In 2004, confronted with scientific findings, WWF Australia met with advertising agency Leo Burnett Sydney to "discuss ideas for engaging Australians on the issue of climate change".

WWF Australia presented their concept to Fairfax Media who, along with Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore, agreed to back the event.

This was noted to be significantly less than a similar campaign initiated by Bangkok's City Hall the previous year in May, when 530 megawatt-hours were saved and 143 tonnes of carbon dioxide emission were cut.

This is less than the previous year's 10.2%; however, Earth Hour executive director Andy Ridley made the claim that after factoring margin of error, the participation in this city was the same.

[29] The Philippines was able to save 611 MWh of electricity during the time period, which is said to be equivalent to shutting down a dozen coal-fired power plants for an hour.

Together with agency Leo Burnett, Earth Hour unveiled an updated planet themed logo that included a small plus symbol to the right of the signature "60" which was used in previous years.

IST, flagged off by the Chief Minister of Delhi Sheila Dikshit and Earth Hour 2011 Ambassador and Bollywood actress Vidya Balan in the presence of Jim Leape, Director General, WWF International.

After power was restored, major buildings, commercial centers and residential areas in Metro Manila and most provinces continued to turn off their lights, while participating channels in the Philippines, ABS-CBN, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network halted their transmissions for an hour.

A launch event took place at ION Orchard on February 20, with the move supported by Singapore's Economic Development Board (EDB) and WWF-Singapore.

It was also the first year that Earth Hour was celebrated in space, with Dutch astronaut André Kuipers tweeting at various moments during the event's trek around the globe.

[52] In 2013, the world's first Earth Hour Forest began in Uganda, an ongoing project that aims to restore 2700 hectares of degraded land.

[53] Earth Hour commemorations in Madagascar had as their highlight the distribution of one thousand wood-saving stoves to victims of the cyclone Haruna in the southern town of Toliara, extensively damaged in the February 22 storm.

WWF-Madagascar and ADES (Association pour le Développement de l'Energie Solaire) distributed an additional 2,200 wood-saving stoves later that year.

Former President of Botswana, Festus Mogae promised to plant one million indigenous trees over four years, as part of his "I Will If You Will" challenge for Earth 2013.

[54] WWF-Russia launched its 2013 campaign aiming to secure more than 100,000 signatures from Russian citizens to petition for amendments to the current forest legislation.

[56] "It is all about the collective effort of individuals around the world getting together to help fund or add their voice to support on-the-ground environmental and social projects that deliver real outcomes.

"[57] The Earth Hour 2014 Report[58] highlighted a broad range of environmental outcomes achieved by the movement across 162 countries and territories around the world.

The movement also saw campaigns to help protect Australia's Great Barrier Reef,[59] the launch of a Blue Sky App in China,[60][61][62] and the delivery of thousands of wood efficient stoves to communities in Madagascar.

A day before the event, over 170 countries and territories had confirmed their participation; with more than 1200 landmarks and close to 40 UNESCO world heritage sites set for the switch off.

[66] For the second year running, Earth Hour Blue aims to raise funds for WWF organized climate focused projects on a crowdfunding platform.

[71] Uniquely participating in the Earth Hour activity are the inhabitants of an island called Sibuyan in the Philippines who turned on their lights to elevate the message of using renewable energy.

Östersund in Sweden cancelled the 2016 event, following a spate of sex attacks, highlighting safety as a subject for discussion when saving resources.

190 countries and territories came together to support this movement and few of the many public personalities such as UN Secretary General António Guterres, Pope Francis, environmental activist Greta Thunberg, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Indian film star Amitabh Bachchan, UN Environment Goodwill ambassador Dia Mirza, Kenyan singing sensation Nikita Kering, Colombian model Claudia Bahamon and British Singer Songwriter, Cat Stevens also participated in Earth Hour 2020.

The annual switch-off event was held at Kartilya ng Katipunan in Bonifacio Shrine Manila, which was organized by World Wide Fund for Nature Philippines.

“This year, Earth Hour Philippines’ focus is on addressing plastic pollution,” WWF-Philippines director Katherine Custodio said.

[89][90] Jollibee Foods Corporation stores from the Philippines, China, North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia also gave an hour for the Earth, in solidarity with over 190 countries.

Earth Hour is an initiative to encourage individuals, businesses and governments around the world to take accountability for their ecological footprint and engage in dialogue and resource exchange that provides real solutions to our environmental challenges.

[93] The study noted the policy challenge of converting Earth Hour's short-term energy saving into longer-term actions, including sustained changes in behaviour and investment.