In the first year since its conception, Earth Hour has become an international movement against global warming. During 2007's event, Sydney city energy was reduced by 10.2%. However, the campaign has been criticised for its tokenism and reliance on 'sending a powerful message to the world', over effectively reducing carbon emissions.

“We know there are cynics around Earth Hour, but for us we think Earth Hour is about the positive things you can do, it’s not about what you can’t do,” says Director of Earth Hour Sydney, Elizabeth Potter. 

Tony Mohr, Manager of the Climate Change Program for the Australian Conservation Foundation believes the event sets the stage to enable people to become politically and personally engaged with the issue. 

“Turning our lights off for an hour is not going to solve climate change, but I’m sure the organisers have not pretended that that would be the case,” he says. Rather, according to Mohr, the message of Earth Hour is that a lot more needs to be done on a personal and governmental level. 

Australian blogger and former businessman, Andrew Landeryou, is one of the critics. He believes energy efficiency won’t be achieved by the world “plunging into enviro-darkness”, and describes Earth Hour as a “guilt-tripping gimmick conceived in folly and arguably actually counter-productive in terms of conserving resources.”

Lord Mayor of Dublin, Councillor Paddy Bourke disagrees, saying that any change or initiative needs to start small and build over time. Councillor Bourke believes the international interest in Earth Hour in 2008 is representative of this type of growth. 

Public awareness of the impact of climate change has been increasing in Dublin. The City Council has just announced a Climate Change Strategy in conjunction with Earth Hour. “I strongly believe the greatest influence on individuals is peer pressure. This concept represents significant energy-saving in Dublin. Building on that throughout the rest of Ireland is the next step,” Bourke says. 

Earth Hour reflected the sustainability agenda of Sydney and “firmly established our credentials as a green leader,” says Sydney Lord Mayor, Clover Moore. “We saw it as much more than a one off event, and much more than mere symbolism. We thought it offered a real opportunity to change people’s thinking and generate long-term behaviour changes”. 

Phil Freeman, Climate Change Campaigner for the Australian Conservation Foundation, agrees, saying, “The importance of Earth Hour is that it has the potential to change everybody’s behaviour for the other 8760 hours in the year.”  

Event organisers did not expect such positive international interest in staging the event. Ms Potter said the reception and “interest has been phenomenal”. 

Mr Landeryou, however, remains in defiance, stating before the event, “My lights at home in Brunswick will be burning bright in my protest against those extreme environmentalists who seek to drag us all kicking and screaming back to the caves”. 

Participating cities ranged from Copenhagen to Bogota, Ottawa to Suva, and Tel Aviv to Sydney.