Mumbai meet agrees to form forum on harmonising energy efficiency
Bdnews, Dhaka
The representatives from India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bhutan at a two-day meeting at Mumbai in India recently agreed to establish a permanent regional forum on harmonising energy efficiency standards and labelling (EES&L). The workshop was held under the auspices of the USAID. The representatives from state electricity authorities, power corporations, and R&D and testing organisations from the five South Asian countries at the South Asia Regional Initiative for Energy (SARI/Energy) meeting discussed the need and benefits of the harmonisation of EES&L programmes. The speakers described EES&L as one of the most effective strategies for regional governments to spur large gains in energy conservation. They agreed that a primary benefit of the forum's efforts to harmonise standards and labelling throughout the region would be to help revitalise and facilitate regional trade between the countries of South Asia. The forum will meet periodically to encourage regular exchange of energy testing and labelling programme experience and to explore areas for a consensus-based approach to developing harmonised test procedures, standards and labeling. SARI/Energy's effort to encourage involvement and agreement by the national organisations in the region to take full ownership of the EES&L harmonisation process has been brought to successful fruition with the decision to form the permanent Regional EES&L Forum. Speaking on the importance of harmonising energy efficiency standards, Lloyd Harrington, Director of Energy Efficient Strategies for Australia said "The experience of over 55 countries who have adopted at least one mandatory energy-efficiency standard, harmonised with standards adopted by other countries, indicate that the cumulative energy savings to consumers and national economies have been immense, demonstrating the effectiveness of this policy measure. The participants said that the Saarc nations would be able to fully leverage the benefits of the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA), scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2006. They said regional governments must step up their commitment and take the leading role in driving the process of regional harmonisation. The Indian will host and coordinate the forum's first formal meeting to be held in India in August. The primary agenda item for that meeting will be to agree on the forum's objectives and terms of reference.
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