Accelerating Japan's Clean Lighting Transition
A national transition to LEDs has significant economic, environmental & health benefits for Japan & countries around the globe.
Global CSOs Call on G7 Ministers to Commit to 2025 Mercury-Free Lighting Transition
A letter from the Clean Lighting Coalition, Climate Action Network, and Kiko Network urges G7 Ministers to commit to a global LED transition by 2025 - despite Japan’s attempts to stall global progress. A 2025 phase-out of all fluorescent bulbs will cumulatively avoid 3.3 Gt of CO2 emissions and save US $1.34 trillion in electricity bills by 2050.
The Minamata Convention on Mercury is the most recent global agreement on environment and health, adopted in 2013. It is named after the bay in Japan where, in the mid–20th century, mercury–tainted industrial wastewater poisoned thousands of people, leading to severe health damage that became known as the “Minamata disease.
At the Minamata Convention on Mercury’s Fourth Conference of the Parties (COP4), Japan was one of few parties stalling global progress towards mercury-free lighting – arguing for 2027 as the phase-out date for linear fluorescent lamps. A global 2025 linear fluorescent phase out will avoid 3.3 Gt of CO2 emissions and save US $1.34 trillion in electricity bills (cumulative, 2025-2050), but each year of delay significantly diminishes global benefits – approximately 300 Mt of CO2 emissions are lost for each year of delay.
Japan must not hold the global clean lighting transition.
The Clean Lighting Coalition and partners urge the Japanese government to commit to an accelerated global transition to energy-efficient, mercury-free LED lighting, as a cost-effective short-term concrete action toward climate and mercury pollution mitigation.
