Nature is failing like never before: Environment group

Although nature underpins societies and economies and it is one of the "greatest" allies in fight against climate change, now it is failing like never before, according to the head of an international environmental group.

Ahead of Earth Hour set to be observed on Saturday, Marco Lambertini, director general of World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) International, said in a statement on Friday that people need to unite more than ever to safeguard the future of the planet during the coronavirus crisis.

"...Today nature is failing like never before," Lambertini said, because, "we are destroying the natural systems we rely on for our health and well-being faster than they can replenish themselves -- jeopardizing our own survival and existence."

Touching on the upcoming Earth Hour 2020, he highlighted that the day offers a key opportunity to raise voices to secure the future of international commitments to stop the loss of nature.

The event that has been engaging people and creating awareness about earth and environment over the past 12 years will be marked in 2020 with people taking part online from their homes due to the COVID-19 pandemic to show support for the planet.

"The need to unite and protect our planet has never been greater," Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg said in the statement, adding that "Earth Hour for me is every hour of every day."

Reiterating the cancellation or suspension of public gatherings as part of measures to curb the spread of coronavirus pandemic, Thunberg called for coming virtually together at digital Earth Hour to stress once again people's commitment to the planet.

Started by the WWF -- an international non-governmental organization working in the field of wilderness preservation and the environment -- as a symbolic event to keep lights off in Sydney in 2007, the Earth Hour has turned out a major catalyst to promote environmental protection movement. It has led to legislative changes in many countries through sheer people's power.