On March 23, thousands of landmarks and buildings around the world went dark, not due to some power outage or electricity shortage though. Millions of people united for Earth Hour 2024, the WWF-observed event encouraging people to ‘give the planet a break’ and turn off the non-essential lights for 60 minutes. This year, over 30 residential buildings and landmarks in the capital of Kazakhstan supported the initiative, QazMonitor reports.
What happened: According to the press service of Astana city administration (Akimat), 33 objects turned off the illumination from 20:30 to 21:30. The administration shared a video showing some parts of the Kazakh capital going nearly pitch black.
The list of the places in Astana that supported Earth Hour 2024 is as follows:
1) Astana City Akimat (11 Beibitshilik St.)
2) Akimat of "Saryarka" district of Astana (13 Saryarka Ave.)
3) Administrative building on 9 Beibitshilik St.
4) E. Rakhmadiev State Academic Philharmonic Hall (32 Kenesary St.)
5) Schoolchildren’s Palace named after M.Utemisov (1 Mambetova str.)
6) “Grand Alatau” Residential Complex (Zheltoksan str. 2,2/1,2/2,2/3)
7) “Arman” Residential Complex (1 Zhenis Ave.)
8) “Prestige” Residential Complex (1 Zheltoksan St.)
9) Radisson Hotel Astana (4 Saryarka Ave.)
10) “Riverside Apartments” Residential Complex (8 Saryarka Ave.)
11) Park Inn by Radisson Hotel (8a Saryarka Ave.)
12) “Symphony” Residential Complex (1 Saryarka Ave.)
13) “Bolashak” Residential Complex (3 Saryarka Ave.)
14) “Sana” Residential Complex (8 Shevchenko St.)
15) “Edel” Residential Complex (5 Saryarka Ave.)
16) “Kenesary” Residential Complex (11 Saryarka Ave.)
17) Administrative building on 13 Abay Ave.
18) Residential building on Saryarka Ave. 17
19) “Shanyrak” Dormitory (42, 44 Saryarka Ave.)
20) "Svechki" Residential Complex (28, 30 Bogenbai Batyr)
21) Keruen City Mall
22) Astana-Bayterek Monument
23) "Kazmedia ortalygy" TV and radio complex
24) Nur Alem Museum
25) Palace of Peace and Concord
26) Khazret Sultan Mosque
27) National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan
28) Main Republican Mosque
29) Ailand Family Recreation Center;
30) Astana Ballet
31) NC "KazMunayGas" building
32) Kazakh Eli Monument
33) Mangilik El Triumphal Arch
Global impact: Earth Hour 2024 marks the 18th anniversary of the event. According to the event’s website, “supporters from more than 180 countries and territories collectively contributed over 1.4 million hours, making this year's Earth Hour the biggest hour for Earth yet.” Next year, the event will take place at 8:30 pm local time on Saturday 22 March 2025.