About 40 countries already have programs to switch from incandescent lightbulbs, the U.N. Environment Program, or UNEP, said in a report issued on the sidelines of U.N. climate talks in Cancun.
Generation of electricity for lighting, often from burning fossil fuels, accounts for about 8 percent of world greenhouse gas emissions, it said. A shift to more efficient bulbs would cut electricity demand for lighting by 2 percent.
A review of 100 nations showed huge potential for savings and carbon cuts from a shift to low-energy bulbs, according to a study backed by UNEP and lighting groups Osram and Philips.
Indonesia, for instance, could save US$1 billion (S$1.31 billion) a year and cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 8 million tonnes a year, the equivalent of taking 2 million cars off the road, it said.
It said Brazil could save US$2 billion a year, Mexico US$900 million, Ukraine US$210 million and South Africa US$280 million. All would also make big cuts in emissions.
"The actual economic benefits could be even higher," said Achim Steiner, head of UNEP, who added a switch to efficient lighting in Indonesia would avoid the need to build several coal-fired power stations costing US$2.5 billion."
"Similar findings come from other country assessments," he added.
He also said the cost calculations did not include health benefits from switching from the use of fossil fuels, including use of kerosene lamps. About 1.8 million deaths a year are linked with indoor air pollution.
"We need to cut the use of kerosene for lighting," Osram's Wolfgang Gregor told a news conference. Low-energy bulbs are more expensive but last far longer than conventional incandescent bulbs.
UNEP cautioned there were drawbacks since the most common low-energy compact fluorescent light bulbs, or CFL, contain toxic mercury.
It said that countries needed to ensure safe collection and disposal of the lightbulbs. "This is a central challenge, especially in developing countries," it said.
It said that countries including European Union members, the United States, Canada, Australia, Cuba and the Philippines were working on phase-outs of old-style bulbs.
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All of us have a part to play in protecting our mother Earth. Every day we experience weather changes and world catastrophes caused by global warming, erosion, and other ecological changes the Earth has experienced over the past century. Complete rain forests have been destroyed, never to grow back. The planet is dying – poisoned by all the toxic waste and pollution we have released upon it.
It is time for all of us to do something to save what little is left of the planet’s resources, to try and give back to the Earth all that it has given to us. For our children and their children, we must change our ways so that future generations have a cleaner world where they can breathe unpolluted air and drink clean water. This attitude is called “going green” and it is sweeping the planet like wildfire.
So if we are able to combat climate change and even saving billions of dollars just by phasing-out those old-style lightbulbs and switching to low-energy lighting then why not?
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