On 31st March 2012, Uganda joined the rest of the world to celebrate Earth Hour under the theme “ENERGY CONSERVATION”.  Earth Hour is a global event initiated by WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) held annually on the last Saturday of March. On this day, households and businesses are required to turn off their non-essential lights and other electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change. Earth Hour was conceived by WWF and The Sydney Morning Herald in 2007, when 2.2 million residents of Sydney participated by turning off all non-essential lights. Following Sydney's lead, many other cities around the world adopted the event in 2008. Earth Hour 2011 took place on March 26, 2011 from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., at participant's local time.

The purpose of this event is to increase knowledge, awareness, and management of energy sources, solar energy systems, and improved technologies exploiting their commercial and economic potential, and the alternative sources of energy among others. This year, the event was organized by NatureUganda in collaboration with World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and it took place at Sheraton Hotel gardens.

Earth Hour has done a lot to raise awareness of sustainability issues. But there’s more to it than switching off lights for one hour once a year. It’s all about giving people a voice and working together to create a better future for our planet.

In his speech, the Guest of Hour, Mr James Banabe, the assistant Commissioner of energy efficiency, at the Ministry of Energy said " There is no doubt that Climate Change is one of the major global challenges for humanity today. It has been acknowledged that Climate Change has global repercussions, however it is the developing countries like Uganda which will experience the greatest impacts from Climate and disaster risks which in turn enervate sustainable development.

He stated that the challenge is not only to supply the much needed energy, but to also encourage the proper and sustainable use of it. He also indicated that the Government has put in place the necessary policies, legal and institutional frameworks to guide the generation, supply and use of energy.

The Executive director NatureUganda, Mr. Achilles Byaruhanga said that we should look at energy conservation as a way of life. He mentioned that in Uganda all our main source of energy is based on natural resources and therefore the conservation of these resources is also conservation of energy. He also indicated that we should take the initiative to involve the youth in Nature conservation.

“We have taken Nature for granted for too long, we only realize that when there's a calamity (floods, landslides etc). It is time for us to act now. You cannot manage alone, it requires partnerships and collaborations to demonstrate that nature conservation is our responsibility” said Mr Paul Mafabi, Chairman NatureUganda.

The event involved Essay competitions  by schools and institutions on "Conservation and Energy" and results were announced at the function.