The annual "Earth Hour" event takes place in Rome on Saturday 23 March at 20.30.

Backed by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) the global initiative involves famous buildings around the world turning off their lights for one hour in support of climate change action.

Here in Rome the focus this year will be on Piazza di Spagna where the comedians from the Ottovolante programme on Radio2 Rai will entertain the crowds from 19.00 leading up to the switching off of the lights at 20.30. The event will be broadcast live on national radio and will also be visible on video streaming on the Rai Radio website.

Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007 and by last year more than 7,000 cities and towns in 152 countries participated in the global event.

For more details see the Earth Hour website.