Philips calls for a round table discussion with key stakeholders on energy efficiency in the Middle East

Philips participated in the 'Voices from Nature'' panel, and sponsored the "Young Arab leaders' Annual Forum in Bahrain, earlier this month, during which it demonstrated that solutions for reducing energy consumption are simple, easy and actionable and also make economic sense for governments, businesses and individuals alike.

According to the international energy agency, lighting represents 19% of the energy bill, which can be reduce up to 80% by converting from conventional lamps technology into the latest technologies in energy efficiency. About 3/4 of all lighting currently installed in the world is based on older, less energy efficient technology - developed before the 1970's.

Besides its high power consumption, the older technology generates massive heat- around 80% of energy used by an incandescent lamps goes to generating heat and only 20% to the generation of light. According to analysis done by Philips, 1/3 of the saving in lighting consumption goes into savings in energy used for air-conditioning.

As the global community focuses on environmental protection, the Arab World finds itself far behind on many elements of environmental protection and preservation. According to the UNDP report on environmental sustainability in the Arab World 2002, most Arab League states fall short of the minimum standards of environmental protection policies and programs.

The report further elaborates that unless the Arab World takes serious steps towards addressing environmental challenges such as water scarcity, population growth, greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, a serious environmental crisis will follow. A failure to act is only one consequence; it has also been determined that awareness of environmental issues is lagging in the Arab region. In the last session of the Forum entitled, Voices from Nature: Philips stated that people can take simple steps such as changing a light bulb, to lead a more energy efficient life.

As the world's leading lighting supplier, Philips is already campaigning together with partners in the lighting industry, NGOs, energy suppliers, governments and retailers to switch as soon as possible to energy saving lighting in streets, offices, buildings and homes. The call was made in Europe in December 2006 and in Washington USA, March 2007.

Philips' campaign www.asimpleswitch.com communicates to the public at large that solutions in energy management can be simple and easy to implement. Visitors to the website have pledged to switch over 3.3 million lightbulbs to energy saving alternatives since the campaign started in early July this year.

"Our asimpleswitch.com program provides the perfect forum to show solutions for efficient energy use and the simple steps that we all can take in order to make a real difference" said Louis Hakim Vice President Royal Philips Electronics and CEO Philips Middle East.

"At Philips we believe in providing simple solutions for complex problems such as sustainable development. For example, on average our portfolio of energy efficient lighting products can save 40% on electricity, and for some products the cost saving can be up to 80%, without compromising on quality. We believe it is time to act now for everyone and that's why we offer consumers a wider choice of energy efficient products."

Philips that introduced the energy saving light bulb back in 1980, has put environmental improvement in their product design at the heart of its business. Philips consumer electronics products such as a number of Philips LCD FlatTVs use technologies that can reduce power consumption by up to 30% compared to competitive products of a similar screen size. Philips also introduced a green logo that allows consumers to easily identify consumer electronic products that have significantly better energy efficiency than the nearest competitor products as well as offering other environmental benefits. In 2006 Philips Green Product range accounted for more than EUR 4 billion turnover (15% of total sales).