Why is Earth Hour ineffective at reducing emission rates and how to fix it?

Since 2007, the environmental activist organization Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) has held Earth Hour which was attended by citizens from 192 countries and regions. This annual event, which is held every Saturday in the last week of March, invites the world's citizens to temporarily turn off electricity for one hour as proof of human commitment to preserving the earth. QQCITYBET

WWF stated that Earth Hour has contributed to climate change mitigation efforts. For example, in 2018, Earth Hour was claimed to have inspired the public to put pressure on the French Polynesian government to create a 5 million square kilometer Maritime Management Area in their Exclusive Economic Zone.

Earth Hour in 2015 is also claimed to have influenced local policies in terms of the formation of urban parks (Malaysia), to the freezing of new oil projects for 10 years in the Arctic region (Russia).

Is this campaign really effective in achieving its target of increasing people's awareness of environmental issues and triggering meaningful changes? In conjunction with the commemoration of Earth Day on April 22, I tried to evaluate the campaign from various angles.

Haven't reached the rich yet

I consider the emission reduction campaign strategy through Earth Hour is still not effective at targeting the middle to upper economic community, as well as high and very high income people.

This argument is based on the absence of an Earth Hour strategy to reach these groups.

In fact, this reach is very important because according to a report by the international non-profit organization, Oxfam, about 790 million of the world's richest people (equivalent to 10% of the global population) are responsible for 49% of total individual emissions. Emissions of this type result from everyday lifestyles (such as mobility and housing) and constitute the largest share (64%) of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Without a strategy to reach high-income people, Earth Hour is just a mass campaign that has almost lost its effectiveness.