At a time, when technology is making rapid strides towards enhanced connectivity, and when science is conquering new biological and chemical frontiers everyday, consumer issues now have to address a complex web of social, political and environmental realities. Whether it's the issue of protecting consumer privacy and personal information in the case of unethical sharing of telecom databases, or the Supreme Court of India stepping in, in the asbestos-laden Clemenceau debate—consumer interests are either at the center, or linger at the edges of almost every issue.

In one of the earlier issues of Consumer VOICE (see 'Birds in your coffee', Vol 6, issue 6), we had talked about how "sun-hedges" were bad news for the environment, and how those thousands of consumers visiting the Baristas, Café Coffee Days, and Mochas everyday, could be the deciding factor in ensuring that coffee labourers got a fair deal. This issue has caught the attention of the international community as well. Consumers International (CI), a federation of 230 consumer organisations from around the world is calling on governments, retailers and the mainstream coffee industry to support the growing consumer demand for certified coffees. The link between the environment, fair trade, and consumer decision has come into sharp focus. A CI research on coffee found how consumers face a number of barriers when purchasing certified coffees. These include product visibility, uncertainty over quality, and confusion about what certification labels actually mean. The study argues that consumer support is essential to the development of the certified coffee sector. We at Consumer VOICE couldn't agree with this more.

This year, Consumers International has chosen "Energy: Sustainable Access For All' as the theme for the World Consumer Rights Day. Energy, along with water, truly, is going to be a lynchpin of our nation's development in the future. At VOICE, we have been supporting energy-efficient appliances and labelling since 2002. Most of our tests—that of water heaters, televisions, refrigerators, ceiling fans, and now ballasts and CFL lamps, have repeatedly underlined the need for evolving stricter energy efficiency standards, and promotion of the energy and eco-label schemes. Since 2003, VOICE has also been involved with agencies like the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, and Winrock International and USAID, on promotion of labelling programmes, not just in India, but more widely, in the South Asian region.

Now that CI has placed energy issues center-stage for all consumer organisations around the globe, there is likely to be a concerted spurt of activity on this front. It is also time to take a re-look at the energy-guzzling buildings, homes, and malls coming up around us almost everyday. In a country where energy-shortage is a basic infrastructural weakness, can we afford to have products and appliances, built-up spaces, or even cars and bikes, that are energy or fuel-inefficient?