environmental event in which people switch off non-essential lights for one hour as a demonstration of their dedication to the earth.

Earth Hour's goal is to raise environmental awareness, promote energy saving, and inspire individuals, communities, businesses, and governments to take action to combat climate change and environmental degradation.