Thousands of households, offices and businesses — including the Australian embassy and all Starbucks stores — are expected to join the Earth Hour at 8:00-9:00 pm Saturday, an initiative at mobilizing public opinion on climate change issues.

In Manila, the Australian embassy called on the public to join the “big switch off” and by “making simple long-term changes that will collectively make a difference for our planet”.

All 129 Starbucks stores across the country will also join the effort by turning off or dimming some of their lights, said Malou Velilla, manager of a Starbucks store at the CCP complex .

CCP Complex and the entire stretch of Roxas Boulevard will also take part in the event.

The embassy said that Earth Hour was launched in Australia on March 31, 2007 and was joined by 2.2-million residents in Sydney and by 2,100 businesses that shut off their power supplies for one hour.

That initial effort resulted in a 10.2 percent reduction in power consumption across Sydney.

The second Earth Hour this 2008 will cover 24 global cities, now including Manila. ###