SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION & CONSUMPTION WORKING GROUP

Accomplishments

Throughout the past decade, WG members actively participated in the SPAC Caucus at CSD , [1] lobbying for commitments to SPAC targets and timetables, corporate accountability, citizen right to know and participation in decision-making, and the development and adoption of the revised UN Consumer Guidelines on Consumer Protection .

Between 1998 - 2001, the Working Group, particularly through the leadership of Iza Kruszewska, advanced the international campaign against Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs ), especially in Europe. [2]

In 1999-2000, Iza also organized a number of activities and documents promoting Extended Producer Responsibility .

Between 1996-2002, the Working Group helped launch the NGO Taskforce on Business and Industry (ToBI ), producing two reports: Minding Our Business (1997) and Can Corporations Be Trusted? (1999). [3]

In 1998, at the 6th Session of the CSD, ANPED and other ToBI members presented, during the intergovernmental panel on Industry and Sustainable Development, our proposal to the UN for a "Multistakeholder Review of Voluntary Initiatives and Agreements," which was supported by the Trade Unions and other Major Groups. This was one of the few NGO proposals successfully adopted by the CSD . [4]

In 1999, Working Group members involved in ToBI successfully convinced the UN Division on Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) and the Canadian Government to sponsor an international three-day multistakeholder experts meeting in Toronto on voluntary initiatives and agreements , which resulted in a UN Resolution on Voluntary Initiatives at the CSD's 7th Session. [5]

Through ToBI, the Working Group successfully lobbied the CSD in raising corporate responsibility and accountability as interdependent priorities in sustainable development . This success can be seen in the adoption of this notion in the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation . [6]

In 1999, SPAC Working Group members helped organize events at ANPED's conference "From Consumer Society to Sustainable Society," where they developed the SPAC Watch initiative to monitor and assess progress on SPAC. [7]

In preparations for the World Summit on Sustainable Development, members of the SPAC Working Group helped develop the section on SPAC in the NGO statement to the ECE regional preparatory meeting , and lobbied ECE delegates to raise the priority of SPAC at the Summit and in regional follow-up. [8]

Prepared the paper "Eliminating Barriers to Sustainable Production and Consumption ." This was a result from the SPAC WG discussions held in Minsk, Belarus. The paper was circulated at the WSSD. [9]

In 2001, SPAC WG members helped create the International Coalition for Sustainable Production and Consumption (ICSPAC), partnering with NGOs and networks around the world. [10]

In other WSSD preparatory meetings, Working Group members participated in the CSD SPAC Caucus, helping organize a series of three roundtable discussions on the 10-year framework and the SPAC Watch initiative . [11]

In 2002, the Working Group helped produce the SPAC Watch report, Waiting for Delivery , presented in Johannesburg at the WSSD, which among other things highlighted the role of civil society in SPAC policy and practice. [12]

In 2003, ANPED WG members again participated in the SPAC Caucus at the CSD's 11th Session in New York. At this session, ANPED and members of ICSPAC organized a side event examining the mandate for the ten year framework adopted by governments at the WSSD. [13]

ANPED WG members participated in the ECO-Forum Issue Group on SPAC at the ECE Environment for Europe in Kiev, organizing an NGO workshop about the 10 year framework and an NGO strategy session. [14]

In 2003 and 2004, ANPED members contributed to the launch and incorporation of the newsletter Getting the Goods into the SPAC Watch process. [15]

Footnotes