|
The
Sustainable Consumption programme of UNEP started in
1998. The programme focuses on understanding the forces
that drive consumption patterns around the world and how
to translate those findings into tangible activities for
business, governments and other stakeholders.
Realizing the need to link sustainable production with
cleaner production, UNIDO and UNEP have widened the
scope of cleaner production activities to include
sustainable consumption. These concepts have been
recognized as the means to reconcile economic growth and
environmental protection.
Linking cleaner production and sustainable consumption
on one side and the need to meet the basic needs of the
poor on the other, need to be addressed in depth.
Central also is the relationship between sustainable
consumption and transparency and the right to know, and
the need to change youth's ideas of desirable lifestyles
in order to change their consumption patterns. The young
generation needs to be helped to lead their lives in a
way that uses fewer resources and causes less pollution
and social damage.
The
Consumption and Production Branch of UNEP has developed
a resource kit on sustainable consumption and
production. It is composed of fact sheets on 12
different topics: advertising, eco-design, energy, food,
housing, leisure, lifestyles, mobility, New Information
and Communication Technologies (NICT), textiles, tourism
and water.
Africa
Roundtable on Sustainable Consumption and Production (ARSCP)
With the increasing number of NCPCs and
CP promoting institutions at the national level,
Regional Roundtables have emerged as a useful forum for
experience sharing and information dissemination at the
regional level.
Recognizing the fact that sustainable
consumption and production can make an important
contribution to sustainable development and poverty
reduction in Africa, three roundtable conferences have
been organised.
In August 2000, UNEP organised the First
African Roundtable on Cleaner Production and Consumption
in Nairobi, Kenya. The Second African Roundtable on
Sustainable Consumption and Production was organised by
the Cleaner Production Centre of Tanzania (CPCT) in
collaboration with UNEP and was held in January 2002, in
Arusha, Tanzania. The Third African Roundtable on
Sustainable Consumption and Production (ARSCP-3) was
organised by UNEP in collaboration with UNIDO and the
Cleaner Production Centre of Morocco. The ARSCP-3 was
attended by representatives of NCPCs, CP promoting
institutions, government agencies, industry
associations, consumers’ associations and youth
associations.
The
Roundtable has been institutionalised with a Charter and
Executive Board of five members established. The third
meeting resulted into the declaration of the Casablanca
Statement on Sustainable Consumption that urges the
African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN)
to include initiatives that promote sustainable
consumption and production in its work programme,
including in the implementation of the Action Plans of
the NEPAD Environment Initiative and the science and
technology programme.
|
