The Swiss voice in the world since 1935

Swiss cities switch off the lights for ‘Earth Hour’

Many Swiss municipalities switched off the lights for "Earth Hour"
In Geneva, the famous “Jet d’Eau” fountain was rather hard to make out on Saturday night. Keystone-SDA

Several Swiss towns and cities left well-known buildings and landmarks in the dark on Saturday evening as part of a campaign organised by environmental group WWF.

+ Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

As in previous years, the campaign aimed to set an example for the global climate. Private individuals were also invited to take part and switch off the lights between 8.30pm and 9.30pm on Saturday, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said.

This year, Bern, Chiasso, Lenzburg, Locarno, Lucerne, Mendrisio, Morges and Montreux took part in the campaign. In Geneva, for example, the lights usually pointed at the famous “Jet d’Eau” fountain were switched off (see photo).

According to the WWF, the Dolder Grand Hotel in Zurich also remained in the dark for an hour.

More

The organisers argued that the world has just experienced not only its hottest year, but also the hottest decade since records began. Oceans are also warmer than ever before, they say.

The effects of the climate crisis are also being felt in Switzerland, the WWF said, with more hot days each year, drier summers, and heavier rainfall.

External Content

Translated from German by DeepL/dos

This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.

If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

Only one in five people attend a religious service at Easter

More

Just one in five Swiss attend a religious service at Easter

This content was published on Only one in five people in Switzerland attend a religious service during the Easter period or give up meat or alcohol for at least one day of fasting. Around 25% of those polled see Easter primarily as a family holiday, according to the survey.

Read more: Just one in five Swiss attend a religious service at Easter
Posters condemning Stephan Schmidheiny's role in asbestos deaths in Italy.

More

Swiss businessman gets prison term for asbestos deaths

This content was published on Stephan Schmidheiny has been sentenced to 9 years and 6 months in prison by the Turin Court of Appeal in a case against the former Eternit executive over deaths linked to asbestos exposure in Italy.

Read more: Swiss businessman gets prison term for asbestos deaths
Swiss foreign trade booms in the first quarter

More

Swiss foreign trade booms in the first quarter

This content was published on Swiss imports and exports reached new heights in the first quarter, driven by the chemicals and pharmaceuticals sectors. Shipments to the US rose sharply.

Read more: Swiss foreign trade booms in the first quarter

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR