The primary mission of the Global Lighting Association is to share information, within the limits of competition law, on political, scientific, business, social and environmental issues of relevance to the lighting industry and to develop, implement and publish the position of the global lighting industry to relevant stakeholders in the international sphere.

Originally founded in 2007 as the Global Lighting Forum, the new Global Lighting Association represents the same members, but with a renewed focus and a commitment to being active and influential participants in shaping how the world is illuminated.

Jan Denneman, president of the Global Lighting Association, said: "The rejuvenation of the Global Lighting Association comes at a time when the lighting industry is undergoing massive transformation towards LEDs. This new technology provides tremendous new opportunities, and our mission is to promote the use of sustainable, energy efficient lighting solutions. We support a quick and smooth uptake of LEDs which will be beneficial for the industry, its customers, the consumers, and also the planet."

According to the Global Lighting Association, its priorities for 2012 include: energy efficiency, LED performance quality, and innovation.

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The following article was published in the March 2012 issue of LEDs Magazine:

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Global Lighting Association aims to be more proactive

In mid March, the Global Lighting Forum (GLF) underwent a name change to become the Global Lighting Association (GLA) and also adopted a more proactive approach to promoting the use of energy-efficient lighting, including but not limited to LED-based lighting.

The GLF was established in 2007 as an “association of associations” – GLF members are national or regional lighting organizations, each made up of multiple lighting companies. Among the GLF’s members are the European Lamp Companies Federation (ELC), the US-based National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) and the Japan Electric Lamp Manufacturers Association (JELMA). Associations from China, Taiwan, Brazil, India and Australia are also represented.

Jan Denneman, GLF president, told LEDs Magazine that the GLF was formed to share knowledge of global trends and legislative developments in lighting, and also to share information about the activities of the individual associations. “There were lots of bilateral discussions between associations,” said Denneman. “So it was suggested to bring them together at the same time to share information and also save travel costs.”

The initial focus of the group was energy efficiency, but was soon extended to performance and quality, as well as areas such as standardization and legislation. As well as sharing knowledge, the GLF aims to initiate policies and actions on areas of common interest, and to seek opportunities for communicating with government authorities and other stakeholders. In this lobbying role, the GLF provides governments with relevant product and market information.

As an example, Denneman discussed the phase-out of incandescent lamps that has now been initiated in various countries and regions around the world. For a government to initiate a phase-out, “there must be an [energy-efficient] alternative available,” he said, “but the situation is different according to the market in that particular country or region.”

Also, said Denneman, it would be impossible if all countries were to try to initiate a ban at the exact same moment, as there would be insufficient capacity. Similarly, manufacturers might be faced with a large spike in demand that would not be sustained in the longer term. The GLF is positioned to give advice on such issues on behalf of the lighting industry, since it represents over 5000 lighting manufacturers with combined annual sales of $50 billion.

The GLF formed an LED Working Group in October 2010, and Denneman says that there are many issues to be addressed with solid-state lighting, such as poor-quality products and consumer dissatisfaction. The GLF’s role would be to share experiences in areas such as consumer education, or market-surveillance and quality-assurance programs, and develop consensus on best practices that could be implemented at the national or regional level by the GLF’s members.