| Australian Government Partners with en.lighten to Promote Sustainable Lighting
 The en.lighten initiative, with support from Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is working with the Australian Department of Industry as part of its continued commitment to support developing countries in Southeast Asia and the Pacific in their efforts to respond to climate change. Key activities will focus on strengthening lighting monitoring, verification and enforcement (MVE) activities through legislation, policies, administrative processes and enforcement mechanisms.
The project aims to increase regional co-operation on efficient lighting, including the sharing of information and harmonization of standards, as part of regional quality control capacity-building to increase consumer confidence in energy-efficient products. It will also involve quantitative and qualitative comparisons of the availability, performance and compliance of lighting products in the region, and the training of lighting and laboratory professionals.
As part of the project, the lites.asia Secretariat is now being managed by UNEP. The ninth lites.asia regional policy meeting was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 22 - 23 April 2014. Sixteen countries were represented at the meeting which included updates on lighting standards developments and a briefing on off-grid lighting testing and laboratory certification.
The first day of the meeting featured updates on international standards development and complementary program activities. Country officials presented on their unique experiences with standards, labelling and compliance issues.
The focus of the rest of the meeting was on MVE best practices and the support available to countries through the en.lighten initiative project. Delegates were engaged in discussions about international best practices and support requirements were identified in order to meet country objectives with regard to a sustainable transition to quality, efficient lighting products.
For more information, the programme, meeting report and presentations can be downloaded from the lites.asia website at www.lites.asia/downloads/kuala-lumpur-2014.
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