Rally at Brandenburg Gate for Climate Day of Action

Dec 8, 2007, 17:28 GMT

Berlin - An estimated 5,000 German environmentalists marked Climate Day of Action, halfway through the UN climate change conference in Bali, with a demonstration Saturday at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on Saturday for tough emissions cutbacks.

Vandana Shiva, the Indian environmental activist, told them Germany had to get behind global-warming action.

Climate activists in Germany also agreed to turn off lamps in their homes and offices for five minutes Saturday evening, with the interval in darkness intended to raise consciousness about electricity waste.

Public officials agreed to simultaneously turn off the floodlighting of the landmark Brandenburg Gate, Bavaria's Neuschwanstein Castle high on its rock and Cologne's lofty Gothic Catholic cathedral during the five minutes.

Christian Schoenwiese, a German climate researcher, cautioned that the 'lights out' was more symbolic than a real energy saver, because lighting only accounted for only about 1 per cent of energy use in expensively heated German homes.