On March 28, 48 AEG Facilities-affiliated stadiums, arenas, theatres, clubs and convention centers in 33 cities, seven countries and four continents joined millions of people and organizations worldwide in “going dark” for World Wildlife Fund’s Earth Hour, an international event in support of the environment.
From 8:30 to 9:30 p.m., dozens of facilities turned off non-essential lights and utilized signage to help spread the message of Earth Hour. These venues took action as part of a global Earth Hour campaign organized by AEG 1EARTH, AEG’s industry-leading corporate sustainability program. In addition, AEG educated employees worldwide about the significance of Earth Hour and encouraged staff members to participate in the office and at home.
Earth Hour is designed to show the power each individual has to make a difference and demonstrate the collective strength of these small actions. Earth Hour started in just one city in 2007 and has spread to more than 7,000 cities covering all seven continents. The annual event takes place from 8:30–9:30 p.m. across all time zones and includes countless global landmarks, from the Eiffel Tower in Paris to the Empire State Building in New York to the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
“AEG has many initiatives to engage our guests and employees in sustainability,” said John Marler, senior director of energy and environment, AEG. “We emphasize Earth Hour each year because it enables our very visible venues around the world to make a strong statement about what we can do to make a more sustainable world.”
AEG Facilities-affiliated venues that participated in this year’s Earth Hour included:
| 1STBANK Center (Bloomfield, CO) | Barclays Center (Brooklyn, NY) | BBVA Compass Stadium (Houston, TX) |
| Best Buy Theater (New York, NY) | Bluebird Theater (Denver, CO) | Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre (Brisbane, Australia) |
| Brisbane Entertainment Centre (Brisbane, Australia) | Cairns Convention Centre (Cairns, Australia) | Citizens Business Bank Arena (Ontario, Ca.) |
| CONSOL Energy Center (Pittsburgh, PA) | Darwin Convention Centre (Darwin, Australia) | El Rey Theatre (Los Angeles, Ca.) |
| Eventim Apollo (London, UK) | Hawaii Convention Center (Honolulu, HI) | Keswick Theatre (Glenside, PA) |
| KFC Yum! Center (Louisville, KY) | Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) | L.A. LIVE (Los Angeles, CA) |
| Los Angeles Convention Center (Los Angeles, CA) | Mercedes-Benz Arena (Shanghai, China) | Arvest Bank Theatre at The Midland (Kansas City, MO) |
| Newcastle Entertainment Centre (New South Wales, Australia) | Nokia Theatre L.A.LIVE (Los Angeles, CA) | O.co Coliseum (Oakland, Ca.) |
| O2 World (Berlin, Germany) | Oracle Arena (Oakland, CA) | Perth Arena (Perth, Australia) |
| Qantas Credit Union Arena (Sydney, Australia) | Rabobank Arena (Bakersfield, CA) | Showbox at the Market (Seattle, WA) |
| Showbox SoDo (Seattle, WA) | Shrine Auditorium (Los Angeles, CA) | Sprint Center (Kansas City, MO) |
| STAPLES Center (Los Angeles, CA) | Starland Ballroom (Sayreville, NJ) | Stockholm Globe Arenas (Stockholm, Sweden) |
| Suncorp Stadium (Brisbane, Australia) | Target Center (Minneapolis, MN) | The Roxy Theatre (Los Angeles, CA) |
| The O2 (London, UK) | The Ogden Theatre (Denver, CO) | Valley View Casino Center (San Diego, CA) |
| The SSE Arena, Wembley (London, UK) | StubHub Center (Carson, CA) | |
| Verizon Theatre Grand Prairie (Grand Prairie, TX) | Zhongsheng Center (Dalian, China) |
In 2010, AEG established a set of 2020 environmental performance goals across five issue areas, including energy and climate, water, waste, responsible purchasing and education. In 2015, the company will release its fourth AEG 1EARTH Environmental Sustainability Report, which will provide an update on progress towards AEG’s 2020 goals and share stories of AEG’s involvement in Earth Hour and other environmental events worldwide.
