Oslo Rountable on Sustainable Production and Consumption
2.3 - Business
At the Enterprise Level
At the enterprise level, companies need to strengthen their environmental efforts by action to:
Business as Consumer
- - Set an example by integrating environmental criteria and targets into supplier and purchasing policies.
- - Build and spread experience in maximising eco-efficiency in the consumption of energy and resources.
Business as Producer, Financier and Retailer
- - Rethink product and process innovation and technology development programmes to include sustainable consumption factors.
- - Explore the market potential of substituting traditional products with new environmental services in repair, reconditioning (including upgrading), recycling and remanufacturing.
- - Supply goods and services with a product declaration containing information on key environmental parameters (eg durability, repairability, energy and water use, toxic contents).
- - Extend producer responsibility, through increased product life spans and improved after sales service provision, followed by upgrading, reuse or recycling.
- - Reduce energy consumption, material intensity and waste at the design stage.
- - Integrate the need to promote sustainable consumption into advertising, marketing and product information (eg through independent verification of advertising claims).
- - Incorporate the goals of more sustainable consumption and production in undertaking technology transfer to developing countries and countries with economies in transition.
- - Promote the development of practical applications to internalise environmental costs through full resource cost pricing and environmental accounting efforts.
- - Integrate the environmental costs of production process into the price of products, including the costs of environmental liability.
Enterprises in the financial sector, such as banks and insurance companies, should incorporate environmental risk and eco-efficiency criteria and goals into the assessment and management of their services, for both individual and business consumers.
Enterprises in the retail and distribution sectors should assist their customers through the provision of accurate information on the environmental impacts of goods and services and facilities for materials` recovery, recycling and reuse. They should use their intermediate position to influence the supply of environmentally sound goods and services.