A ceremony for the annual Earth Hour event was held at Coastal City shopping mall in Nanshan District on Saturday night.

The event was designed to encourage individuals, communities and businesses worldwide to switch off nonessential electric lights for one hour.

Guests turned off the lights for the annual Earth Hour event during a ceremony held at Coastal City shopping mall in Nanshan District on Saturday night. Courtesy of One Planet Foundation

Despite a downpour, the ceremony attracted over 100 viewers on site. An initiative encouraging reducing food waste was also unveiled during the ceremony.

Many landmark buildings in Futian CBD, Nanshan, Qianhai and Bao’an switched off their exterior lighting from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Saturday.

The global movement was initiated by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in 2007 and this year’s theme is “Giving an Hour for Earth”. The city’s Earth Hour event was co-organized by Shenzhen-based One Planet Foundation.