Lights out at colosseum on anniversary of Kyoto protocol

Monuments, landmarks and public buildings across Italy switched off their lights today in a demonstration of concern about climate change on the second anniversary of the Kyoto treaty taking effect.

Rome’s ancient Colosseum, the Pantheon and the Trevi fountain were among the landmarks that went dark for a half hour.

Churches, squares and monuments in Florence, Venice, Naples, Bologna, Milan and Pisa also had their lights turned off on the anniversary of the treaty’s entering into force in 2005.

The global pact negotiated in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan, reins in industrial emissions of carbon dioxide and other “greenhouse gases” in a first attempt to control climate change.

But US President George Bush has made clear that his administration will not agree to the kind of mandatory emission caps required under Kyoto because the administration believes the restrictions will harm US businesses.

Thirty-five other industrial nations, who have endorsed the pact, agreed to cut their global-warming gases by 5% on average below 1990 levels by 2012.