The iconic Eiffel Tower will be turning off its famous flashing lights an hour earlier, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo announced on Tuesday.
In an effort to save energy amid rising costs and the climate crisis, the Parisian landmark will go dark at 11.45pm, rather than the usual 1am, starting 23 September.
The move is part of the city’s plan to reach a total 10% energy savings, and will include other municipal buildings, which will go dark at 10pm. Publicly managed buildings will also drop their temperatures, and the start of winter heating for administrative buildings has been pushed back by a month.
Buildings account for around 40% of global energy consumption and a third of greenhouse gas emissions (according to the International Energy Agency) – and a significant portion of that coming from heating, cooling and lighting.
Previous upgrades to the Eiffel Tower, including a switch to LED lights, have been done to make the landmark more energy efficient. According to its operator, the hourly light flashes currently account for 4% of the monument’s energy bill.
The Eiffel Tower went completely dark last week after Queen Elizabeth II’s death was announced. The last time the tower’s lights were turned off was following the Paris terrorist attacks in 2015.
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