By Christophe Bahuet, Country Director
Launch Ceremony of Green Pioneer of Room Air Conditioners

14 June 2012

Mr. Chen Liang, Director-General of the Foreign Economic Cooperation Office 
Dr. Li Pei, Director-General of the Foreign Economic Cooperation Office
Mr. Xu Zhiqiang, Director-General of the National Energy Conservation Centre
Mr. Yin Minghan, Director-General of the National Standards Commission

Distinguished guests, 
ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure to join you here today at the Launch Ceremony of the Green Energy Saving Pioneer of Room Air Conditioners held during the 2012 National Energy Conservation Week. This event is a very creative initiative spearheaded by the Promotion of Energy Efficiency Room Air Conditioners (PEERAC) project. It is creative because aside from applauding a series of companies for being far sighted and innovative, it is also a beacon for other companies to aspire to and serves as a vehicle for raising public awareness towards the need to make energy usage more sustainable. 

The importance of having green pioneers in the room air conditioning sector cannot be over stated. China is the world's largest room air conditioning manufacturer and also the largest consumer. In 2011, China produced 110 million units, among which 70 million were for the domestic market. And while the energy efficiency rate of room air conditioning has been greatly improved in recent years, the energy efficiency level is still relatively low compared with developed countries such as the United States.

To address this general trend UNDP and the Government of China jointly developed the PEERAC project, which has the objective to reduce China’s future greenhouse gas emissions through the production and sale of more energy-efficient room air conditioning. In the past, UNDP has undertaken similar tasks, most notably in working with the National Development Reform Commission and Ministry of Environmental Protection to develop new national energy efficiency standards and with companies and consumers to establish viable and cost effective supply chains and markets.

Refrigerator standards have helped to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and changed the way Chinese households think about energy use, and we hope to emulate this success by achieving similar results in the room air conditioning industry. To underline the importance UNDP attaches to this project, we expect more than 940 million tons in coal equivalent savings and an emissions reduction of 35 million tons of CO2 by the time the project ends in 2015. That is equivalent to almost nine 600 Megawatt coal-fired power plants, not to mention the prospects for improvements in air quality, coal extraction and natural resource efficiency and the natural landscape.

To ensure these ambitious targets are met the project is facilitating the transfer of technology and building inclusive green markets that will be crucial in the removal of industrial barriers that are currently slowing down the market transformation process.

The backbone of this process are the 26 enterprises we are here today to recognise, with whom we have been actively cooperating with to carry out research, develop energy-saving products and technologies, and engage in marketing. Together, they have responded most admirably to the call for the Promotion of Advanced Energy-Saving Technologies and Products and the Promotion of a Green Consumption Mode, set forth in the 12th Five-Year Plan. This research is a starting point for all of our efforts and forms an important link in pursuit of a sustainable green economy.

Excellencies! Ladies and Gentlemen!

As the second largest consumer of energy in the world, China’s ongoing economic development is expected to see national energy consumption increase substantially into the future. Energy efficiency stands therefore as a fundamental pre-requisite for achieving China’s vision of Xiaokang Society. It will be a key underlying factor in meeting most, if not all of the UN Millennium Development Goals. In addition, the UN Secretary General has designated 2012 as the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All. In doing so, this initiative is set to drastically increase access to basic energy needs by 2030 and is also likely to lead to an increase in access to domestic commodities like air conditioning, making energy efficiency and innovation even more important.

To assist in this process, the 12th Five-Year Plan outlines a new growth model for China, which is specifically geared towards meeting these objectives. To be successful in this endeavour, China must continue to adopt appropriate policies and take positive actions to adapt its economic structure, improve energy efficiency and optimise and diversify its energy resources. To this end we have seen some encouraging trends over the past few years. By end of 2011, for example, the energy consumption per unit of GDP had decreased by 2 percent when compared with figures from 2010. However, such gains must be accelerated if China is to meet its own energy consumption target of reducing energy consumption per unit of GDP by 16% by 2015.

As China moves forward and takes noticeable steps along the path to low carbon development, UNDP is proud to stand by your side. Providing policy support and technical assistance to China, in order to create a more sustainable, less greenhouse gas intensive development path is an important part of our work with our Chinese partners, and in this connection I would like to take this opportunity to extend my gratitude to the Foreign Economic Cooperation Office, Ministry of Environment Protection, and the Ministry of Finance for selecting UNDP to be its partner in the PEERAC project.

Finally, I would also like to congratulate the companies present here today for their commitment and for taking the needed steps to engage in this important public-private partnership. I have every confidence that your innovative spirit and drive will be an essential component in further reducing the energy efficiency of room air conditioning.

Thank you!

We present this article here, just to let DEKON people keep in mind again, to make the higher energy efficiency air conditioner and supply the stable air conditioner is always our great plan!