The lights go off in Dubai on March 29, 2008. It is only 60 minutes in the dark but this is a big move for a city that wants to be seen as the brightest and glitziest on the planet.

The iconic Burj al-Arab, the only seven star hotel in the world, with its sail-like architecture, is leading the way in the worldwide Earth Hour blackout. Many other Dubai businesses, shopping malls and municipalities are flicking the switch or dimming the lights.

Interestingly, the Dubai Racing Club is bang smack in the middle of its biggest carnival of the year and the organizers are not prepared to have their 55,000 race goers watching the ‘richest horse race in the world’ in pitch darkness.

Linking With the World
The Earth Hour each year is taking on greater importance in the United Arab Emirates. It is an opportunity for this young and vibrant nation to show itself as a key player on the world stage at a time when many Arab nations have given such global events a miss.

Highest Energy Consumer
The UAE has changed from being a desert country with a few fishing villages to a rich nation in only a few decades. During this expansion it has built skyscrapers and business towers in a gung-ho manner and has been blind to the growth of pollution and the environmental cost of its rapid development. The huge Mall of the Emirates where one can ski down the indoor snow slopes while outdoors it feels like a furnace is symbolic of the high energy consumption of Dubai’s development. Because this country is home to some of the richest oil reserves in the world it has tended to be complacent about burning barrels of oil in its own backyard.

World Record in Consumption
Unfortunately, this record-breaking country that is aiming to have the world’s tallest building, the richest marathon and the best in every other field, now has the dubious reputation of having the world’s largest ‘global footprint’.

In a country that has scored a FAIL on its Report Card on ‘Caring for the Environment’, with its high energy consumption and inadequate waste management, turning off the switches during Earth Hour is an opportunity to help the world notice that the UAE has seen the light.

Image Credit: Middle-East-Online