Green activists lead lights-off call in France

Environmental campaigners tried to persuade the French to join in a five-minute “lights-out” gesture between 7.55pm and 8pm local time (6.55pm and 7pm Irish time) today, along with the Eiffel Tower and public monuments, which will cut their illumination.

Citizens have been asked to turn off their lights and other illuminated devices such as televisions and computers in a show of unity before tomorrow’s release in Paris of a major report warning that the Earth will keep getting warmer and presenting new evidence of humanity’s role in climate change.

Some experts said that, while well-intentioned, the lights-out could consume more energy than it would conserve because of a power spike when the lights turn back on – possibly causing brown-outs or even black-outs.

The activism was catching on in some other European countries.

Austria’s Green Party urged Austrians to unplug and switch off for the five minutes, and Belgian railways planned to dim – but not turn off – all lights. Brussels’ metro will not take part, for security reasons.

A group called Blackout London, which has been turning out the lights on the fourth of every month since November, planned to flick the switch off out of solidarity with the French activists.

The word has spread to environmental groups in Sweden, too, through mailing lists and private emails.

“We’ve heard about it, but it was on short notice, so we’re not planning a formal call” to take part, said Anders Gronvall, spokesman for the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation. “At this stage it's up to individuals themselves.”