Page 8 - Respond 2020 Magazine

RESPOND

commitment, and more than a point of commercial Payoffs
differentiation. We’ve made it core to our company purpose. The payoffs of investing in sustainable technology are
We’re doing it because it’s the right thing to do. significant and more immediate than one might think.
Some people once thought it impossible to phase out the
We also want to show what’s possible. As a large global
incandescent light bulb. In 2006, when we called for such a
organisation, we have a unique opportunity to model how we
transition, lighting accounted for 19% of global electricity
got our business on course to be carbon neutral by 2020. It
use. Since then, the lighting sector has gone through one of
has required great ambition and some important decisions
the fastest transitions we have ever seen. By 2018, electricity
along the way, but crucially, we’re proving that it’s possible.
consumption had fallen to 13% and by 2030, it will be just
We’re aiming for 100% renewable energy, and we’re almost
8%. At the same time, the number of light points is on the
there, running currently at 92%. We’re switching our fleets of
rise, and by 2030, there will be about 35% more. It’s a great
company cars to electric and hybrid vehicles. We’re making
reminder that growth and energy consumption need not
our own buildings carbon neutral. We’ve created offset
go hand in hand. They can be decoupled, enabling socio-
programmes to close the remaining gap. And perhaps most
economic development while at the same time contributing
importantly, we’ve built sustainability into our product design,
to protecting our climate.
with each product scored for a circular economy. Everything
we do is driven by approved, science-based targets. We’ve
done this in just five years, and if we can do it, others can, too.
160%
20% 160%
18%
140%
140%
16%
120%
120%
14%
100%
100%
12%
10% 80%
80%
8%
60%
60%
6%
40%
40%
4%
20%
20%
2%
0 0 0
Harry Verhaar, 2006 2018 2030
Head of Global Public & Government Affairs, Energy Consumption (lighting) Lighting use
Signify
Harry Verhaar has over 20 years of experience in So, my call to action is simple: let’s close the gap between
commitment and action and get behind a carbon-neutral
the lighting industry and is Head of Global Public &
world no later than 2050. As businesses, let’s lead the way
Government Affairs for Signify. He is responsible for
by committing to becoming carbon neutral by 2030 at the
the strategy, outreach and stakeholder management
latest. And let’s make sure that in our conversations in ten
on energy & climate change, resource efficiency and
years’ time, we’re able to reflect on our actions and our
sustainable development, with a key focus on the role of
momentous progress in overcoming this greatest challenge
the LED lighting revolution. to humanity’s future.
He has since the end of 2003 been the architect of the
www.signify.com
lighting strategy on energy and climate change, which
has resulted in a global momentum on phasing out of old
lighting technologies.
He is an active member of a number of partnership and
stakeholder networks, among which The Climate Group;
Regions20, the World Green Building Council and of the
UN Environment Science Business Policy Forum. He is
responsible for Philips’ relationship management with
the UN and is a founding member of UN Environment’s
en.lighten program and the SE4All’s Global Energy
Efficiency Accelerator Platform. He is chairman of the
European Alliance to Save Energy and is former president
of the Global Off-Grid Lighting Association.
He holds a MSc in Solid State Luminescence from the
University of Utrecht, The Netherlands.

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