UAP Old Mutual Tower is one of Kenya’s tallest buildings, famous for its bright lights that can be spotted kilometers away in Nairobi City. 

In what has become a New Year’s Eve tradition, dozens of people throng outside the 33-storey tower annually to have a glimpse of the tower’s immaculate and well-choreographed display of fireworks. 

However, on Saturday, 28th March 2026, the prominent feature of the Nairobi skyline went off script.

It switched off its lights for one hour from 8PM, joining millions of people across more than 190 countries and territories who marked Earth Hour 2026.

For Kenya, Earth Hour 2026, under the global theme “Give an Hour for Earth,”  is a moment of particular significance. 

The country faces growing pressures on its natural ecosystems, from deforestation and land degradation to the intensifying impacts of climate change on communities and wildlife. 

According to WWF-Kenya CEO, Jackson Kiplagat, the private sector should be ready to lead on nature conservation. 

“We are deeply grateful to Old Mutual Kenya for standing with us on Earth Hour 2026. This is exactly the kind of partnership Kenya needs,” he added. 

The lights-off moment at the Old Mutual Tower is part of a broader Earth Hour activation in Kenya, which has seen communities, youth groups, and conservation partners across the country give their hour for the planet through tree planting, clean-ups, and educational activities.

Kiplagat says, despite Earth Hour being twenty years old, the urgency it represents in the country is greater, now more than ever. 

“Kenya’s forests, wildlife and communities cannot wait, and moments like last night remind us that when we act together, change is possible.”

Earth Hour is the world’s largest grassroots environmental movement, organised by World Wide Fund for Nature-Kenya (WWF-Kenya). 

Since its launch in 2007, it has inspired individuals, communities, and organisations to take meaningful action for nature and the climate.