Bangkok--28 Mar--Philips Electronics Simple act of turning off lights for one hour at Philips offices in Asia Pacific equated to savings of one ton CO2 emission equivalent to 25 trees Philips the number one lighting company supported World Wide Fund’s (WWF) Earth Hour on March 29 by switching off the lights in its offices for one hour at 8.00pm. This climate change campaign, which began in Sydney last year, is organized by WWF to raise awareness of the simple things individuals, businesses and governments can do to combat rising greenhouse emissions and become more energy efficient. Philips companies in Malaysia, Japan, Singapore, Philippines, Australia, Korea, Thailand and Indonesia switched off the lights at their main offices premises and conducted various activities prior to March 29 to engage their respective employees and other stakeholders to pledge their support towards Earth Hour. Globally, by 2012, Philips aims to increase the energy efficiency of its operations by 25% and double its investment in green innovations to EUR 1 billion. These targets mean that by the end of 2008 all the company’s offices globally will be outfitted with energy efficient lighting systems and that further reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions will be realized in production and distribution. New energy efficient lighting solutions are available today, however, the market adoption rates are extremely slow considering the severity of the current climate change crisis. The International Energy Agency has calculated that worldwide electrical lighting uses 19 per cent of all electricity produced and consequently any changes to address energy efficiency in lighting would significantly reduce energy consumption around the world. New research data released by Philips earlier this year showed that the potential energy savings from energy efficient lighting is actually around 40 per cent, double the previously acknowledged figure. Philips has long led the industry in introducing cleaner, greener technologies and is committed to dramatically reducing carbon emissions caused by the world’s lighting needs. The company invented the energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulb back in 1980. Beyond this activity, Philips has launched the campaign www.asimpleswitch.com which communicates to the public at large that solutions in energy management can be simple and easy to implement. To commit to changing energy saving light globes in your own home visit: www.asimpleswitch.com