23 September 2014: The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has launched a partnership to reduce global energy demand, mitigate climate change and improve access to energy by accelerating the global transition to efficient appliances and equipment. The ‘Efficient Appliances and Equipment Partnership’ supports the UN Secretary-General’s Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) initiative, and builds on UNEP’s ‘en.lighten’ initiative on phasing out incandescent lamps.

Alongside UNEP, the Partnership’s members include the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the International Copper Association (ICA), the Collaborative Labeling and Appliance Standards Program (CLASP), and the Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC). A public-private endeavour, the Partnership brings together intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations (IGOs and NGOs), utilities and manufacturers, and international development banks and financial institutions to provide tailored assistance for governments in the areas of development and implementation of national and regional strategies for transitioning into energy-efficient products.

In a guest article on the Partnership published by IISD RS, UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner underlines that use of inefficient appliances and equipment will be the key driver of electricity demand growth through 2030, but shifting markets to efficient appliances could go a long way in reducing this growth compared to projections, resulting in economic savings, reduced emissions and improved grid stability.

Based on a study by the Partnership, Latin America and the Caribbean alone could save 140 TWh of energy per year, equal to 11% of the region’s current electricity consumption, if all the region’s countries were to implement energy efficiency standards for refrigerators, air conditioners and ceiling fans. This would equal to taking 24 million passenger cars off the road. Worldwide, shifting to energy-efficient appliances would reduce power consumption by more than 10%, and save US$350 billion and reduce CO2 emissions by 1.25 billion tonnes per year.

The SE4ALL initiative includes three global, interlinked objectives for 2030: universal access to modern energy services; doubling the share of renewable energy; and doubling the global rate of energy efficiency improvements. UNEP’s en.lighten initiative is a public-private partnership supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) that seeks to accelerate a global market transformation to environmentally sustainable, energy efficient lighting technologies, and phase out inefficient incandescent lamps.

The Efficient Appliances and Equipment Partnership was launched during the UN Climate Summit on 23 September 2014, in New York, US. [UNEP Press Release] [IISD RS Guest Article on High-Efficiency Appliances for a Low-Carbon Future by Achim Steiner] [SE4ALL Website] [UNEP en.lighten Website] [IISD RS Coverage of the UN Climate Summit]