| The Global Off-Grid Lighting Association (GOGLA) Member Conference Attracts International Delegation
 The Global Off-Grid Lighting Association (GOGLA) held its second Annual Member Conference in April in Cologne, Germany. More than 40 representatives from 20 GOGLA members met in to exchange and discuss recent developments in the off-grid lighting market. UNEP, an important GOGLA partner, was joined by other key organizations including: Sierra Club, German Development Agency (GIZ) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
The Annual Member Conference is a key event for GOGLA members and partners where activities are reviewed, important resolutions and industry opinions are adopted, and the strategic direction of the association for the upcoming year is discussed. The conference convened the five GOGLA working groups (policy and regulation; business development and market intelligence; quality assurance and standards; life-cycle and recycling; and impact measurement) to develop the 2014/2015 work plan.
The UNEP en.lighten team presented to the Policy and Regulation Working Group about the progress being made in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in the development and implementation of a regional efficient lighting strategy. The Group agreed upon two main areas of work for the upcoming year: GOGLA will research the positive relation between tax decreases for quality off-grid lighting products and increased government revenues through economic development; and will examine the potential for off-grid lighting National Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA) plans.
UNEP and GOGLA are also working together to develop an off-grid lighting Policy Guide to support governments to implement measures to accelerate the transition to sustainable off-grid lighting technologies in countries around the world.
GOGLA has also recently launched the Investment and Finance Study for Off-Grid Lighting which reviews the market for solar off-grid lighting products and concludes that improved financing by various investor groups can promote industry growth. The full report can be downloaded here.
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