This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at McGill chapter.

Celebrate the planet and make noise for climate change this year by participating in the 11th annual Earth Hour movement! Earth Hour is a movement organized by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) which aims to make noise for climate action by encouraging individuals and communities to switch off the lights for an hour. This year, Earth Hour is taking place on March 25th from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm local time.

Last year for the 10th edition of Earth Hour, 178 countries and territories across the seven continents – and aboard the International Space Station – joined together in solidarity to make a statement about the need for action against climate change. Over 400 iconic landmarks were darkened, including the Eiffel Tower and the Taipei 101 skyscraper. The city of Montreal also joined the worldwide movement by turning off the lights in its main administrative buildings and the cross on Mont-Royal, to show its commitment to fighting climate change.

Climate change is an extremely relevant issue. In fact, it is the biggest environmental threat to our planet right now. The impacts of climate change can already be felt in the Arctic waters of Canada as the sea ice is shrinking before our very eyes. Turning off the lights for Earth Hour shows our commitment to fighting this global crisis. Turning off the lights saves power, which at the moment is largely generated by burning fossil fuels. More than that, turning off the lights for this event shows us the impact that we can achieve when we are united together.

Together, we have funded projects and changed laws and policies to protect our environment, including the banning of plastics in the World Heritage Site of the Galapagos Islands, and the provision of climate-smart boats to communities in the Philippines, after typhoon Haiyan. We took a huge step forward in 2016 with the Paris agreement which committed nearly 200 governments to stop climate change.

Evidently, this movement is gaining a lot of momentum. Let the world know that you’re a part of it too by participating in Earth Hour 2017.