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Daily Web Coverage
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Highlights from Monday, 5 September 2005
On
Monday, 5 September, Allan Flores,
Vice-Minister of Environment and Energy,
Costa Rica, opened the meeting and welcomed
participants.
JoAnne
DiSano, Director, Division for Sustainable
Development, UN DESA, noted that the
Marrakech Process is one of the follow-ups
from the World Summit on Sustainable
Development (WSSD) and the Johannesburg Plan
of Implementation (JPOI). She stressed how
population growth and increasing living
standards will put tremendous pressure on
the environment, and highlighted the need to
ensure the production of necessary goods and
services, while reducing and reversing
environmental degradation. DiSano said
switching to more sustainable patterns is
not easy, but it can generate environmental,
social, and economic benefits with very
modest capital investments. She emphasized
the importance of innovation, and of
addressing SCP at national and local levels.
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From left to right: JoAnne DiSano,
Director, Division for
Sustainable Development, UN DESA,
Carlos Manuel Rodríguez Echandi,
Minister of
Environment and Energy, Costa
Rica, Allan Flores,
Vice-Minister of
Environment and Energy, Costa
Rica, Viveka Bohn,
Ambassador, Ministry of
Sustainable Development, Sweden, and Monique Barbut,
Division of Technology, Industry
and Economics, UNEP |
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Allan Flores,
Vice-Minister of
Environment and Energy, Costa
Rica
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JoAnne DiSano, Director,
Division for Sustainable
Development, UN DESA
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Monique Barbut, Division
of Technology, Industry and
Economics, UNEP |
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Carlos Manuel Rodríguez Echandi,
Minister of
Environment and Energy, Costa
Rica
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Viveka Bohn, Ambassador,
Ministry of Sustainable
Development, Sweden
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Cleophas L.C.Migiro,
Cleaner Production Centre,
Tanzania, reported on the five
regional meetings held since
2004 and their outcomes,
including the African 10 Year
Framework Programme and the
Dakar Declaration |
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Monique Barbut,
Director, Division of Technology,
Industry and Economics, UNEP,
said after two years of regional
consultations, it was time to move
towards action by focusing on priorities
and developing concrete initiatives such
as training courses and more informal,
practical working groups. She drew links
between poverty reduction and SCP, and
said new programmes could benefit the
environment, economy and society all at
once, providing the wider development
community can be engaged. She
highlighted new approaches in China,
Japan’s 3R Initiative (reduce, reuse,
recycle), and Africa’s potential to
leapfrog to sustainable development
patterns.
Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, Minister of
Environment and Energy, Costa Rica, said
that sustainable development cannot be
achieved if individuals, nations, and
the global community continue to use
goods and services as they have for the
last decade. He highlighted Costa Rica’s
elaboration of a National Environment
Strategy, and said a major challenge is
the issue of land planning, and the
implementation of land planning policies
based on the wise and sustainable use of
natural resources. He underscored the
importance of cross-sectoral
coordination and policy harmonization,
and, stating that SCP was not yet fully
integrated into political agendas of
developing countries, he called for more
international cooperation. He called for
all relevant stakeholders to be involved
in policy planning and implementation
processes.
Viveka Bohn, Ambassador, Ministry of Sustainable Development,
Sweden, emphasized
that SCP is a prerequisite for
sustainable development and poverty
eradication and said society should
strive for more equality in consumption
and production. She highlighted some of
the issues to be addressed at this
meeting, including use of task forces,
improving international cooperation and
assistance to developing countries, and
providing input to the CSD. She
highlighted the importance of the
Marrakech Process in achieving the MDGs
and sustainable development.
Participants then adopted the agenda.
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Rae kwon Chung,
Environment and Sustainable
Development Division UNESCAP,
outlined challenges in Asia and
the Pacific as income increases
rapidly, society encourages
conspicuous consumption, and
environmental sustainability
decreases |
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Natacha Zuinen, Federal
Bureau of Planning, Belgium, outlined recent EU
initiatives including pilot and
research programmes,
public-private partnerships, and
a proposal for an international
panel on natural resources |
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Gunilla Blomquist,
Chair of the Nordic Ad hoc Group
on SCP, reported on the Group’s
work on SCP
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Marjo Nummelin, European
Commission, reported on the EC/UNEP
European Stakeholder Meeting on
SCP held 25-26 November 2004 in
Belgium, which called for a
strategic framework linked to
other processes, involvement of
the financial sector and
producers, and for international
financial institutions to
promote SCP through national
development strategies |
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Diego Masera, UNEP ROLAC,
reported on the Latin America
and the Caribbean regional
process, and reviewed the
regional meetings leading up to
this meeting
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Afternoon Session |
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From left to right: Maria del
Pilar Lopez, ECOPLAN,
Colombia,
Thomas Bergmark, Social &
Environmental Affairs, IKEA
Group, David O'Connor,
UN DESA, Allan Flores,
Vice-Minister of
Environment and Energy, Costa
Rica, Nadia Haiama-Neurohr,
Greenpeace, and Sherif Arif,
World Bank |
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Ralph Chipman,
UN DESA, presented the
Discussion Paper prepared by UN
DESA and the UNEP/Wuppertal
Institute Centre on Sustainable
Consumption and Production |
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Sherif Arif, Regional
Environmental and Safeguard
Advisor, Urban Planning and
Waste Management, World Bank,
discussed the cost of inaction
in the Middle East and North
Africa |
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Nadia Haiama-Neurohr,
Senior Policy Officer,
Greenpeace, discussed the role
of NGOs in promoting SCP
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Thomas Bergmark, Manager,
Social and Environmental
Affairs, IKEA Group, outlined
IKEA’s longstanding commitment
to sustainable production,
particularly through
self-imposed codes of conduct
based on ILO and UN declarations
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Maria del Pilar Lopez,
ECOPLAN, Colombia, outlined the work of YouthXchange in SCP education in
Colombia. She stressed the
significance of youth as a
fast-growing consumer group
highly influenced by foreign
media promoting unsustainable
mass consumption |
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Christopher Baker,
Department for Environment Food
and Rural Affairs, United
Kingdom,
introduced the task force on
sustainable products, noting
that its first meeting would aim
to begin improving international
cooperation in raising product
performance |
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Ulf Jaeckel, Ministry for
the Environment, Nature
Conservation and Nuclear Safety,
Germany, reported on the task
force on cooperation and
partnership with Africa |
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Philip Kristensen,
Swiss Agency for the
Environment, Forests and
Landscape, reported on the task
force on sustainable public
procurement
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James Riordan,
Environment Canada, introduced
the co-operation dialogues,
saying they aim to fill a gap in
the Marrakech process by linking
SCP and development aid agencies |
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Cooperation dialogue sessions |
Cooperation dialogue sessions were held
on Monday afternoon, September 5. After
hearing presentations elaborating their
various cooperation projects and
initiatives, participants engaged in
dialogue with representatives from the
World Bank, Finland, CIDA, JICA, UN DESA,
AECI, SIDA and the Netherlands.
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Lasse Krantz, Sweden |
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A representative from Finland outlined
her government's long-term, selective
and recipient-driven approach to
development. A representative from
Sweden said the Marrakech process should
encourage governments to incorporate SCP
in their national plans and linked this
to bilateral support.
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Spanish Agency for International
Cooperation (AECI), Spain |
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Sherif Arif, World Bank |
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A World bank representative explained
the procedure for obtaining loans,
including loans to the private sector,
and reviewing projects. During the
discussion, participants raised issues
related to the length of time it takes
to obtain a loan, the Bank's
incorporation of sustainable development
into its work, long-term community
sustainability plans, the Bank's
attitude to long-term evaluation of
projects, and its role in supporting
regional initiatives.
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