With UNEP’s support, a demonstration project for replacing inefficient public street lights has provided example of how the historic reserve of Icherisheher in Azerbaijan’s capital city Baku could go on to take major step towards its climate target.

On 30 June, some of the 600 LED lights that replaced public street lights in Icherisheher were presented to the general public in Azerbaijan’s capital city. The event launched a demonstration project coordinated by UNEP showing how the reserve could take a big step towards achieving its 2020 climate goal.

The move to replace inefficient street lights with LED ones comes under one of the ambitious climate action plans that UNEP is coordinating as part of the European Commission’s ‘Covenant of Mayors (COMO) Going East’ programme. Icherisheher has been a signatory to COMO since 2012.

Outdoor lighting accounts for 70% of total emissions in Icherisheher. If not only 600 but all of the reserve’s approximately 2000 luminescent, metal halide and high pressure sodium bulbs were to be replaced with LED ones, 303,900 kWh of electricity would be saved each year - equivalent to 271 tons of CO₂ - compared to a baseline year of 2011.

Replacing all inefficient light bulbs would represent 48% of the reserve’s CO₂ reduction target to reduce emissions by 20% by 2020 compared to 2011.

Under the COMO programme, UNEP supported the reserve by contributing to technical support on street lighting –far more complex than that within buildings - through a workshop organised with the Enlighten initiative, a partnership between the public and private sector for shifting to efficient lighting.

The light bulb presentation was just one of the demonstration activities taking place to raise awareness among the general public and Icherisheher residents on climate change, energy-saving measures and the Covenant of Mayors initiative.

For more details please contact: rie.tsutsumi@unep.org
or nina.schneider@unep.org