Earth Hour - what is it good for?

This year's Earth Hour was an amazing success - hundreds of millions of people in over 4,000 towns and cities in 88 countries switched off their lights for an hour in the largest collective action on an environmental issue ever seen.

Earth Hour alone won't save the planet, and no-one connected with it has ever suggested that it will. But Earth Hour is a powerful and valuable part of the strategy for moving the world towards strong action on climate change.

On one level, the symbolism of so many people uniting for a common cause sends an undeniable message that the global community wants its leaders to take action.

Earth Hour also begins a conversation, and this is perhaps its most important aspect especially in a country like Australia. People begin to hear a message about climate change and the need for action. And they begin to see that while one person may not be able to make much of a difference, when one person's action is combined with those of many, many other people a powerful force is set in motion.

Changing the way that a society thinks about how it lives its life cannot happen overnight. The transition has to begin somewhere, and Earth Hour is one of those starting points.