On Saturday, December 8th, the International Day of Action against Climate Change will take place. Besides numerous manifestations and demonstrations on topics concerning climate change, there will also be more creative actions showing the necessity to act now on global warming. In Germany one of them will be the initiative “Lights Out! For our climate”. The BUND, the World Wide Fund for Nature and Greenpeace have appealed to people all over the country to turn off their lights between 8:00 and 8:05! We talked about the campaign with Cornelia Deppe-Burghardt, Spokesperson of Greenpeace.
Hello Cornelia Deppe-Burghardt, what are you going to do on Saturday between 8 and 8:05 pm?I guess I`m on my way back home because I`m going to join the demonstration in Berlin that day. When I´m home I certainly switch off all my lights.

Who is supposed to join the initiative?Everybody can join this initiative. That is the best of it.Should only the lights be switched off or does it involve every electric device?Our appeal is it to switch off the lights. But if anybody wants to switch off more electric device, please do so. How did the idea of the campaign „Lights Out! For our climate!” come about?Together with WWF and friends of the earth we have a cooperation with the BILD newspaper in Germany for the benefit of climate protection. The four of us developed the idea to initiate some really huge event to support the global climate action day.It's going to be dark on Saturday...
What’s the aim of the initiative?The aim is to send a sign to the politicians at Bali and to the people to act forceful now for climate protection. Besides everybody should realise how may energy he uses and how he can reduce it.Various institutions already declared that they will join the campaign. Can you give us some examples?We have more than 220 commitments right now from the Brandenburger Tor to the Hofbräuhaus in Munich and from the cathedral in Cologne to Neuschwanstein palace.

Let’s assume, the whole country will switch off their lights for five minutes – what would be the effect on our environment?This is no measure to save energy. We cannot save a lot of energy with it. We want to send a signal for more climate protection.What can you tell us about other campaigns on climate action day?There are activities in several other countries worldwide. In Germany there will be two demonstrations in Neurath near Düsseldorf and in Berlin for climate protection.The climate action day is supposed to enlarge our conscience for what we can do against global warming. To what extend do you think living a sustainable lifestyle has been established in our society?I think people begin to think about it but there is still a long way to go.

So if you achieve your goal, it’s going to be very dark in Germany for a while. Could you recommend a good idea about how to spend these five minutes?First exchange your light bulbs for energy saving bulbs. Then exchange your energy provider for a green one.