SPAC at CSD
The Division of Sustainable Development serves as the secretariat responsible for conducting the various Commissions on Sustainable Development (CSD), the follow up and the implementation of Agenda 21 and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation.
Sustainable
production and consumption has always been an important mandate of the
Commission on Sustainable Development since its inception. Chapter 4
of Agenda 21, titled "Changing
consumption patterns" identified unsustainable production and
consumption patterns in developing countries as the major cause for
the continued deterioration of the global environment. The chapter focuses
importance on national policies and strategies to encourage changes
in unsustainable consumption patterns, and recommends activities in
this regard.
The UN Conference on Environment and Development (which produced the Agenda 21 report) was followed by plenty of activity - both internationally and nationally - in the field of sustainable production and consumption, in order to identify ways and means of implementing the recommendations in Chapter 4 of Agenda 21. Among the various suggestions mooted, prominent is the European Union proposal of formulating and implementing a 10 year international work-programme on sustainable consumption and production.
The World Summit on Sustainable Development recognized that "changing patterns of consumption and production" (along with poverty eradication and protecting the natural resource base) was one of the three overarching objectives and essential requirements of sustainable development. Chapter III of the Plan of Implementation on the WSSD, was a disappointment as it did not build upon the work and research done on sustainable production and consumption since Rio. In fact, in many ways, this chapter dilutes some of the commitments made in 1992.
For a more detailed analysis of Sustainable Production and Consumption issues, from Agenda 21 to the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, see Production, Consumption and the World Summit on Sustainable Development.
The NGO Sustainable Production and Consumption Caucus (SPAC Caucus) at the CSD coordinates the activity of the civil society interested in working on SPAC issues during the proceedings of the CSD. The Caucus brings NGOs together to form position statements on SPAC, suggest policy and implementation details, and lobby individual governments, encouraging full implementation of agreed-upon policies and promoting proactive development of national SPAC programs.
This page provides SPAC information and relevant links to the various sessions of the CSD and the WSSD - including preparatory information for the upcoming CSD - 12.