12 cities to turn off lights in climate-change gesture

Twelve world cities have agreed to darken their skylines for an hour in an Australian initiative to raise awareness about climate change, organisers say.

Sydney, plunged into near-darkness when millions of people switched off non-essential lights for the inaugural Earth Hour event this year, will be joined next year by 11 cities in North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific, environmental group WWF Australia says.

Canada’s CN Tower in Toronto and Chicago’s famous Sears Tower could be among skyscrapers that switch off their lights at 8pm local time on March 29.

Other cities taking part include Copenhagen, Tel Aviv, Manila and Melbourne. The Danish cities of Aalborg, Aarhus and Odense, Fiji’s capital Suva and the eastern Australian city of Brisbane have also agreed to participate.