Central American Ministers To Adopt Energy Efficient Lighting Strategy . Eliminating inefficient lighting in the region would reap significant savings in electricity costs

Date: Friday, 6 December 2013 Time: 9:00 – 13:00 Venue: Hotel Holiday Inn, Clayton, Panamá The energy efficient lighting strategy endorsed by the Directors of Energy in Central American will be adopted by the Ministers of Energy this week. Once official approval is achieved, technical regulations will be developed, following the guidelines and recommendations established in the strategy document which include an integrated policy approach to a phase-out. Officials from Ministries of Energy and the Environment in Central America and the Dominican Republic successfully finalized a draft strategy to establish a regionally coordinated framework to transition to energy efficient lighting at a workshop at the end of October in San Jose, Costa Rica. The strategy includes the complete phase-out of inefficient incandescent lamps in the region by the end of 2016. The project is being coordinated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) en.lighten initiative and Proyecto Mesoamérica (Mesoamerica Project), in cooperation with UNEP’s Regional Gateway for Technology Transfer and Climate Change Action in Latin America and the Caribbean (REGATTA). Launched in October 2012, the strategy involves eight countries including: Belize, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. Colombia and Mexico provide technical and policy support as a result of their efforts of having already developed a strategy to phase out inefficient incandescent lamps. According to Proyecto Mesoamerica, by implementing the Regional Strategy to transition to more efficient lighting, electricity use will be reduced by over 3 million KWh per year with significant savings in electricity costs. Together, Central American countries would lower CO2 emissions by almost 2 million tons per year and avoid US$ 660 million in investments in new power generation. About UNEP en.lighten The UN Environment Programme (UNEP)-Global Environment Facility (GEF) en.lighten initiative has been established to address the challenge of accelerating global market transformation to environmentally sustainable lighting technologies by developing a coordinated global strategy and providing technical support for the gradual phase-out of inefficient lighting. Fifty-five countries have already joined the en.lighten Global Efficient Lighting Partnership Programme to phase-out inefficient incandescent lamps by the end of 2016. About Proyecto Mesoamerica The Mesoamerica Project is a high-level political organization that promotes cooperation and development for ten countries (Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama and Dominican Republic). It is directly involved in the management and execution of projects aimed at improving the quality of life for the people of Mesoamerica. fuente: pnuma