Background on CLASP
 

Energy efficiency standards and labels (S&L) for appliances, equipment, and lighting products are an especially cost-effective policy for conserving energy. They fit well with most other energy policies and can play a role as the backbone of all countries' energy policy portfolios. Efficiency standards and labels can force a shift to energy efficient technology and dramatically improve national energy efficiency.
CLASP was established as a partnership in 1999 to helps S&L policymakers and practitioners foster socio-economic development, improve the environment, stimulate global trade, and alleviate poverty. It is an outgrowth of an initiative begun in 1996 at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL).  In 2005, CLASP became a 501c3 non-profit organization.  CLASP is also a UN Commission of Sustainable Development Type II Partnership.  CLASP is governed by an international Board of Directors with daily operations managed by a Secretariat based in Washington, DC. 
 
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United Nations Foundation (UNF) provided early funding that launched CLASP (USAID) and allowed for the hiring of an Executive Director (UNF).  Since then, CLASP’s funding sources have diversified globally to include the:

• Australian Greenhouse Office (AGO)
• Energy Foundation (EF)
• Energy Efficiency Conservation Authority of New Zealand (EECA)
• Enova of Norway
• International Copper Association
• Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry of Japan (METI)
• Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP)
• United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
• United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA)
• US Department of Energy (USDOE)
• US Department of State (USDOS)
• US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA)
• World Bank (WB)

CLASP has provided S&L technical assistance with national implementation to over 50 countries.  Since 1999, CLASP has assisted with the implementation of 24 standards and/or labels.  These efforts alone will save over 115 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity and 30 megatonnes of CO2 (MtCO2) annually by 2020 and have avoided the construction of the equivalent of 38 750-MW coal-fired power plants. CLASP's accomplishments are part of a world trend toward governments increasingly utilizing S&L to cost-effectively develop and transform markets.