The Eiffel Tower was the backdrop of a light display featuring 24 roving searchlights and an international sports project on Sunday (December 6), to mark the Un
ited Nations climate conference.
Tourists admired the iconic monument as it lit up.
“I came here as Christmas is approaching, to watch the light show, to buy presents and do some shopping and because I love Paris,” a tourist, Lea, said.
Lydia, a British citizen, said she had come to see the spectacle.
“Well I live here and my friend is on holiday so I just wanted to see it sparkle,” she said.
Organisers said the tower was to become a giant “energy antenna”, as the calories burnt by users of an online sports app were symbolically recorded on the sides of the monument, along with tweets supporting a deal at the long-awaited summit.
Delegates from 195 countries are meeting for a fortnight at the conference — dubbed the “COP21” — which hopes to secure a global, binding deal to limit carbon emissions and stem global warming.
The light project, the brainchild of artist Yann Toma, was originally meant to incorporate the energy of people using class sports equipment installed below the Eiffel Tower itself, but authorities did not allow it, ruling that the mass gathering of people was dangerous in the wake of last month’s attacks in the city.
Instead, the energy of millions of users of exercise app Runtastic was symbolically harnessed and projected onto the sides of the 324-metre (1062-feet) high structure. (Reuters)
