Earth Hour hailed as a success

Bonn: For environmental activists, the message was clear: Earth Hour was a huge success.

Now they say nations have a mandate to tackle climate change.

"The world said yes to climate action, now governments must follow," the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said a day after hundreds of millions of people worldwide followed its call to turn off lights for a full hour.

From an Antarctic research base and the Great Pyramids of Egypt, from the Colosseum in Rome to the Empire State building in New York, illuminated patches of the globe went dark Saturday night to highlight the threat of climate change.

Time zone by time zone, nearly 4,000 cities and towns in 88 countries dimmed non-essential lights from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm.

The WWF called the event, which began in Australia in 2007 and grew last year to 400 cities worldwide, "the world's first-ever global vote about the future of our planet".

"Last night's message from the masses was loud and clear: Delay no more, real action now!" Kim Carstensen, the leader of WWF's Global Climate Initiative, said.

Negotiators from 175 countries gathered yesterday in Bonn for the latest round in an effort to craft a deal to control emissions of the heat-trapping gases responsible for global warming.

German boy and girl scouts presented the top UN climate official, Yvo de Boer, with a blue "ballot box" symbolically representing the world's vote the night before to save the earth.

"If the world keeps polluting... we will lose our future," a young Girl Scout told de Boer.

The climate chief thanked the young people as well as the WWF for mobilising the massive show of support.

"I wouldn't be surprised if that was actually the largest public demonstration that there has ever been on an issue like this," he said.

Earth Hour officially began when the Chatham Islands, 800 kilometres east of New Zealand, switched off its diesel generators. At Scott Base in Antarctica, New Zealand's 26-member winter team resorted to minimum safety lighting and switched off appliances and computers.

In Australia, Sydney's glittering harbour was bathed in shadows as lights dimmed on the steel arch of the city's iconic Harbour Bridge and the nearby Opera House.

As the sun moved west, the Great Pyramids and Sphinx in Egypt darkened. So did the Acropolis in Athens and the Colosseum in Rome.

In Paris, the Eiffel Tower, Louvre and Notre Dame Cathedral were among 200 buildings that went dark. The Eiffel Tower only extinguished its lights for five minutes for security.