France’s most famous city landmark, the Eiffel Tower had its 20,000 lights turned off for five minutes last night. The switch off was part of a campaign to highlight the impact of energy consumption on global warming. And Paris was not alone – Green pressure groups in several countries throughout Europe urged people to turn off electrical appliances simultaneously.

Spanish environmentalists Jorge Valle said: “there is an enormous wastage of energy in Spain . We have recently increased CO2 emissions by 55%. We are one of the countries most badly placed of those which have signed the Kyoto protocol. It is really necessary we invest in renewable energies.”

Similar five minute protests took place in Rome, Madrid and Brussels and elsewhere. But campaigners say, a much bigger effort at energy conservation will have to be made if we are to avoid climate catastrophes in the future.

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