Bank of Valletta joined other organisations and individuals across 172 countries and territories that chose to switch off their lights to highlight the need to 'change climate change' on Saturday 28th March.
For the ninth edition of WWF's Earth Hour, Bank of Valletta symbolically switched off the lights on the façade of its BOV Centre in Santa Venera as well as that of Legal Office in Palace Square, Valletta. In addition the bank supported the Ministry for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate Change in giving away energy saving bulbs to people who made their way to Valletta on Saturday for the Earth Hour celebrations.
Mark Marmara, the bank's Green Manager explained that, "Earth Hour is an opportunity to create more awareness about the importance of raising awareness and increasing collective consciousness about the immediacy of environmental issues. The bank's commitment goes deeper than a symbolic gesture. The green approach has become integral to the Bank's modus operandi. The majority of the Bank's premises are equipped with intelligent LED lighting systems that reduce unnecessary lights, along with double glazed windows that lessen reliance on heating and cooling energies by maximizing temperature retention."
Mr Marmara also referred to the comprehensive water-saving programme undertaken by the Bank, that has reduced water consumption by as much as 72%, or about 1.4 million litres of water annually.
WWF launched Earth Hour in 2007 as a grass root movement that celebrates its commitment to protect the planet by switching off lights for one designated hour.
This year, Earth Hour was celebrated all the way from Antartica to the International Space Station. The first lights went out in Samoa, then all the way across seven continents to Tahiti, inspiring unprecedented unity from people around the world committed to use their power to change climate change. Among the 1,400 plus landmarks that switched off their lights, there were the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.