NORTH AMERICA

News

NORTH AMERICAN STATEMENT ON SPAC

Sep. 5, 2005: On Labor Day, stakeholders involved in the North American Sustainable Consumption Alliance released the statement:"Producing and Consuming in North America: A Call for Action and Leadership."

TAKE BACK YOUR TIME CONFERENCE

Aug. 2005: The 2005 North American take Back Your Time conference was held in Seattle from Aug 4 - 7 2005. The conference addressed the issues of overwork, overuse and time poverty in America and around the world.
Details

CANADIAN POLLUTION PREVENTION ROUNDTABLE

Jun. 2005: The 9th Canadian Pollution Prevention Roundtable was held in Victoria on June 1-2 2005. Details and presentations are available here.

SUSTAINABLE CONSUMTION IN THE US: PERSPECTIVES

Jun. 2005: The newly released Spring 2005 issue of Sustainability: Science, practice and policy contains two articles that focus on sustainable consumption in the US. These are:
Sustainable consumption in the national context: An introduction to the symposium (Maurice Cohen)
The new politics of consumption: promoting sustainability in the American Marketplace (Cohen et al)

TOWARDS A NORTH AMERICAN SPAC FRAMEWORK

May. 2005: Integrative Strategies Forum and the North American Sustainable Consumption Alliance hosted a regional multi-stakeholder workshop in Washington DC from May 31 - June 1 2005 to discuss and report on what is happening in North America to promote sustainable production and consumption. One objective of the meeting was to develop a regional framework to improve cooperation and effectiveness. Another function of this meeting was to provide citizen input into the upcoming International Experts Meeting on SPAC in Costa Rica this September.

NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL PARTNERSHIP SUMMIT

Apr. 2005: The 2005 Environmental Summit, held in Chicago from April 11 - 14 2005 merged the annual meetings of the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable, the Compliance Assistance community and the Performance Track Participants Association. Details

EPR POLICY IN US AND CANADA

Jan. 2005: The Product Policy Project has released a comparative paper titled "Extended Producer Responsibility Policies in the United States and Canada: History and Status".

HEALTHY FOODS, LOCAL FARMS

Sept. 2004: Sierra Club organized a conference titled "Healthy Foods, Local Farms" in Louisville, KY on October 2nd 2004 as a part of its "True Cost of Food Campaign". Details are available here.

GREEN BUILDING AND LCA

Sept. 2004: The Sustainable Products Purchasers Coalition and the US Green Building Council organized a conference titled "Crossroads: The intersection of Green Building and Life Cycle Analysis" in Portland and Seattle on September 9th and 10th respectively. The conference flyer is available here. Healthy Building Network reports on the conference here.

IS THE US PRONE TO OVERCONSUMPTION?

July 2004: The OECD has put up the text and slides of a presentation made by OECD Chief Economist Jean-Philippe Cotis to the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston conference on The Macroeconomics of Fiscal Policy. The presentation is available here.

TRUE COST OF FOOD CAMPAIGN

May 2004: Sierra Club has launched a national grassroots campaign titled "True Cost of Food" campaign that focuses on American food production and consumption patterns. The goal of the Campaign is to make the Club a leader in sustainable eating by making Americans realize the "true cost of food". Details are available at the spring newsletter of the Sierra Club Sustainable Consumption Committee.

C2P2/ NASCA MEETING IN OTTAWA

Apr. 2004: The Canadian Center for Pollution Prevention and the North American Sustainable Consumption Alliance (NASCA) hosted an experts workshop on "Strategic priorities in promoting sustainable consumption in North America" in Ottawa, ontario on April 30th 2004. The meeting report is available here .

OVERCONSUMPTION IN CANADA

Feb. 2004: "Overconsumption is the main reason for Canada's woes" states a report published by the David Suzuki Foundation. Titled "Sustainability within a Generation: A new vision for Canada", the report identifies nine critical challenges that Canada should concentrate upon. It calls for a generation of environmental laws and policies that "must embody fundamental principles including intergenerational equity, polluter pays, user pays, pollution prevention, ecological design, extended producer responsibility and adaptive management"

SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION WORKSHOP IN DC

Jan. 2004: The Worldwatch Institute and North American Sustainable Consumption Alliance (NASCA) organized an experts workshop on "Strategic Priorities for Promoting Sustainable Consumption in North America" in Washington DC on January 27th 2004. The workshop aimed to advance the process of developing a concrete, constructive, and collaborative strategy for promoting sustainable consumption in North America. The participants, including both NGOs and charitable foundations, discussed possible initiatives in the fields of government initiatives, industry targeted activities, purchasing, communicating and promoting sustainable consumption. As a next step, the participants suggested building on the Sustainable Consumption database created by NASCA.

Read the report

CIVIL SOCIETY CONSULTATION FOCUSES ON SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION

Dec. 2003: The UNEP RONA (Regional Office for North America) organized a consultation with civil society on the topics of Water, Sanitation and Human Settlements at their offices in Washington DC. UNEP briefed the participants on the Global Ministerial Environment Forum (GMEF) and the 5th Global Civil Society Forum, which will be held in Korea between March 27th - 31st 2004, and received their feedback on the topics mentioned. The discussions focused on integrated water resource management, sustainable consumption of water, water and human rights etc. In addition to the moderator's summary , the participants also agreed to draft a Civil Society Statement for the GMEF - which could act as the region's input into the Global Civil Society Statement

SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION DATABASE

Dec. 2003: The North America Sustainable Consumption Alliance (NASCA) has launched it's Sustainable Consumption and Production database, which is available at http://www.p2win.org/NASCA . The database aims at facilitating cooperation among organizations in Canada, United States and Mexico that are interested in promoting sustainable consumption and production. For the first time, Internet users can access a single website to find information about sustainable consumption and production initiatives and programmes throughout North America. The Database is also intended as a resource for citizens to learn about projects or initiatives that they can support, join, or replicate in their own community.

Read the press release of Integrative Strategies Forum

SPAC STRATEGY MEETING FOR CSD 11

Oct. 2003: The CitNet SPAC Working Group organized a meeting titled "The Ten Year Framework on Sustainable Production and Consumption" at the United Nations Environmental Program's Regional Office for North America (UNEP RONA). The meeting reviewed the current state of discussions on developing the ten year framework of programs on sustainable production and consumption, as proposed at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg last year. It also discussed what ideas and actions US and other civil society organizations can contribute to this global effort.