Greenpeace erects climate hazard signpost outside Philips Lighting headquarters

Press release - May 16, 2007

NEW DELHI, India — The Greenpeace Climate Patrol team today erected a Climate Hazard Information signpost in front of the Philips Lighting head quarters at Gurgaon. The signpost is on the lines of the Hazardous Waste signs that every production unit dealing with toxic materials is required to put up at the gates of their production facilities by the Pollution Control Board. It highlights details of the number of incandescent bulbs produced by Philips, the amount of carbon dioxide emissions from these bulbs and the deadly climate impacts of such emissions.

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Greenpeace Climate Patrol erects a Climate Hazard Information signpost in front of the Philips lighting headquarters at Gurgaon.

"The signpost is a constant reminder to Philips of the threat that the incandescent bulbs they produce and market pose to the environment and people of the country", said Vinuta Gopal, Climate and Energy Campaigner Greenpeace. "It is time for Philips to translate their "grave" concerns for the environment into real action and present concrete measures on how and when they will phase out the incandescent bulb" she added.

'The Greenpeace Guide to Climate Safe Lighting' [1], a ranking guide for the Indian lighting industry, that was released in Mumbai last month listed manufacturers whose incandescent bulbs are responsible for the highest quantity of avoidable carbon dioxide emissions. Philips, which sells the most number of incandescent bulbs in the market, outnumbered its competitors by a huge margin and was ranked the number 1 climate criminal followed by Surya and Bajaj who stood second and third respectively.

"Since the release of the ranking guide, Philips has stated to the media that they would like to switch to energy efficient lighting but have however fastidiously refused to come up with any clear timelines on how they will implement these noble intentions" said Vinuta, emphasizing that "given that we only have an 8 year window within which to act, the time for merely expressing concern is long over."

'The Greenpeace Guide to Climate Safe Lighting', estimates that Philips alone is responsible for net avoidable carbon dioxide emissions of 48013.56 tons of carbon dioxide per day in India as they are the leading manufacturer of incandescent bulbs in the country.

Greenpeace calls on the lighting industry, especially the biggest contributors to climate change Philips, Surya and Bajaj, to take responsibility and immediately announce a plan to phase out the hazardous incandescent bulbs by 2010. This will not only solve a part of the country's power problem but also significantly reduce India's carbon dioxide emissions.

For further information, contact

Vinuta Gopal- Climate and Energy Campaigner, , +91-9845535418

Jayashree Nandi- Greenpeace India Communications, +91-9343868011,