BEIJING, Nov. 11 - Beijing hosted a global energy-saving forum from Monday to Tuesday, bringing together governments, the private sector, financial institutions and international agencies to reaffirm their commitment to implementing a worldwide transition to energy efficient lighting.

The Global Efficient Lighting Forum was spearheaded by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and inspired by the United Nations Secretary General's Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) initiative, which prioritized lighting as one of its five energy efficiency accelerators.

Among the various measures, investing in efficient lighting instead of building new power plants is the cleanest, fastest and most cost-effective way to reduce climate change, the UNEP said.

UNEP estimates that replacing all inefficient on-grid lighting globally with innovative, energy-efficient alternatives would result in over 1,000 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity savings annually, which is equivalent to the annual use of India and the United Kingdom combined.

This electricity savings is equivalent to over 120 billion U.S dollars in avoided electricity bills and the reduction of over 530 million tonnes of CO2 annually.

LED lighting and digital control systems are revolutionizing lighting services by delivering improved levels of energy efficiency to all sectors. If there were a global transition to LED, it would reduce electricity consumption by 1550 TWh worldwide, which could provide 1.5 billion household with electricity.

Representatives attending the forum have reached an agreement to double the global rate of energy efficiency and make sustainable energy for all a reality by 2030.

The forum was hosted by the Global Efficient Lighting Centre (GELC)-UNEP Collaborating Centre, with support from China's National Development and Reform Commission, Industry and Information Technology Ministry, and the government of Beijing Municipality.