Make ‘asimpleswitch’

Kuala Lumpur, June 21, 2007 – Philips is calling for all Malaysians to take charge over climate change and global warming by making ‘asimpleswitch’. By making small changes to lifestyles and the way energy is used, not only the environment, but your expenses can be saved too.

Annual averages for temperature anomalies have increased from -0.2 °C to a +0.4 °C in the year 2000, which equates to generally hotter days. These are in part due to heat and gas emissions from energy-generating power stations. With the demand for electricity growing faster than the country’s economy, ways have to be found to conserve energy.

“Philips is a multinational corporation that is taking the lead by example. All Philips products are developed to meet demanding environmental standards as well as legislative requirements, and we have energy efficient campaigns running in all major regions in the world including APAC,” said Mr R. Kumar, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Philips Malaysia Sdn Bhd. “Furthermore, by being the Global Lighting Partner for Live Earth, we are actively campaigning together with the lighting industry, NGOs, energy suppliers, governments and retailers to switch to energy-saving lighting in streets, offices, buildings and homes as soon as possible.”

Live Earth is a 24-hour, 7-continent concert series taking place on 7.7.07 that will bring together more than 100 music artists and two billion people to inspire a global movement to combat the climate crisis. Live Earth will engage a global audience with a call to action, and marks the beginning stage of a long process of change. Live Earth is the launch event for a multi-year, international solutions-based campaign to drive individuals, corporations and governments to make immediate and lasting changes to combat the climate crisis. All these concerts will be carbon neutral events. In addition, unofficial events will be held at other countries to raise awareness as well.

“Live Earth is about engaging a global audience with solutions to the climate crisis, and we are delighted that Philips has joined us in this effort,” said Kevin Wall, Founder and Producer of Live Earth. “Philips is a valuable partner for us in showing that some solutions that help reduce our energy consumption are easy, simple and accessible to almost every individual around the globe.”

In Malaysia, Philips is calling Malaysians to make ‘asimpleswitch’ on 7^th July 2007 by bringing their used tungsten light bulb to trade in for a new energy efficient Philips light bulb. “This is our way of encouraging people to make a simple change in their lives and energy consumption habits in order to save on energy and lower CO2 emissions,” said Kumar. “With new lighting technology available today, savings of up to USD$143 billion on energy costs are possible, reducing CO2 output by 592 million tons per year. This equates to up to 1560 million barrels of oil annually.” Lighting contributes 19% of all electricity consumption worldwide.

During his presentation, Kumar also highlighted Philips research that showed that if every household in Malaysia each replaced 60W incandescent lamps with three 11W CFLs, this would lead to energy savings of close to 1.5billion kWhrs. Given that Malaysia has 5.5 million households, it would mean almost RM400 million in savings per year for Malaysia alone.

The ‘asimpleswitch’ exchange will be taking place on 07.07.07 (Saturday) from 10am onwards at Menara Axis in PJ. For more information, please contact Philips at 03-7965 7488 .