Replacing inefficient lighting technologies with state-of-the-art products like LED lamps, innovative light systems and intelligent light management systems would cut by half the world share of electricity used for lighting, the Sustainable Innovation Forum 2012 was told yesterday.
The event was organised alongside the ongoing United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP18/CMP8) by Climate Action in formal partnership with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
It brought together government, business and international NGOs to discuss the actions and solutions needed to increase sustainability and accelerate the green economy.
“Electricity for lighting accounts for almost 20% of global electrical power consumption and close to 6% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions,” Arne Otto, senior vice president (corporate strategy and business operational excellence), Osram, the platinum sponsor of the event, said in a keynote address.
“Readily available technology allows up to 70% energy savings in lighting. The future of the lighting industry is LED, which brings out the same quantity of light at a fraction of energy consumption. We also have to make good use of daylight,” he urged.
Otto was standing in for Osram’s chief sustainability officer Dr Constantin Birnstiel, who had mentioned in an article, included in Climate Action’s special publication for COP18/CMP8, that replacing inefficient lighting technologies could save as much CO2 as a newly planted forest around a quarter the size of the Arabian Peninsula would absorb – more than 600mn tons annually.
Through effective utilisation of Osram lighting solutions, customers saved nearly 70mn tons of CO2 within the last five years – this is as much as one Airbus 380 emits by flying around the world more than 30,000 times.
Osram is a founding member in the UNEP initiative ‘en.lighten,’ which addresses the challenge of accelerating global market transformation to environmentally sustainable lighting technologies by developing a global strategy in support of the gradual phase-out of inefficient lighting.
UNEP spokesperson and acting director of communications Nick Nuttall, in his welcome address, highlighted the need for urgent remedial action for tackling climate change and pointed out that the world is headed in a ‘super unsustainable direction.’
Plenary sessions on ‘Public-private partnerships: Creating effective alliances for building green economies’, ‘Sustainable cities: Examining the future for our urban population’, and ‘Technology and innovation: Accelerating the green economy’, followed.
UNEP and Siemens practitioner debates on ‘Energy and innovation’, and ‘Sustainable cities,’ and a panel discussion on ‘Future of energy: Building a sustainable future – Unlocking the energy challenge’ were also held.