Side Event:
Civil Society Forum
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Opening
Session: |
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Above photo L-R: Kyeong-Jae
Lee, Member of the National Assembly, Chairman of
the Enviroment and Labor Committee, Republic of Korea; Hee-Beom
Lee, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Energy,
Republic of Korea; Hak-Su Kim, UNESCAP Executive
Secretary; Kyul-Ho Kwak, Minister of
Environment, Republic of Korea and Jai Ok Kim,
Chairperson, Civil Society Forum Korea Committee.
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In
opening the Forum, Jai Ok Kim (above left), CSFKC
Chair, called on participants to focus their discussions
on sustainable consumption and production and the role
of civil society in achieving environmentally
sustainable economic growth.
Hak-Su Kim (above center), Executive Secretary of
ESCAP, emphasized the importance of mobilizing all
sectors in achieving sustainable development and
changing production and consumption patterns. Kyul-Ho
Kwak (above right), Korean Minister of Environment ,
together with Hee-Beom Lee (below left),
Korean Minister of Commerce, and Kyeong-Jae Lee
(below center), Member of the National
Assembly of the Republic of Korea, said that, as the most
economically dynamic region in the world, the Asia and
Pacific region urgently needs a major paradigm shift in
consumption and production patterns. They pledged to
form partnerships with civil society in making such
a shift.
In introducing the theme of the Forum, Rae Kwon
Chung
(below right),
ESCAP,
stated that the theme of the Forum should be connected with the theme of the Conference
– achieving environmentally
sustainable
economic growth. He highlighted
the
importance of: promoting eco-efficiency;
developing policies extending beyond pollution control; internalizing
environmental costs; and encouraging a paradigm shift
in consumption patterns.
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Overview
Session: Sustainable Economic Growth, Consumption and
Production Pattern |
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This
session focused on sustainable economic growth and
sustainable consumption and production patterns –
improvement of eco efficiency. Wei
Zhao (above left), Regional Office for Asia and the
Pacific of UNEP, noted that the trends of
sustainable consumption and production have led to
strengthening of consumer organizations and
implementation of programs at local levels. She
highlighted special challenges in the region: poverty,
fresh water scarcity, desertification and deforestation.
Chul-Hhwan Koh (below left), Commissioner of the
Presidential Commission on Sustainable Development of
Korea, spoke on the role of the government,
particularly initiatives to reduce the per capita
environmental burden of consumption, and the
government's master plans on green production,
particularly eco-labeling. Sothi
Rachagan (below right) , Consumers
International Regional Office for Asia and Pacific, Malaysia,
said that the "consumer class" in the US,
Europe and Japan represents 12% of world population but
accounts for 60% of global consumption. Olivia la
O'Castillo (above right), Asia-Pacific Roundtable
for Sustainable Consumption and Production, the
Philippines, stressed the civil society's role in
promoting: information, education and communication;
broader public participation in environmental
decision-making; increased transparency and
accountability of government and business activities;
and stronger environmental governance. |
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Session
One: Clean Production |
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This
session was co-chaired by Manny Calonzo (right),
Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, the
Philippines, and Vo Kyung Song (left),
Seoul Women's University, Republic of Korea. Sarojeni
Rengam (below right), Pesticide Action Network,
Malaysia, made a presentation on food sovereignty
and sustainable agriculture. She said that food
sovereignty includes: farmers' involvement in
food policymaking and sustainable production;
consumers' right to consume safely; and fair
prices for food producers and consumers. She
recommended a shift to food sovereignty as a
rights-based framework for promotion of ecological
agriculture.
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Young
Sook Park (above center), Korean Women Link
Consumers Cooperative, introduced her organization's
joint activities with two NGOs in Japan and Taiwan
involving agriculture producers and consumers in
conserving resources and protecting the environment. She
stressed the importance of safe food and organic farming
and appealed to governments to give more support to
these areas. Tae
Geun Lee (above left), Korean Federation Sustainable
Agriculture Organization, noted that Food and
Agriculture Organization and World Trade
Organization regulations have undermined organic
farming. He stressed the need for a coordinated approach
to organic farming. Thanh
Bai Do, Institute of Industrial Chemistry, Viet Nam,
spoke of inefficiencies in production that impact
the environment. He promoted the UNEP cleaner production
concept, which leads to higher productivity through
efficiencies and waste reduction in the production
process.
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In the following discussions, Geum-Soon Yoon (above
right),
Korean Women Peasants Association, spoke
of the role of women in food sovereignty and clean
production. Chang-Gil
Kim (above left) , Korea Rural Economic Institute, said
that agriculture and environment are closely linked in
both positive and negative ways. He also advocated
the UNEP clean production concept and noted that the
difference between pollution control and clean
production is that the former is an "after the
event" approach while the latter is forward-looking.
He also advocated multi-functionality as a means of
promoting clean production in agriculture. |
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Session
Two: Green Consumption |
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Above
photos L-R: Nakahara Hideki, Japan; Martin
Frid, Japan Offspring Fund; Chan-hee Lee,
Korean Ministry of Environment, Myung-Hee Park,
Green
Consumer Network, Republic of Korea; Jung-Ja
Lee, Green Future, Republic of Korea, Olivia
la O'Castillo, Asia-Pacific
Roundtable for Sustainable Consumption and
Production, the Philippines; Sang
Yeung Lee, Korea Green Purchasing Network; Seung-Ho
Han, Hanwha Eco Institute and Eun Sook Moon,
Citizen's Alliance for Consumer Protection of
Korea |
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Co-chaired
by Olivia la O'Castillo and Jung-Ja Lee,
Green Future, Republic of Korea, the session focused on
green purchasing initiatives. Sang Yeung Lee,
Korea Green Purchasing Network, stressed that purchasing
green products can make significant contributions to
sustainable use of resources and create substantial
economic benefits. She noted that green procurement
would soon become mandatory in Korea, and underscored
the role of private-public partnership and the civil
society in raising consumers' awareness.
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Hideki
Nakahara, Japan Green Purchasing Network (GPN),
stressed the need to balance quality, cost and
environmental considerations in promoting green
purchasing. He highlighted GPN's activities that are
focused on collecting and disseminating guidelines and
information on green products.
In
the ensuing discussions, Martin Frid (above left)
, Japan Offspring Fund, said that consumer rights
should include the right to sustainable consumption, and
supported life-cycle analysis. Chan
Hee Lee (above center), Korean Ministry of
Environment, highlighted the need for eco-friendly
products. He outlined the tasks of governments: policy
making; implementing green consumption policies; and
promoting eco-friendly products. Seung-Ho Han, Hanwha
Eco Institute, and Myung-Hee Park, Green Consumer
Network, Republic of Korea, advocated information
sharing and green communication. They called upon
corporations to disclose information related to their
products. Eun Sook Moon (above right),
Citizen's Alliance for Consumer Protection of Korea,
highlighted safety, accessibility and sustainability in
consumption. |
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Session
Three: Circulation of Resources |
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This
session was co-chaired by Martin Frid, Japan
Offspring Fund, and Mi Hwa Kim (below left), Korea
Zero Waste Movement Network. Manny C. Calonzo (above
left), Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, the
Philippines, presented the country's case of zero
waste. He pointed out that urban areas of Asia spend $25
billion a year on solid waste management, noting that
open dumps are toxic and waste land and resources, while
incinerators could pollute the environment and destroy
resources. Su Yol Hong (above right), Korea Zero
Waste Movement Network, described a fee system
instituted in Korea for solid waste management with
incentives for recycling. He said that producers are
also required to sort wastes before incineration, and
that NGOs are active in addressing packaging waste and
composting.
Shunei
Kawauchi, Kurume University of Japan,
discussed the cases of Kurume and Minimata in Japan,
where citizen activism resulted in re-design of solid
waste management systems and reduction of land use for
landfill. Chol-hyun Jang, Hanbat
National University, Republic of Korea, called for a
monitoring system for reducing resource use through
clean production, and for more sharing of information
with consumers by producers. Sareeya
Chairattananont (below right), Thailand
Environment Institute, described a "waste bank"
system in Thailand for students to separate and recycle
solid waste in return for money. Recycling has reduced
solid waste considerably and has accomplished
environmental education as well.
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Related Links |
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