Energy efficient appliances should be made compulsory, says UN expert

Governments should make energy efficient appliances and building materials compulsory because that is the smartest way of controlling greenhouse gas emissions, a U.N. expert said Tuesday.

The technology for making appliances that use less electricity — such as light bulbs, air conditioners and refrigerators — already exists but manufacturers don’t make them because there is no legal push, said Marcel Alers, a climate change expert of the United Nations Development Program.
Using such appliances means power plants will burn less coal to produce electricity, leading to a reduction in emissions that contribute to climate change and its effects — flooding, rising sea levels, melting of polar caps and forest fires among others.

“Voluntary is nice but if you want impact, it has to be mandatory,” Alers told reporters after giving a presentation at a conference on climate change organized by the Malaysian government and the UNDP.

International Herald Tribune