European Parliament 'Signed up' and set to 'Switch off' for Earth Hour

12.00.00am GMT Fri 27th Mar 2009

Some of the world's most iconic landmarks will be switching off their floodlights tomorrow night at 8.30pm as the world braces itself for WWF's Earth Hour.

The North East is getting ready to join in too, with Newcastle City and Gateshead Council jointly agreeing to black out the Sage, Millennium and Tyne Bridges and Durham Cathedral turning off the floodlights on the building's renowned central Tower.

And the North East's Lib Dem MEP Fiona Hall, has successfully lobbied to get the European Parliament in Brussels to join in and connect the billion or so people, businesses and iconic landmarks all plunging into darkness for the hour.

Fiona said:

"The European Parliament now quite rightly joins the list of global iconic building taking part in Saturday's Earth Hour.

"The sheer number of people switching off for Earth Hour across the globe - some tens of millions of people - clearly shows that climate change is an issue weighing heavily on people's minds.

"That is why I hope that world leaders will take this extraordinary example of people power as a cue to commit to a meaningful global strategy on dealing with the effects of climate change, when decision makers meet in Copenhagen later this year.

"Only by working together will the world be able to do something about climate change, and this is exactly the ethos behind Earth Hour."