A HOST of Canary Wharf companies will switch off the lights this weekend as part of a global environmental drive.

Firms across the business district have signed up to Earth Hour 2011, which will see cities across the world turn off their lights at 8.30pm this Saturday.

Canary Wharf Group will turn off all unnecessary lighting and has asked its tenants and occupiers to do the same.

The likes of Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, Citi, Clifford Chance, Barclays and KPMG are also committed to the initiative.

The hour will see Canary Wharf’s iconic skyline plunged into near-darkness, although some lights have to be left on for security reasons and some companies will still have to work during the Earth Hour.

The mission to highlight everyone’s environmental impact was launched in Sydney in 2007.

This year a record 130 countries will take part across the globe, with individuals, businesses and governments doing their bit for the planet.

In 2010, more then 4,600 cities, towns and municipalities took part in Earth Hour, including 89 national capitals and 9 of the world’s 10 most populated cities.

Earth Hour is organised by WWF, one of the world’s largest independent conservation organisations, to protest the planet’s natural environment.