Americas
Countries in the Americas represent 14% of the global population, but 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Prioritizing energy efficiency in the Americas
Four countries in the Americas are among the world’s top-20 carbon-emitting economies in the appliances sector, and several others are positioned to join in the coming years. Electricity consumption across North, South, and Central America has collectively risen almost 50% in the last decade with associated emissions coming from primarily fossil fuel sources such as coal, oil, and natural gas.
Despite a growing capacity of renewable energy sources, energy efficiency policies remain necessary to address energy security, improve quality of life, and meet climate goals. CLASP works alongside policymakers, utility companies, and industry in the Americas to support stringent energy performance policies and informative appliance labels.
CLASP PROVIDES SUPPORT IN THESE COUNTRIES
Brazil
In Brazil, a strong energy efficiency framework can contribute significantly to emissions reduction targets while reducing the need for fossil fuel-based electricity generation.
91% of Brazilian consumers recognize the national energy label, a majority of which stated they would pay more for a labeled product.
Brazil, the eighth highest emitter of carbon dioxide in the appliances sector, has prioritized energy efficiency as a solution to dwindling hydropower capacity. CLASP works alongside government agencies, utility companies, industry and other local partners to inform energy efficiency policy for key technologies. Our support has played a critical role in impactful policy revisions for air conditioners and refrigerators, in addition to the sharing of best practices in efficiency policy development.
United States
The United States is the second-largest carbon dioxide emitter in the world, but opportunities in appliance efficiency policies and widespread electrification could vastly reduce energy consumption, putting the US on the map as an efficiency leader and raise the bar for similar actions in other major economies.
Upgrading or establishing 50 energy efficiency standards could avoid up to 3 Gt of CO2 emissions cumulatively by 2050
The US has long had the most expansive, well-resourced appliance standards program in the world, covering more than 60 categories of home appliances, commercial equipment, and lighting products.
The Biden Administration is poised to upgrade or establish 50 energy efficiency standards for a wide range of appliances, equipment, and lighting products through 2024 that will save up to 3 Gt CO₂ cumulatively by 2050.
To ensure this climate win, CLASP has partnered with the Appliance Standards Awareness Project and NDRC to launch an aggressive advocacy push on both technical and communications fronts.
Best Practices in AC Efficiency Policy: Experiences from Brazil, China and India
Global demand for cooling is rising and governments face challenges in managing higher electricity demand and climate impacts. Policymakers from Brazil, China, and India joined CLASP for a panel event to share insights from their experiences implementing AC efficiency policy.
Asia
Space cooling and refrigeration are not just a matter of comfort: lack of cooling is a threat to health and safety, food supply, and medical care.
High-Impact Products in Focus
CLASP is a leader in global efforts to meet rising demand for cooling technologies while reducing their climate impacts.
Equipment such as lighting, computers, motors, and televisions are critical to expanding opportunities for education and economic growth. CLASP supports strong markets in which consumers have access to affordable, high quality, resource-efficient appliances to meet their needs.
We work in countries throughout Asia to advance sustainable appliance and equipment policies.
India
Policymaking requires strong institutions and a healthy ecosystem including the public sector, the private sector, and civil society and consumers. CLASP’s work in India over the past 15 years has contributed to the strengthening of these actors.
Under current policies, India's electricity demand for cooling will increase 6-fold by 2040, driven by growing air conditioner use.
CLASP works closely with India’s Bureau of Energy Efficiency, which has steadily expanded its appliance policy framework to cover a wide range of residential, commercial and industrial energy-using products. The results include reducing greenhouse gas emissions and peak electricity demand, helping to diminish air pollution, reducing consumer energy costs, and expanding access to high quality appliances.From our offices in New Delhi and with collaboration by team members around the world, CLASP technical and analytical support has contributed to efficiency policy development for products ranging from residential air conditioning systems, water heaters and microwaves, to industrial chillers, commercial refrigerators and smart electric meters. In partnership with local stakeholders, we advance policy compliance, education and outreach initiatives to foster an ecosystem for resource-efficient appliances and equipment.
Indonesia
Indonesia is the 10th-highest global emitter of carbon from the equipment and appliances sector. Residential electricity use doubled over the past decade and could rise further as rising living standards propel demand for air conditioners and other energy-intensive appliances. Our local presence in Jakarta helps us work closely with Indonesian policymakers as the country expands its energy efficiency portfolio.
CLASP's residential energy end-use survey in Indonesia found that efficiency policies for lighting, rice cookers, refrigerators and fans could cut 59 Mt of CO₂ emissions by 2030.
CLASP advances efficiency policies based on market and technical assessments and analytical tools that help determine the most impactful and cost-effective opportunities to reduce carbon emissions. In Indonesia, we are supporting efficiency policy development for products including refrigerators, fans, rice cookers and lighting to transform markets toward higher-performing products.
China
Consumers increasingly look online to purchase appliances and equipment, shifting their attention from traditional brick-and-mortar stores. CLASP’s work in China focuses on making appliance efficiency information more readily available during online transactions.
Market transformation in China is the single largest opportunity in the world to achieve CO₂ emissions reductions from appliances.
Building on China’s well-established product efficiency labeling framework, we are partnering with government and retail stakeholders to improve the accessibility of product efficiency information in online purchasing environments.
Pakistan
Energy use in Pakistan is rising rapidly, driven by rural electrification and economic growth. CLASP works with local partners to support efficiency policies for widely used appliances such as ceiling fans and electric motors.
Pakistan experiences severe heat waves that are increasing in frequency and intensity due to climate change.
CLASP has supported efficiency policy in Pakistan since 2016 – contributing to the country’s first policy for electric motors, assisting in policy development for ceiling fans, and supporting bulk procurement to transform the fan market. We recently expanded our partnership with the government of Pakistan with support from the Kigali Cooling Efficiency Program, with a multi-year project to assess national cooling needs and chart a path toward sustainable cooling.
Philippines, Thailand & Vietnam
High-performing appliances and equipment improve health and well-being while minimizing climate emissions. We partner with governments, industry, NGOs and other stakeholders in fast-growing economies throughout Southeast Asia to support transparent, effective markets for efficient products and appliances.
Less than 20% of households in Southeast Asia have air conditioning, but appliance ownership and cooling demand are projected to skyrocket in coming years.
As electricity demand grows throughout the region, we support efforts to harmonize efficiency policies and expand cross-border collaboration and capacity-building among Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states. We work with stakeholders to enhance product labeling, remove inefficient and poor quality products from the market, and ensure that policies deliver the intended benefits to consumers and the environment.
Europe
CLASP works alongside policymakers and partners to promote the most efficient appliances and move markets away from the most inefficient technologies.
A Trusted Partner
CLASP advises and collaborates with the European Commission and member states, UK government, NGOs, and industry partners to develop and promote appliance policies. Working closely with our partners, CLASP identifies priority work areas and provides robust technical analysis to support best-in-class policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in one of the highest-emitting appliance markets.
Our ongoing work includes support for policymaking on computers and other electronic devices, lighting, and the phase-out of gas cooking appliances.
CLASP’s Impacts Across Europe
Europe’s Sweeping EcoDesign Process
CLASP provided crucial research and policy expertise to the European Commission in support of a significant energy efficiency regulation package.
The policy package will cut electricity consumption by 167 TWh per year by 2030 - 5% of the region’s total residential electricity use
In 2019, the European Commission adopted new regulations that will reduce European electricity consumption by 167 TWh per year by 2030 – 5% of the region’s total residential electricity use – and avoid 46 Mt CO₂ per year by 2030, while saving European households an average €150 (US$165) per year.
CLASP supported policymakers by providing market data and international best practices, as well as testing and rigorous analysis on the costs and benefits associated with various levels of policy ambition for lighting, televisions, computer monitors, commercial signage, residential and commercial refrigerators, and transformers.
A Vital Transition to Clean Lighting
Since 2019, CLASP has supported European policymakers to accelerate the phase out of toxic mercury-ladened fluorescent lamps.
The EU will save €18.2 billion and avoid 1.8 metric tonnes of mercury from the fluorescent lamps between 2023-2035.
The EU regulates mercury in light bulbs through the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive by allowing mercury use in lighting via an exemption list. CFLs and LFLs have been tolerated so far because of the once limited accessibility of mercury-free alternatives. However, the widespread availability of cost-effective LED alternatives meant these exemptions are no longer necessary.
Since 2019, CLASP has conducted market and technology research to demonstrate the feasibility of phasing out fluorescent lighting in Europe and provided evidence on the human health and environmental costs to delay action on fluorescent phase-outs in the EU. Our work supported an update to RoHS to phase out all general-purpose compact and linear fluorescent lamps (CFL and LFL) in 2023.
Between 2023 and 2035, the policy will cut electricity use by 190 TWh and avoid 55 million metric tonnes of CO₂ – contributing to critical regional mitigation targets.
Protecting Consumers from Toxic Gas Cooking
Cooking with gas is threatening the air quality and safety of households across the EU and UK – it is time for Europe to transition to fossil-free cooking.
Gas hobs and ovens release toxic pollutants – such as CO, NO2 and ultrafine particles – that harm human health.
Every night millions of people across Europe sit down for dinner, not knowing the significant health and environmental dangers posed by their gas cooking appliances. Research shows that children and low-income communities face an elevated risk of negative health impacts from gas cooking, such as increased likelihood to develop respiratory issues like asthma and other long-term health consequences.
With the advent of cleaner, more efficient technologies like induction and electric cookers, now is the time to make cooking cleaner and safer for homes in the EU and UK.
With support from the European Climate Foundation (ECF), CLASP launched a new project to accelerate the transition to clean cooking in the region. Our team is collaborating with partners and policymakers to develop an EU and UK-specific evidence base on the health effects of gas cooking appliances, initiate discussions on policy solutions, and raise public awareness on the health and climate impacts of cooking with gas.
Building a Flourishing Circular Economy
CLASP takes an active role in supporting Europe to transition to a more sustainable economy through policy based in circularity principles.
Prolonging the service life of widely owned and highly used consumer electronics could avoid 57,991 kg of CO.
In early 2022, the EU updated their Ecodesign framework to include more product categories and increase efficiency requirements for currently regulated energy-related products. CLASP has been participating in the consultations for these revisions, which go beyond energy efficiency and may cover product durability, reusability, upgradability and reparability; presence of substances that inhibit circularity; energy and resource efficiency; recycled content; carbon and environmental footprint.
Africa
Efficient Water Use in a Drying World
CLASP is supporting governments to implement water efficiency policies to reduce water wastage and mitigate impending water crises. Learn more about our work in South Africa in promoting sustainable water.
Energy efficiency can mitigate rising energy demand
Africa’s population will exceed two billion before 2040, increasing energy demand from industrial production, cooling, and other essential sectors. Despite only producing 2% of global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, the continent disproportionately bears the harmful effects of climate change. How this rising energy demand is met will then largely influence the continent’s economic growth and climate goals.
Appliance energy efficiency mitigates the impacts of rising electricity demand, which is set to grow twice as fast as the global average over the next two decades, and encourages climate-friendly development without adversely affecting quality of life. CLASP works to assess markets, inform policy, and guide policy compliance strategies in sub-Saharan countries alongside local and international partners.
Energy efficiency can help limit Africa's primary energy demand to 50% by 2040, despite fourfold economic growth in the same time period.
International Energy Agency, 2019
CLASP Provides Support in These Sub-Saharan Countries
Kenya
In Kenya, the largest economy in East Africa, more sustainable energy is necessary to achieve the goals of Vision 2030. CLASP collaborates with policymakers to inform and promote ambitious energy efficiency policies for appliances.
Kenya has committed to reducing greenhouse gases emissions by 30% by 2030.
The Kenyan government has announced the Big Four Agenda, as part of Kenya Vision 2030, an ambitious development plan which aims to mitigate the effects of climate change through food security, affordable housing, growth in manufacturing, and affordable healthcare for all. CLASP and Kenyan policymakers have collaborated to develop and promote energy efficiency policies for highly-consumptive appliances since 2017, supported by the Kigali Cooling Efficiency Program. Over the multi-year collaboration, CLASP has supported energy efficiency policies for air conditioners and refrigerators, as well as a digital campaign to promote the national energy label and the development of a National Cooling Action Plan, that will help Kenya meet and potentially exceed its climate commitments.
West Africa
In the Economic Community of West African States, rapidly increasing economic activity and the associated rise in demand for cooling technologies pose a serious challenge to achieving climate goals. We work alongside policymakers to accelerate the impact of cooling efficiency policies by enhancing regional collaboration on policy compliance.
Rapid economic growth is projected to drive a 205% increase in air conditioner sales by 2030, as compared to 2015 levels.
In West Africa, climate-related temperature increases will cause some areas of the region to become as hot as the Sahara Desert within 80 years. As rainfall becomes highly unpredictable and often extreme, causing both severe dry seasons and destructive floods, two-thirds of the population who depend on farming are facing a food crisis. With support from the Kigali Cooling Efficiency Program, and in collaboration with the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE), CLASP has been supporting the development of regional policy compliance for cooling appliances since 2018. Properly enforced cooling policies not only enable access to highly-efficient technologies but reduce the associated carbon dioxide emissions from product-use that drive climate-related weather extremes. CLASP and ECREEE collaborate on policy compliance interventions that remove inefficient products from the market and benefit the climate.
South Africa
CLASP also provides technical support in South Africa, where a transition to more efficient lighting can alleviate overburdened national grids and the subsequent blackouts, which hamper social, health, and economic activities.
South Africa uses approximately 40% of Africa’s electricity.
CLASP provides support to South African policymakers to promote energy efficient household appliances, commercial equipment, and lighting. Electricity in South Africa is largely coal-based, accounting for a significant majority of their domestic energy generation. Coal mining and combustion largely contribute to global warming, air pollution and decreased water quality—leading to adverse health implications. Energy efficiency policies have significant potential to positively impact human health, economic growth, and the climate.