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monitoring progress

Still Waiting for Delivery: Report on progress and programs in the 10 Year Framework on SPC

1 May 2010. ICSPAC's report to the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) is a contribution from civil society reflecting inputs from a range of contributors, examining the history of this important policy discusson centered around the UN, particularly the 2002 mandate by the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) to develop a "10 Year Framework or Programs." Still Waiting for Delivery reviews not only activities following the WSSD but looks back to the Earth Summit and previous years shaping that discourse.

The previous ICSPAC report, Waiting for Delivery: A Civil Society Assessment of Progress Toward Sustainable Production and Consumption, was presented at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg.

You can download the PDF of Still Waiting for Delivery: Report on Progress and Programs by clicking on the cover above.

Views from civil society on the 10 year framework

IInput into the report came from a number of sources, including interviews, secondary research of current literature, and a questionnaire. Comments from different groups and individuals are on the following pages for each of the three basic questions about progress towards sustainable production and consumption and the 10-year framework called for at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development:

1. What progress have you seen?

2. What kinds of programs do we need?

3. What outcomes are possible from Rio+20?

4. Other thoughts

A high priority

In the follow-up of the implementation of Agenda 21, reviewing the role and impact of unsustainable production and consumption patterns and lifestyles and their relation to sustainable development should be given high priority. - Agenda 21 (1992)

Agenda 21 also specifically highlights the need for countries to "develop a domestic policy framework that will encourage a shift to more sustainable patterns of production and consumption" and calls for "an assessment of the progress achieved in developing these national policies and strategies."

Implementation gap

As of 2002 when the World Summit on Sustainable Development reviewed progress on the implementation of Agenda 21, no country had yet developed such a policy framework or strategy, leading the Secretary General's report to note an "implementation gap." Since then a number of countries, such as the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, and others have initiated national SCP plans or policies, while the European Union launched a regional SCP Action Plan.

Still, the majority of countries and regions have yet to develop or adopt national or regional policy frameworks or plans to change their production and consumption patterns. Also, as of 2010, despite the many tools, analysis, research organizations and initiatives that have been developed, there is still no official program or mechanism at the UN level tasked to monitor, measure and evaluate global progress towards sustainable production and consumption.