The Hanoi Times - Vietnam will join an international campaign to fight global warming for the first time, turning off lights for an hour at 8.30 pm o­n March 28.

Earth Hour was held for the first time in 2007 in Sydney, Australia, by the World Wildlife Fund, and was extremely successful.

Since then, the last Saturday of March every year has been nominated as the day o­n which lights are voluntarily turned off for o­ne hour.
 
Last year people in 35 countries and 390 cities joined Earth Hour, while this year the numbers are expected to swell to 1,000 cities and 1 billion people.
 
So far, 377 cities have registered for their participation in the event.

Ho Thanh Lan, a WWF media officer in Vietnam, said, “Recent reports place Vietnam among o­ne of five countries that will be most affected by a rise of sea levels, o­ne of the consequences of global climate change.”

Earth Hour helps improve environmental awareness and enables people to see the change their actions could make to the environment, Ms. Lan said.

WWF Vietnam said it is calling o­n organizations, businesses, and the public to support the campaign.
 
In major cities like Hanoi and HCM City, volunteers plan to call o­n organizations and schools to popularize Earth Hour, WWF Vietnam said.

Local authorities would also provide information to households, it said.

For two weeks before the event, various activities would be held to highlight the event, it added.

Interested organizations can register at .