Getting the Goods

Moving forward or simply in circles?
The Marrakech meeting on SPAC

by Veena Ramani

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An international expert meeting on the ten-year framework of programmes on sustainable production and consumption1 was held in Marrakech, Morocco between June 16th and 19th 2003. The meeting was organized jointly by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to “work towards the development of a ten-year framework in support of national and regional initiatives to promote sustainable production and consumption” (SPAC), as highlighted in the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD)2.

The meeting brought together experts from around the world to discuss elements of the ten-year framework. However, of the 115 participants, only five represented civil society. (The NGO participants were from Consumers International, Consumer Unity and Trust Society, Integrative Strategies Forum, and Third World Network.)

The participants were divided into four working groups and discussed various aspects of the ten-year framework.

They focused on the following questions: 1) What works and what doesn’t? 2) What are the main challenges to implementation? 3) What are the main priorities of future SPAC work at the national level? and 4) What actions are needed at the international level to support SPAC?

The first working group, “Human settlements and sustainable consumption and production,” examined four main issues—waste management, transportation, construction, and water and sanitation.

The group cited various examples of good practice including the 3–Rs approach to waste management (reduction, reuse, and recycling), developing clean transportation technology and public transportation, improving energy efficiency, and water conservation practices. However, they gave less attention to the challenges of implementation, which was unfortunate given the “implementation crisis” noted in the WSSD. Future priorities included transferring environmentally sound technologies, stimulating integrated planning (urban, land use, and spatial), and learning from traditional knowledge.

The second working group, on “General policy instruments and analytical tools,” held that poverty reduction and meeting basic human needs are overarching goals of sustainable production and consumption. The group encouraged using Integrated Product Policy (IPP) and delinking economic growth from environmental degradation. Barriers to fair trade and “the internal resistance of some stakeholders to implementing SPAC programmes” were identified as two important obstacles to implementation. These could be addressed by ensuring the competitiveness of sustainable goods and services and by increasing political will and commitment for implementing SPAC strategies. The group not only called for regional initiatives, but also financing mechanisms to implement the regional priorities that had been identified.

The third working group, “Tools for promoting sustainable consumption patterns” discussed eco-labelling, education and awareness raising, the UN Guidelines on Consumer Protection, and sustainable institutional procurement. The group called for implementing the UN Guidelines on Consumer Protection, a key but underused tool for policymaking. While advertising was identified by some as an obstacle to implementation, this point was watered down; rather than a major factor promoting consumerism, the problem of “unsustainable products in the context of ill informed consumers” was noted.

The fourth working group examined “Tools for changing production practices”. The group acknowledged the need for a mix of instruments including environmental audits, sanctions and fees, economic instruments (e.g., tax and subsidy reform), voluntary instruments (e.g., labelling, standards, and reporting), information, education, and capacity building. Main challenges were low awareness about clean technology practices and inadequate capacity in developing countries. Participants called for mainstreaming production and consumption, encouraging stakeholder involvement and partnerships, disseminating information and practical tools, capacity building and education, and promoting future work on the ten-year framework of programmes.

The chairpersons of the meeting concluded that the “Marrakech process”3 had emphasized the importance of integrating SPAC in national strategies for sustainable development and in poverty reduction strategies, although it was still unclear how to overcome the obstacles. They called for political commitment for SPAC among all stakeholders—including government, industry and civil society—and the active involvement of stakeholders in all relevant fora. Again, it was unclear how that could be ensured, given the similar yet unmet “commitments” made at Rio and in the past decade. They also recommended specifying national and regional priorities on SPAC. Capacity building, technology transfer, financial assistance, and information dissemination were identified as overriding priorities for the 10-year framework. The future programme of work of the Marrakech process would include:

• Targeting responses by international organizations according to identified national and regional priorities;
• Encouraging and supporting information and experience sharing;
• Involving all stakeholders and establishing of concrete partnerships;
• Preparing and disseminating a report based upon the findings of the Marrakech meeting;
• Strengthening regional processes at all levels.

The “Marrakech process” must be appreciated for refocusing attention on SPAC, especially highlighting the renewed emphasis given by UNEP, UNDESA, and many governments (although some governments were less than enthusiastic). The meeting could have generated more value had it evaluated the lessons from similar work done on this issue in previous years (e.g., the Oslo Ministerial Roundtable4, which invested several years discussing the elements for an international work programme on sustainable production and consumption). The report from the meeting gives disappointingly token mention of the role of the civil society in the process. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they fail to take note of the “watchdog function” of civil society in monitoring and evaluating progress towards SPAC, although this was one of the recommendations from the 1995 Oslo Ministerial meeting and reiterated by many NGOs in Johannesburg. The working groups noted the importance of corporate responsibility “and accountability” in achieving sustainable production and consumption, yet there was clearly some “internal resistance” in articulating viable corporate accountability mechanisms. The critical question remains: In the coming ten years, will enough be done to change production and consumption patterns to reverse the worsening social and environmental trends killing our planet?

—By Veena Ramani, Integrative Strategies Forum

Footnotes

1 The ten-year framework was originally proposed by the European Union during the preparatory process to the World Summit on Sustainable Development as a “ten-year programme of work on sustainable production and consumption”. During the summit, the proposal was watered down to its current version.

2 Para. 15 of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (the outcome of the World Summit on Sustainable Development) states:

Encourage and promote the development of a ten-year framework of programmes in support of regional and national initiatives to accelerate the shift towards sustainable consumption and production to promote social and economic development within the carrying capacity of ecosystems by addressing and, where appropriate, delinking economic growth and environmental degradation through improving efficiency and sustainability in the use of resources and production processes and reducing resource degradation, pollution, and waste. All countries should take action, with developed countries taking the lead, taking into account the development needs and capabilities of developing countries, through mobilization, from all sources, of financial and technical assistance and capacity-building for developing countries.

3 After extensive discussion with the other participants, the co-chairs decided to call the conceptualization of the ten-year framework of programs on sustainable production and consumption, as commenced in Marrakech, as the “Marrakech process”.

4 Oslo Ministerial Roundtable: Conference on Sustainable Production and Consumption, 6–10 February 1995