Environment and Climate
During “Earth Hour” on Saturday, WWF Austria asks that the lights be turned off for an hour. The intention is to set an example for climate protection. Some cities have gone without facade lighting for a long time to save energy.
03/24/2023 07/21
Online since today, 7:21 am
For over fifteen years, famous landmarks have been illuminated for an hour in March – from the Eiffel Tower in Paris to Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro and Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna. The campaign was started by the WWF organization to draw attention to climate and nature conservation around the world.
Some cities in Lower Austria are participating in the campaign and turning off the external lighting of several tourist sites on Saturday from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm, as in St. Pölten and in Eichgraben (St. Pölten district). In the capital of São Paulo, the city hall and the city museum remain dark for an hour. In Krems, among other things, the lighting on the façade of the Steiner Tor, the Piarist Church and the Rehberg ruins is not illuminated during “Earth Hour”.
Reinhard Brückner The Piarist Church in Krems is illuminated until 22:00. On Saturday, lights are turned off for Earth Hour.
Many cities are already running out of lighting.
Due to the energy crisis and high electricity costs, several cities have not switched on their facade lighting since autumn 2022, such as Waidhofen an der Ybbs and Hollabrunn. In Waidhofen an der Ybbs, the castle tower and the city tower have not been illuminated since the beginning of the energy crisis. The facade of Klosterneuburg Abbey has also not been illuminated since last autumn. The lighting for security reasons in the pen area remains on.
In Wiener Neustadt, all sights such as the town hall, the water tower or the city walls are not illuminated beyond “Earth Hour”. An exception is the Marian column, which is currently illuminated for safety reasons. For the campaign, the city temporarily refrained from lighting the Marian column. A candlelit picnic in the main square is also part of the WWF campaign.
WWF is also asking homes and businesses to turn off their lights for one hour on Saturday night. The aim is to create “awareness about protecting nature in the long term”.
Paloma Pöltinger, noe.ORF.at