Getting the Goods: 2005

Regional news

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AFRICA

Ghana: Cleaner Production Center
Feb. 2005: A national roundtable on sustainable consumption & production was held in Accra, Ghana based upon the theme: "Institutionalization of Ghana Cleaner Production Centre for the promotion of Sustainable Consumption and Production in the West African Sub-region". The workshop aimed at setting up a Cleaner Production Center in the country.
Details are available at http://www.accra-mail.com/mailnews.asp?id=12011

Morocco: African Roundtable on SCP
May 2004: The third African roundtable on sustainable consumption and production patterns, held in Casablanca, Morocco, between 17-20 May, 2004 considered the need for a regional framework for promoting sustainable consumption and production, as contributing to poverty alleviation, economic development and environmental protection in the region.
The report is available at http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/sdissues/consumption/ Marrakech/casareportfinal.pdf

ASIA & THE PACIFIC

Philippines: SC. Asia meeting in Manila
Mar. 2005: As a part of it's SC.Asia project, UNEP brought together stakeholders from 13 Asian countries to discuss ways and means to reduce unsustainable consumption patterns in the region.
Changhua Wu's article, at page -- gives more details.

Australia: Young Australians as agents of change
Nov. 2004: Commissioned by the National Youth Affairs Research Scheme (NYARS), t his study about youth consumption patterns in Australia, sustainability and the processes of social change explored how youth could be encouraged to make personal consumption changes, as well as being catalysts for wider social change.
The report is available at http://www.facs.gov.au/internet/facsinternet.nsf/aboutfacs/ programs/youth-sustainable_consumption.htm   

EUROPE

UK: Sustainable Development strategy
Mar. 2005: UK's new sustainable development strategy “Securing the future” emphasizes sustainable production and consumption as a key priority area. The UK government held workshops on sustainable consumption in September- October 2004 to contribute to the development of the strategy and sustainable development policy.

Finland: Best practices
Jan 2005: The Finnish Ministry of Environment has released “ Making it happen - Best Practices from Finland ", a collection of best practices related to sustainable consumption and production in Finland. The examples are organized under 3 themes: sustainable development, water and sustainable consumption and production.
The collection is available at http://www.environment.fi/default.asp?
contentid=79126&lan=en

Belgium: European stakeholder meeting
Nov. 2004: The European stakeholder meeting on sustainable consumption and production was held in Ostend, Belgium on Nov 24 – 26 2004.
European NGOs put together a remarkable collaborative effort and drafted a position paper on SPAC that was circulated at the meeting. Sylvia Lorek's article will describe the collaborative process and its effects in details.

Spain: SC & the quality of life
Sept. 2004: Barcelona Universal Forum of Cultures 2004, hosted a workshop titled "Linking Sustainable Consumption and the Quality of Life" to raise awareness and clarify the links between sustainable consumption and quality of life, and to derive, based on these links, practical recommendations for strategies for the promotion of sustainable consumption by government, business and civil society, including NGOs, consumer associations, youth associations and the media.

Lithuania: Baltic states & SPAC
June 2004:The Baltic sub-regional multistakeholder dialogue on sustainable consumption and production was organized in Vilnius, Lithuania on June 17 - 18 2004.
Details are available at http://www.icspac.net/Baltic-workshop.htm

Spain: ERSCP- 9
May 2004: Over 300 persons participated in the 9th European Roundtable on Sustainable Consumption and Production held in Bilbao, Spain between 12th and 14th May 2004. The conclusions are available at the http://www.icspac.net/Baltic-workshop.htm  

LATIN AMERICA & THE CARIBBEAN

Argentina: National strategy on SPAC
Mar. 2005: Argentina is in the process of finalizing a national programme on sustainable production and consumption. Details are available at http://www.medioambiente.gov.ar/ordenamiento
/programa1/default.htm

NORTH AMERICA

USA: Is the US prone to overconsumption?
July 2004: The text of this presentation made by OECD Chief Economist Jean-Philippe Cotis to the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston conference on The Macroeconomics of Fiscal Policy is available at http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/53/57/33604019.pdf

USA: True cost of food campaign
May 2004: Sierra Club has launched a national grassroots campaign titled "True Cost of Food" campaign that focuses on American food production and consumption patterns. The goal of the Campaign is to make the Club a leader in sustainable eating by making Americans realize the "true cost of food".

Canada: C2P2/ NASCA meeting in Ottawa
Apr. 2004 : The Canadian Center for Pollution Prevention and the North American Sustainable Consumption Alliance (NASCA) hosted an experts workshop on "Strategic priorities in promoting sustainable consumption in North America" in Ottawa on April 30th 2004. The meeting report is available at http://nasca.icspac.net/documents/CANADA_NASCA.doc