Japan's Ministry of the Environment (MOE) will hold a nationwide "Lights Down" and CO2 reduction campaign from June 22 to 24, 2007.

The campaign aims to reduce CO2 emissions, a major cause of global warming. Under the title of "Black Illumination 2007," the ministry calls for major "lights-up" facilities, businesses and homes across Japan to turn their lights off for two hours from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. on the evening of June 24.

Major department stores, TV stations, banks, citizen's centers, office buildings, hotels, museums, churches and hospitals have joined the campaign since it started in 2003. In the first year, 2,278 facilities and landmarks turned their lights off, and about 5 million people participated in the campaign.
In 2004, 6,088 facilities and an estimated 6.4 million people joined, followed by 22,716 facilities and about 6.64 million in 2005. In 2006, the number of facilities increased to 39,845, which translates to 812,508 kWh of electricity. This is equal to the annual CO2 emissions of 52 to 92 average Japanese households.

For the 2007 campaign, 61,682 facilities all over Japan have confirmed their participation as of June 13. Major department stores, schools and municipal governments are promoting the campaign. During this time of raising awareness for global warming and environmental issues, more and more people and facilities are expected to join the campaign.

http://www.wanokurashi.ne.jp/act/campaign/
(Japanese)

(Keiko Hoshino)