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SPAC Watch
SPAC Watch Research - Belgium
Accountability
• SPAC is a recurring and important theme through the Federal Plan for Sustainable Development 2000 - 2004 . Chapter 1 Part II of the Federal Development Plan is titled "Actions on patterns of consumption and production". It is an excellently constructed chapter that squarely shoulders Belgium's commitment to take the lead in achieving sustainable production and consumption patterns. " Therefore the industrialised countries, including Belgium, have undertaken to take the lead in achieving sustainable consumption patterns (Agenda 21; 4.8). Strategies must be put in place in the industrialised countries to reduce consumption of energy and of raw materials. Attainment of objectives such as Factor 4 or Factor 10 (meaning a reduction in the ratio of consumption of energy and of raw materials to production to one-quarter or one-tenth of its present level over a number of years) is the object of studies at international level (see also the theme 'energy')." The plan also looks at practical measures to implement the plans - (relevant laws, policies and regulations) and points out the departments whose responsibility it is to implement the same.
• The draft Federal Development Plan 2004-08 deals with various aspects of SPAC like consumer protection, eco-labelling, clean transportation, sustainable consumption, green pricing, pollution prevention etc, but does not have a separate chapter dealing with SPAC
• "The sustainable development plans, both regional and federal, have absorbed considerable intellectual resources and generated much public discussion. A successful outcome of this long process and the voluminous documentation generated by it would be the development of better focused targets and policies, a clearer view of costs and benefits (taking advantage of work being done in various Belgian institutions at the moment), and of the links and trade-offs between action in different areas, and mechanisms for systematic comparison of results with plans. As far as the federal plan is concerned it is too early to judge, but the draft plan is stronger on concepts and general arguments than on specific policies or targets, and some of the specific targets it does contain do not seem based on complete analysis. The role of public consultation and comment is in part to correct this." [i]
Responsibility
• The principle of common and differentiated responsibilities is stressed as one of the five basic principles of sustainable development. The Federal Plan for Sustainable Development 2000 - 2004 states, " It is up to developed countries to be the first to reduce the particularly heavy pressures their societies at present apply to the common environmental heritage. Although responsibility is shared among all countries, it is the richest among them which ought to set an example and take the first steps along the path of sustainable development, by adopting sustainable modes of production and consumption both in their own territories and abroad, in their own activities and in those of their nationals."
• Belgium is the donor country for the project "Globalization, liberalization and sustainable human development". "The objective of this programme is to enhance the ability of developing countries to manage their integration into the global economy in a manner supportive of equitable and sustainable development. To pursue this objective, the Programme will articulate its work at global and country level, with particular emphasis on country-level activities." [ii]
• The SPAC Chapter in the Federal Development Plan 2000 - 04 is also significant in that it recognized the link between poverty and consumption. " These two aspects of sustainable consumption (distribution of consumption and satisfaction of basic needs) are dealt with as part of the social themes, under policies for combating poverty and under policies for reduction in over-indebtedness and for health protection: for we have to acknowledge that over-indebtedness weighs chiefly on the poorest households, and prevents them satisfying certain basic needs (or makes them go deeper into debt in order to acquire the goods to enable them to satisfy their basic needs), which can only increase the risk of their social exclusion. As for the links between consumption and poverty, we can see, for instance, that the proportion of malnourished people is highest in the case of the poorest households."
• The draft Federal Development Plan 2004-08 deals with consumption as a measure under the goal of poverty eradication and social inclusiveness.
• The SPAC Chapter in the Federal Development Plan 2000 - 04 (Paras 104 - 109) deals with the need for indicators to measure the progress towards the aforementioned objectives.
• "At the Federal level, work on ISDs takes place in the framework of the Act on Co-ordination of the Federal Policy on sustainable development adopted on the fifth of May 1997, in particular in the report on sustainable development and the plan for sustainable development. In the first report on sustainable development written under this Act, indicators were used to monitor the development in the following themes: changing consumption patterns, protection of the atmosphere, protection of the marine milieu and eradication of poverty." [iii]
• Powerpoint presentation about SPAC indicators in Belgium http://www.h.scb.se/sdiworkshop/presentations/Consumption_Production.ppt
Implementation
• The Flemish , Walloon and Brussels-Capital region have all developed their own sustainable development strategies.
• The Brussels Institute for Management of the Environment and 2 other NGOs are involved in a project titled " Sustainable Consumption in Cities: European Campaign on Products without Waste and Recycled Products ." This project aims at encouraging regions, cities and towns to move towards a more sustainable consumption through an increased involvement in waste prevention and recycling. "Local and regional authorities have a particular role to play in the sustainable management of resources. They are the public authorities closest to citizens. As such, they can encourage their constituencies to consume differently and efficiently and to participate in recycling schemes. "Socially responsible consumption and eco-labels - "the social label ensures that products have not been manufactured by forced or child labour and that, workers have been secured protection against discrimination and given the right to organize collectively.In practice, what this means is that companies interested in the social label will have to demonstrate that ILO's labour norms have been respected throughout their entire production line, also outside of Europe. As a result, consumers who purchase social label products can do their part in contributing to sustainable development in the South, where a lot of production takes place in today's globalised economy." [iv]
• Position paper by the European Brands Association on Sustainable Consumption - http://www.aim.be/docs/Environment/sustainable_consumption.doc
Endnotes
[i] Encouraging environmentally sustainable growth in Belgium, OECD, 2001 < http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/31/50/1892052.pdf >
[ii] Globalization, Liberalization and Sustainable Development PHASE II, WTO, 2002 < http://tcbdb.wto.org/trta_project.asp?prjcd=INT0T1CK&ctry=998 >
[iii] Country report on Sustainable Development Indicators
[iv] "Socially responsible products: Belgium becomes the first country to introduce a social label to help consumers choose ethically" Corporate Social Responsibility: The European Business Campaign < http://www.csrcampaign.org/publications/Excellencereport2002/Belgium2/ >