15 July 2013
ECOWAS Adopts Framework to Phase-Out Incandescent Light Bulbs
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The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has announced that members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have agreed a regionally coordinated framework to transition to energy efficient lighting, through the complete phase-out of incandescent lamps by 2020.

The announcement was made at the conclusion of a workshop for the development of a regional strategy for energy efficient lighting, which convened from 2-3 July 2013, in Dakar, Senegal.

enlighten10 July 2013: The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has announced that members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have adopted a regionally-coordinated framework to transition to energy efficient lighting through the complete phase-out of incandescent lamps by 2020.

The announcement was made at the conclusion of a workshop for the development of a regional strategy for energy efficient lighting, which convened from 2-3 July 2013, in Dakar, Senegal. The event was jointly hosted by the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) and the UNEP en.lighten initiative, with support of the Club of National Agencies and Structures in Charge of Rural Electrification (Club-ER).

According to UNEP, the workshop succeeded in raising awareness among West African States and built consensus on the technical options for a regional efficient lighting strategy.

ECREEE is mandated to assist the 15 ECOWAS member States in the development, adoption and implementation of: national renewable energy; energy efficiency policies; and targets, regulatory frameworks, standards, as well as incentives and financial mechanisms.

en.lighten is an initiative funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), in partnership with UNEP, leading global lighting manufacturers (Philips and OSRAM), and the National Lighting Test Centre (NLTC), to accelerate market transformation of efficient lighting technologies on a global scale. [UNEP Press Release] [en.Lighten Website]