AES participates in Latin American Regional Workshop on Energy Efficiency Standards & Labelling
Between 10 – 11 August 2000, government representatives and experts from all over Latin America met in Mexico City at a regional workshop to discuss appliance energy efficiency standards and labelling. On invitation of the Climate Technology Initiative of the International Energy Agency, Wolfgang F. Lutz, Director of AES presented his views on barriers and opportunities to implement energy efficiency standards and labelling in Latin America, in particular in a regional context.
The workshop was an initiative of the Collaborative Labelling and Appliance Standards Program (CLASP), in co-operation with the Mexican National Commission for Energy Conservation (CONAE) and the Climate Technology Initiative (CTI) of the International Energy Agency (IEA). CLASP is a partnership formed by the Alliance to Save Energy, the International Institute for Energy Conservation and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and aims to promote energy efficiency standards and labelling programmes worldwide.
Several countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, notably Brazil, Costa Rica, Mexico and Venezuela, have already developed concrete policies and programmes in the field of energy efficiency standards and labelling, while others, such as Argentina, Colombia, Jamaica and Peru, have taken steps in this direction.
The success of the workshop was due to the high calibre of the speakers and their contributions. CONAE and its Mexican partner organisations stressed that energy efficiency standards and labelling need to be based on appropriate legislation, institutions and procedures. In particular they should be supported by a well-established infrastructure of standardisation, certification and accreditation of test facilities. Other presentations focused on the importance of free trade and regional integration schemes as catalysts for the harmonisation of standards and labelling schemes on a regional basis, social compatibility of standards and other issues.
CTI and CLASP will join forces again in organising a subsequent workshop on the same topic in Buenos Aires, Argentina in March 2001.
Presentations by Wolfgang F. Lutz:
Article published in Appliance Efficiency, the Newsletter of IDEA, the International Network for Domestic Energy-Efficient Appliances: “Latin American Standards and Labelling Initiative“
September 2000