News
2008
SUSTAINABLE MANUFACTURING SUMMIT EUROPE
November 19-21, 2008, Brussels, Belgium. The subtitle of this event is "Towards Sustainable Consumption and Production in European Manufacturing." This event aims to address "the challenge faced by regulators and manufacturers" in "how to integrate sustainability into industrial policy and practice." Speaking to this aim will be "politicians, regulators, and practitioners who aim to create an industrial environment that reinforces both economic growth and environmental protection." More.
EUROPEAN REGIONAL MEETING
October 30-31, 2008, Prague. Organized by the Ministry of Environment of the Czech Republic and the European Commission, the gathering aims to "contribute to implementing the Johannesburg commitments on SCP, to formulate European regional contributions to the 10YFP, to discuss the EU SCP Action Plan and to share information and best practices." Doreen Fedrigo of the European Environmental Bureau will speak on the role of NGOs in advancing SCP in the European region. More.
UNEP/INDUSTRY FORUM DISCUSSES MARRAKECH PRIORITIES
October 23-24, 2008, Paris. UNEP's annual Business & Industry Global Dialogue, co-hosted by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) will "focus on business perspectives and mutual expectations" on "the form of engagement and content of the Marrakech Process and its Task Forces." More. Agenda.[pdf]
CIVIL SOCIETY PLATFORM
October 13-14, 2008, Szentendre, Hungary. Organized by UNEP/Wuppertal Institute, and others, the meeting represents "the first event of the EU FP-7 project named the Civil Society Platform on Sustainable Consumption and Production (DelibProcessSCP)." The meeting "invites participants from organisations engaged with civil society" to discuss the three topics of housing, food/drink and mobility and related "policies and actions which respond to the needs of civil society." More.
SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION IN CENTRAL EASTERN EUROPE
October 8, 2008, Budapest, Hungary. Organized by Corvinus University, Association of Conscious Consumers, and others, this conference focuses on research on sustainable consumption in the region, and hopes "to create an informal network of scientists" working in the field of sustainable consumption. More.
12TH EUROPEAN ROUNDTABLE ON SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION & PRODUCTION
September 23-25, 2008, Berlin. An international "interface of science, industry, public authorities and politics" with the goal to "facilitate innovations" and promote sustainable consumption and production by "challenging participants' projects, ideas and approaches...and stimulating debate." Some key issues discussed: housing and construction, supply chain management, resource efficiency, and energy supply and consumption. More.
2007
TIME
FOR ACTION: EU SCP ACTION PLAN
Sept. 26-29,
Ljubljana, Slovenia.
As the public
online consultations close giving input on the EU's regional
action plan on SCP, an experts meeting convenes here to further
develop ideas and strategies for making the plan a reality.
The Slovenian Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning has
set up a website on the Time
for Action meeting, with links to discussion papers.
PUBLIC
CONSULTATION ON SCP
Sept 23, The Hague.
The EC's Public Consultation on the regional SCP and sustainable
industry action plans closed today, after gathering feedback
from a range of stakeholders ("the public, consumers, companies
and organizations") on "barriers and possible outcomes
for consideration." The main focus of this feedback was
on a background
document on the proposed action plans. These plans are among
a number of the other proposed "building block" elements
of the EU's broader sustainable
development strategy (EU SDS). Report on outcomes
of the consultation.
2006
SUSTAINABLE
GROWTH IN THE EU
Dec. 2006, Bruges, Belgium.
Is "sustainable growth" a noble aim or oxymoron? In
this 2-day conference, Sustainable
Resource Management is explored as "a tool for sustainable
growth."
OFFICIAL
LAUNCH OF SCORE NETWORK
Nov 2006, Wuppertal,
Germany. Back-to-back
with the CSCP experts meeting, the Sustainable Consumption Research
Exchange (SCORE) organized its official launch
conference and highlighting its work to link scientists
to the 10-year framework taskforces. Proceedings available at
SCORE website.
INTERNATIONAL
OPENING OF UNEP/WUPPERTAL CENTRE ON SCP
Nov 2006, Wuppertal,
Germany. The
collaboration between the Wuppertal Institute and UN Environment
Programme will officially celebrate the opening of the Center
on Sustainable Consumption and Production (CSCP). This event
is tied to the Experts Conference on the Marrakech Process,
"Creating Solutions for Sustainable Consumption and Production,"
on Nov. 22-23. Background
paper for the conference [pdf].
NORDIC
MINISTERS LOOK TO IMPLEMENT SD STRATEGY
Sept 2006, Copenhagen. The Nordic
Council of Ministers conference focused on new indicators
in their revised SD strategy: for the social dimension (education)
and the economic (sustainable production and consumption).
CAUTIOUS
WELCOME BY EEB TO REVISED EU SD STRATEGY
June 2006, Brussels.
Welcoming the EU's renewed Sustainable Development Strategy
as "a clear framework" and "acceptable starting
point" to address energy, transport and other issues, integrating
environmental with social and economic priorities, the European
Environmental Bureau (EEB) noted several shortcomings. In
particular, they noted the lack of "specific longer-term
targets and schedules" (e.g., on reducing greenhouse emissions)
while not promoting many new actions.
RENEWED
EU SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY ADOPTED
June 2006, Brussels.
Building on the first Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS)
adopted by the EU in Goteborg, the European Council has now
adopted "an ambitious and comprehensive
renewed SDS for an enlarged EU." Noting persisting
unsustainable trends, the renewed SDS acknowledges that "the
main challenge is to gradually change our current unsustainable
consumption and production patterns and the non-integrated approach
to policy making." That said, the Commission "will
propose an EU Sustainable Consumption and Production Action
Plan by 2007." For more on the EU SDS process, see European
Sustainable Development Network.
PERSPECTIVES
ON RADICAL CHANGES
April 2006, Copenhagen. This 2-day workshop
represents the first phase in SCORE's 3-year study of governance
approaches to consumption. Sustainable
Consumption Research Exchange (SCORE) is a network funded
by the European Commission to follow-up on the committment to
a 10-year framework on sustainable consumption and production.
The project works from the assumption that "sustainable
consumption and production structures can only be realized if
experts that understand business development, sustainable design,
consumer behaviour and system innovation policy work together
in shaping them." Proceedings
[pdp], 577 pages.
I
WILL IF YOU WILL
March 2006, London. The UK Sustainable Consumption
Roundtable releases its report on its 18 month primary research
"into a range of possible solutions and approaches to sustainable
consumption" that will "take action that enables people
to take up the more sustainable habits and choices that they
want." The focus, the report states, needs to be on creating
a framework for collective progress, rather than exhorting individuals
to go against the grain." Report
[pdf]
ENVIROMENT
POLICY REVIEW 2005
Feb. 2006, Brussels.
The recent European
Commission Environmental Policy Review describes the most
important issues for EU environment policy during 2005. While
noting positive impacts from EU environment policy (start of
emission trading, entry into force of Kyoto Protocol), the review
also points out that "challenges faced by the EU are rooted
in unsustainable consumption and production patterns that remain
the main barrier to further improvement." In response,
"the Commission will draw up an action plan to promote
sustainable production and consumption."
HOUSEHOLD
CONSUMPTION AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Jan. 2006, Copenhagen. The European Environment
Agency has released its report
on European household consumption of which the authors observe,
"in spite of the renewed policy-focus on SCP, growth of
European household consumption is a major cause of increased
environmental pressures." The report analyzes the environmental
effects and sustainability of this increasing consumption.See
Report
[pdf].
2005
SUSTAINABLE
ENERGY CONSUMPTION
Dec. 2005:
Focusing on the theme of energy, the Second European Conference
under the Marrakech Process on Sustainable Consumption and Production
was held in Berlin. See Report
[pdf]
THEMATIC
STRATEGY ON THE SUSTAINABLE USE OF NATURAL RESOURCES
Dec . 2005: The European Commission has proposed a
strategy to govern the use of natural resources in the region
and to reduce the negative environmental impacts associated
with resource use. Titled The
Thematic Strategy on the Sustainable Use of Natural Resources,
the strategy aims at "ensuring that the consumption
of resources and their associated impacts do not exceed the
carrying capacity of the environment and breaking the linkages
between economic growth and resource use".
EUROPEAN
SPAC STRATEGY?
Oct . 2005: In a presentation given during the 10th
Annual Roundtable on Sustainable Consumption and production,
held at Antwerp Belgium, European Commission official Timo Makela
mooted the idea of integrating several existing and planned
EU initiatives under a sustainable consumption and production
umbrella.
UPCOMING:
ERSCP - 10
Aug. 2005: The 10th European Roundtable on Sustainable
Consumption and Production will be held in Antwerp, Belgium
from October 5 - 8 2005.
Details
EUROPE
2005: THE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT
Jun. 2005: The Global Footprint Network and WWF have
released the first
ecological footprint report focused on Europe. The report
shows that the European Union uses 20 per cent of what the world's
ecosystems provide in terms of fibres, food, energy, and waste
absorption. Yet Europe is home to only 7 per cent of the world
population. Europe's demand on the planet has risen by almost
70 per cent since 1961.
Details.
MOTIVATING
SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION
Apr.
2005: UK's Sustainable Development Commission has published
the report Motivating
Sustainable Consumption: A review of behaviour of consumer behavior
and environmental change. The report questions why people
consume the way they do, and what factors drive and constrain
their choices and actions. It also highlights the dilemmas and
opportunities of policymakers engaged in addressing unsustainable
consumption patterns.
STRATEGY
ON CONSUMER & HEALTH POLICY
Mar. 2005: In his speech on sustainable consumption
during the European Consumers Day, the European Commissioner
for Health and Consumer Protection announced that the Commission
would propose the creation of a EU wide strategy on health policy
and consumer policy in order to fully exploit the synergies
between the two policy areas and improve service to the citizen.
More details are available here.
UK
SD STRATEGY
Mar. 2005: The UK government has launched a new Sustainable
Development Strategy titled "Securing
the Future". The new strategy, which takes into account
the developments since the 1999 strategy emphasizes "sustainable
consumption and production" as a key priority area.
BEST
PRACTICES FROM FINLAND
Jan.
2005: The Finnish Ministry of Environment has released
a collection of best practices related to sustainable consumption
and production in Finland. Titled "Making
it happen - Best Practices from Finland", the examples
are organized under 3 themes: sustainable development, water
and sustainable consumption and production.
UK
SDC - WORKSHOP REPORTS
Jan.
2005: The UK Sustainable Development Commission has
released the reports for the following workshops on sustainable
consumption: (a) Policies
for Sustainable Consumption (b) Delivering
Well Being. The workshops were held in September and October
2004 respectively in order to further the development of sustainable
development strategy and policy.
2004
RUSSIA:
CLEANER PRODUCTION &
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Dec.
2004:The Ministry
of Natural Resources of the Russian federation organized an
international conference "Cleaner Production as a contribution
to Sustainable Development" in Moscow on December 6 -9.
The meeting report is available here.
EUROPEAN
SCP MEETING - REPORT & DOCS
Dec.
2004: The report
of the European Stakeholder meeting on sustainable consumption
and production is available here
. Other information about the meeting, including background
documents is available here
.
NGO
STATEMENT TO SCP MEETING
Nov.
2004: Networks of civil society organizations around
Europe got together to draft a position paper that was circulated
during the European Stakeholder Meeting on Sustainable Consumption
and Production. The statement is available here.
EUROPEAN
SCP MEETING
Nov.
2004: The European Stakeholder Meeting on Sustainable
Consumption and Production is being held in Ostend, Belgium
on November 24-26.
SUSTAINABLE
CONSUMPTION WORKSHOP IN BARCELONA
Sept.
2004: Barcelona
Universal Forum of Cultures 2004, is hosting a workshop titled
"Linking Sustainable Consumption and the Quality of Life"
in Barcelona on September 22nd 2004. The aims of the workshop
are to raise awareness and clarify the links between sustainable
consumption and quality of life, and to derive, based on these
links, practical recommendations for strategies for the promotion
of sustainable consumption by government, business and civil
society, including NGOs, consumer associations, youth associations
and the media.
Read
more
SCP
MEETINGS IN EUROPE
Sept.
2004: UNEP has announced several upcoming meetings
on sustainable consumption and production in Europe. UNEP's
Sustainable Consumption
Opportunities for Europe website announced that the wider
European Multistakeholder Conference on SCP would be held in
November 2004. The website also announces that a workshop on
sustainable consumption opportunities will be held in Moscow
in December 2004.
Read
more .
GRANTS
FOR SPAC
Aug
2004: The Department for Environment, Food and Rural
Affairs, UK (DEFRA) is inviting applications from voluntary
sector groups throughout England for grants from the Environment
Action Fund to support their work on Sustainable Consumption
and Production over the three years from 2005-08. Details are
available here
.
ERSCP - CONCLUSIONS
July
2004: The conclusions of the 9th European Roundtable
on Sustainable Consumption and Production (ERSCP 2004) are now
available at the conference website.
BALTIC STATES AND SPAC
June
2004:The Baltic sub-regional multistakeholder dialogue
on sustainable consumption and production was organized in Vilnius,
Lithuania on June 17 - 18 2004.
More
details are available here.
Documents
are available here.
EU:
SPEAKING POINTS ON SPAC AT THE UNEP GMEF
June
2004: The Irish Presidency of the European Union has
released its Speaking Points on Sustainable Consumption and
Production made at the 8th Special Session of the UNEP Governing
Council. The speaking points reiterate that the EU will take
the lead on the issue of unsustainable production and consumption
patterns.
Read
the speaking
points.
EUROPEAN
ROUNDTABLE ON SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION & PRODUCTION
May
2004: Over 300
persons participated in the 9th
European Roundtable on Sustainable Consumption and Production
(formerly ERCP), held in Bilbao, Spain between 12th and
14th May 2004. The conclusions
are available at the conference
website .
THE
FUTURE FOR SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION IN EUROPE
Apr.
2004: Consumption in Europe continues to rise and households
account for a growing share of resource use and environmental
burden. These are some of the conclusions of the study " Consumption
and the Environment in Europe: Trends and Futures " done
on behalf of the Danish Environmental Protection Agency (http://www.mst.dk/homepage/
) by Laurie Michaelis, University of Oxford and Sylvia Lorek,
SERI (www.seri.at/consumption
). The report identifies some of the implications for possible
action that could be taken by governments, business and civil
society to prepare for a future transition to more sustainable
patterns of consumption.
Read
more
EU
STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATION
Mar.
2004: Sustainable consumption and production and the
development of the 10 year framework are some of the key priorities
of the European Union in the follow up to the World Summit on
Sustainable Development. Therefore, the EU has developed "Sustainable
consumption and production: An inventory of relevant policies,
activities and instruments at the European Community level"
to provide an overall view of overall
view of the EU's current activities and best practices on the
issue. On March 22nd 2003, the EU will be conducting a stakeholder
consultation on the inventory.
GERMAN
DIALOGUE ON SPAC
Feb.
2004: Germany
is restarting the dialogue on sustainable production and consumption
to face the challenge of fleshing out the 10 year framework
of programmes.To this end, the German government hosted a conference
titled "Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns
- National Dialogue on the Follow-up of the World Summit for
Sustainable Development" in Berlin to develop "perspectives
and new impetus for the promotion of sustainable consumption
and production patterns".
Read
more
Read
conference paper
SPAC
ROUNDTABLE IN BILBAO
The
Basque Environmental management Authority will be hosting 9th
European Roundtable on Sustainable Production and Consumption
in Bilbao, Basque Country on 12th - 14th May 2004. Formerly
known as the European Roundtable on Cleaner Production, the
ERSCP this year will pay special attention to the theme of sustainable
consumption - inspired by the international framework of programmes
on sustainable production and consumption. The roundtable is
currently calling for abstracts on themes, to be submitted by
28th November 2004.
Read
more
UK'S
WORKPLAN ON SPAC
The
UK government has recently released its plan for sustainable
production and consumption titled "Changing
Patterns: The UK Government Framework on Sustainable Production
and Consumption" as a part of its commitments under
the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation. The plan has the following
objectives:
- Breaking the link between
economic growth and environmental pollution.
- Improving resource efficiency.
- Focusing on areas where
environmental damage is greatest.
- Examining the whole life-cycle
of a product, through design, production, use and disposal,
to help reduce its effect on the environment.
- Enabling consumers to
receive more information on products and services.
- Government utilizing a
range of tools, including taxes, voluntary agreements, subsidies,
regulation and information campaigns, to stimulate innovation
and investment to provide cleaner technology.
UK
is the first government to come out with a strategy specifically
focused on sustainable production and consumption.
2003
CENTER
FOR SUSTAINABLE DESIGN: INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
The
8th international conference of the Center for Sustainable Design
will take place in Stockholm, Sweden between October 27 - 28
2003. The Conference, titled Sustainable Innovation 03, "will
explore the concept of sustainable innovation from a product,
service and product-service-systems viewpoint by providing a
platform for discussion of best practice and new ideas"
and will " respond to the call made at the Johannesburg
World Summit on Sustainable Development for programmes that
will accelerate the shift towards sustainable consumption and
production."
Read
more
BELGIUM:
CALL FOR SPAC RESEARCH PROPOSALS
The
Belgian Government called for research proposals on sustainable
production and consumption as a part of the research for the
second multiannual Scientific Research Plan for a Sustainable
Development Policy (SPSD II). The call, which was open to Belgian
universities, public scientific institutions and non-profit
research centers, requested proposals both on general SPAC issues
as well as on specific topics concerning energy, transport and
agri-food.
Read
more
SPAC
IN THE ENVIRONMENT FOR EUROPE MEETINGS
The
Kyiv
Ministerial Declaration encourages "national
efforts to promote sustainable production and consumption as
well as corporate environmental and social responsibility and
accountability" (Para. 27) Para. 28 of the Declaration focuses
on the 10-year framework of programmes in support of sustainable
production and consumption and lists out program elements that
must be considered in the same. It also calls for adoption of
public procurement policies at all levels. Para. 29 encourages
improvements in corporate practices. The declaration also deals
with public participation (Section F), transboundary air pollution
(Section G), energy (Section I), water (Section J), transport
(Section K) and chemicals (Section L) among other issues. For
more details, see the ICSPAC home page
Integrative
Strategies Forum organized a workshop
titled Towards Production and Consumption in the ECE region.
( Event Summary)
REGIONAL
NETWORKING AROUND SPAC
ANPED's
SPAC Working Group and ECO-Forum's
SPAC Issue Group are some of the regional collaborations
around sustainable production and consumption.
SUSTAINABLE
CONSUMPTION.NET
Sustainable
Consumption.Net (www.sustainable-consumption.net)
has been created with the aim of providing and disseminating
knowledge necessary to realize sustainable consumption patterns
to citizens and policy makers. The network has been designed
to develop the necessary empirical information, policy analysis,
tools, and implementation experience in order to scientifically
support the consumption part of the EU's proposed 10-year work
programme.
For
more information on the network, contact sylvia.lorek@sustainable-consumption.net
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