Commission on Sustainable Development

Eighteenth Session

10^th & 11^th Meetings (AM & PM)

Viable Framework Needed to Make Growing Demand for Sustainability

Successful, Commission on Sustainable Development Told

 

Demand for sustainable goods and services was growing exponentially across the public and private sectors, providing new opportunities for poverty eradication, job creation and environmental protection, but a viable framework for achieving that success was still needed, the Commission on Sustainable Development heard today as it rounded out the first week of its two-week annual session.

The current session, the Commission’s eighteenth, launches a two-year cycle to review waste management, transport, chemicals, mining and a 10-year framework on sustainable consumption and production patterns.  Meeting from 3-14 May, the Commission will identify challenges and problems relating to those themes, while next year’s session will try to agree on a framework for addressing them.

During its meeting this morning, the Commission held a thematic panel discussion on sustainable consumption and production patterns, which featured presentations by Greg Norris, Visiting Scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health and President of Sylvatica, a life-cycle analysis consulting firm and research group, and Anna Jones-Crabtree, Sustainable Operations Coordinator for the Rocky Mountain and Northern Regions of the Forest Service in the United States Department of Agriculture.

Mr. Norris said the growing emphasis on sustainability across the life-cycles of goods was causing a shift towards universal access and transparency.  That, in turn, was changing the role of every actor in the relevant supply chains.  In other areas, data creation and the development of tools were being crowd-sourced, giving each participant access to the most suitable methods, he said, emphasizing that those technological changes demanded a parallel escalation in human activity, which created huge new service markets, among other things.

Ms. Jones-Crabtree highlighted the Forest Service’s use of place-based efforts, saying it used the lessons learned about how best to implement and track sustainable consumption efforts.  Among other things, it considered top-down national tracking tools to be imperfect since they did not provide solutions that matched local ecosystems and cultures.  To that end, she suggested that each of the Commission’s participants go “into partnership with oneself” in order to implement sustainable consumption in life, home and community.

During the ensuing interactive dialogue, successive participants underlined the roles of both the public and private sectors in fostering a sustainable future.  Several speakers made a distinction between consumption patterns linked with poverty eradication and the type of over-consumption often seen in developed countries, with some suggesting that a greater understanding of that difference was needed and that the 10-year framework must address it.  Others said the strategy should emphasize the need for international support, including knowledge-sharing, capacity-building and technology transfer.

Following a video presentation, 15 Challenges to Sustainable Development, in the afternoon, the Commission held a panel discussion on inter-linkages, cross-cutting issues and the means of implementation.  That debate featured Wolfgang Sachs of Germany’s Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, and Marina Fischer-Kowalski of Alpen-Adria University, and Director of the Institute of Social Ecology in Vienna, Austria.

Mr. Sachs said consumption and production patterns were sustainable when they were dematerialized, regenerative and moderate.  To further sustainability, development must be the master of growth.  Moderation was also key, he said, suggesting that a “green” economy was not the same as a “clean” economy, since the latter referred only to the amount of waste emitted by any system.  The central focus should instead be on a “resource-light” or “resource-saving” economy that caused less damage to the biosphere by using fewer resources.

Echoing that focus on resources, Ms. Fischer-Kowalski said more needed to be done with less.  While global resource consumption was driven by population growth, rising incomes, and increasing development, development was the least harmful since it actually relieved consumption tensions in some cases.  But to achieve sustainable resource consumption over the long term, she continued, the focus should be on sustaining human well-being and maintaining development, even as consumption decreased.

In response, a number of country delegations underlined the achievement of a green economy –- including the creation of decent, green jobs -- as a priority.  They highlighted sound national governance and the active involvement of all social sectors as key to that effort.  Many delegates also said that a more strategic approach to financing in developing countries should be taken, citing public-private partnerships geared towards green economic growth, and microfinance as particularly critical.

Commission Vice-Chair Ulf Jaeckel ( Germany) moderated the morning panel discussion, while Commission Chairman Luis Alberto Ferraté Felice, Guatemala’s Minister for the Environment, moderated the afternoon debate.

The Commission will reconvene at 10 a.m. on Monday, 10 May, to hold its annual Small Island Developing States Day, which will also serve as the Preparatory Committee for the High-level Mauritius +5 review planned for the sixty-fifth session of the General Assembly.

Second Panel Discussion on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns

Ulf Jaeckel (Germany) moderated the panel discussion, which featured presentations by Greg Norris, Visiting Scientist, Harvard School of Public Health and President of Sylvatica, a life-cycle analysis consulting firm and research group; and Anna Jones-Crabtree, Sustainable Operations Coordinator, Rocky Mountain and Northern Regions, Forest Service of the United States Department of Agriculture.

Mr. NORRIS said radical new opportunities were the result of an increase in demand for products whose life-cycles improved sustainability.  That, in turn, was causing a shift towards universal access.  Major buyers had already embraced sustainable purchasing, but its impact would grow exponentially in coming years, he said, stressing that it was not a question of one country versus another country or company.  Instead, barriers to entry were being erased and the old life-cycle assessment system, which was marked by data slips and a sense of every user for himself or herself, was disappearing.  But as demand for a new system grew exponentially, the whole system of lifecycle evaluation was being pushed to the breaking point, he said, adding that a solution was needed.

The new system was moving from data silos and expensive, time-consuming systems to a situation in which every new data contribution added to a community of universally accessible data, he said.  One real-world example of that technological revolution was OpenStreetMap, which combined the openness of Wikipedia with Google maps, giving everyone on earth the ability to contribute to a global map.  For example, cyclists in Portland had put together a map of the best routes to use.  Globally, people around the world were constantly making edits to OpenStreetMap, perhaps most strikingly in the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti.  People in other countries had immediately contributed to the relief effort by building out the online map of Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas for use by relief organizations.

He went on to say that many companies, countries and non-governmental organizations were requiring compliance with sustainability principles in their supply chains.  They were also requiring transparency and visibility so they could understand the supply chain.  That meant that the role of every actor in the chain had changed.  Indeed, they were now participants in its construction and visibility, he said.  In other areas, data creation and tool the development were being crowd-sourced to give every participant access to the most suitable methods.  Despite the existence of opportunities to improve human health as a result of those technological changes, software was only part of the solution, he said.

Emphasizing that changes in technology demanded a parallel escalation in human activity, he said that in turn created huge new service markets.  At the same time, existing governmental solutions were also seeing increased demand.  For its part, the United States Department of Commerce was eager to create the means by which Government manufacturers could identify their unique needs and be connected with Government solutions, he said.  Being first out and demonstrating progress was a game that every company and every country could play and win.  Furthermore, universal accessibility to those methods and tools was no longer something to be wished for, but had become a requirement.  In that context, transparency and innovation should be seen as deliverables, he said.

Ms. JONES-CRABTREE said that the United States Government, a significant user of energy and a purchaser of goods and services, had over the last few decades enacted policies to reduce the consumption of energy, water and fossil fuels, as well as cut waste production.  It had also taken action recently to slash greenhouse gas emissions.

She said top-down national tracking tools were not perfect as they did not provide solutions that matched local ecosystems and cultures.  The Forest Service was therefore implementing place-based efforts, using lessons learned about how best to implement and track sustainable consumption efforts while recognizing the connection between management resources and consumption.

Within the Service, about 100 local “green teams”, convened around the topic of sustainable activities, had implemented significant changes, she said, citing the construction of the White Mountain National Forest Headquarters.  The building used wood pellets to generate heat and electricity, in addition to being extremely water-efficient, using only 65 litres a day, she added.

Three federal agencies were active in the Yellowstone ecosystem, she said, adding that, until recently, they had coordinated little on sustainable activities.  Now, however, they had set up sub-units to assess the greenhouse gas inventory and set reduction goals for each individual unit, she said.  The result was that collaborative momentum had been gained by connecting vehicle and facility managers with green teams in order to achieve the reduction goal of 20 per cent by 2020 for each unit.

The Madison Ranger District in the Yellowstone area had a very active green team which had achieved behavioural changes in the local community, she continued.  Its installation of solar panels at its district building had resulted in a 25 per cent reduction in energy use.  The visibility of the panels made people think about and change their energy-use patterns, she said, wondering whether installing fake solar panels would have the same effect.

She said that in order to help spread place-based activities within the Forest Service community out across the country, the Service had hosted an annual Sustainable Operations Summit connecting local players through virtual technology so that lessons learned and best practices could be shared nationwide.  Many lessons had been learned, she said, including a recognition that innovation existed at all levels and should be used at all levels.  Other lessons learned were that behavioural changes should be empowered alongside technical solutions, and that place-based efforts were more effective than top-down systems.  The planet did not have one-size-fits-all ecological solutions, but action could create momentum, she said, adding:  “Start where you are, use the gifts you have and do what you can.”

Interactive Dialogue

Continuing their dialogue from yesterday afternoon, successive speakers touched on both the interplay between the public and private sectors, and the separate responsibilities of each in the area of sustainability.  Several participants stressed the need for the public sector to create infrastructure that would encourage sustainable practices while others, underlining the size of their respective Governments’ procurement systems, stressed their power to advance sustainability principles.

A representative of the business and industry major group said that, as both producers and consumers, businesses were intrinsic to sustainable production and consumption, adding that a significant part of greening an economy was providing products and services that promoted sustainability.  Eco-aware consumption and production should therefore be pursued in parallel, she said, emphasizing that the challenge was not about consuming less, but consuming better.

Underscoring the need to incorporate the private sector into sustainability efforts, the representative of the Netherlands suggested the establishment of a yearly meeting where interested Governments and major companies could share ideas.  However, the representative of Cuba cautioned that unless the rising green economy was based on the principles of Rio and Johannesburg, and covered the economic aspects of consumption and production patterns, the hoped-for outcomes would prove unachievable.

Pointing out that sustainable consumption and production held the keys to greening every country’s economy, the representative of Kenya said there was a need for projects at the local, national and regional levels, particularly in terms of resource management.  In that context, several other speakers called for more international support, including through knowledge-sharing, capacity-building and technology transfer, which must be incorporated into the 10-year framework.

Along the same lines, the representative of Brazil said the efforts of developing countries would prove insufficient unless developed countries took meaningful actions.  How could a wider understanding of the distinction between consumption linked with eradicating poverty and the over-consumption often seen in developed countries be achieved? he asked, wondering also how the international community could ensure that voluntary approaches like eco-labelling did not lead to trade measures that adversely affected developing countries.

A representative of the scientific and technological major group said economic growth must be decoupled from environmental impact.  Specifically, the true costs of products, including those of recycling, must be identified.  When data or information was lacking in life-cycle assessments, it was impossible to distinguish between products made from recycled products and those made from virgin inputs.  A representative of the workers and trade unions major group added that certain tools, such as regulations and internationally agreed standards, must be wielded more frequently.  She asked whether the panellists could provide examples of interaction between market regulation and consumer awareness.

Many delegates highlighted national initiatives to promote sustainability, including measures on clean energy, regular recycling and environmentally conscious resource and waste management.  The representative of India said the greening process under way at the United Nations should be an example, rather than a handicap, for all countries, particularly developing ones.  To that end, she suggested an adequate phasing-out period to allow developing countries time to adapt.

One speaker highlighted the role of the global citizen in providing a stimulus to sustainable principles by pushing major actors to effect greater change more quickly.  Others said that initiatives aimed at boosting sustainability must engage all stakeholders, particularly women, who made up the majority of the world’s consumers.

Also contributing to the dialogue were the representatives of Italy, Finland, United Kingdom, Mexico, Turkey, Morocco, South Africa, Colombia, Barbados, Norway, France, Senegal, Libya, Thailand, India, Uganda, Viet Nam, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Mauritius and Saudi Arabia.

The session also heard interventions by representatives of the women and indigenous peoples civil society major groups.

Ms. JONES-CRABTREE, responding to comments and questions, suggested that participants go “into partnership with oneself” in order to implement sustainable consumption in life, home and community.  After all, it was one thing to talk about sustainable consumption but another actually to do it yourself, she said.  Commission participants represented “tremendous” purchasing power, which should be used to advance sustainable consumption and production patterns.

Mr. NORRIS, asked how regulatory systems and voluntary reporting could be combined, referred to the open source Social Hot Spot Database project, which allowed transparent documentation within the supply-side line so that choices could be made about how to comply with international regulations -– including those on human rights -– as well as national and local laws.

Responding to a question about the possible negative impact on developing countries of the life-cycle approach, he suggested that free open-source tools -– rather than low-cost ones –- should be made available on the web to carry out life-cycle assessments.  Companies should focus on progress, he said, noting that improving working conditions and environmental impacts was a game they could all play.  The human side must also be addressed, by ensuring global access to training resources, for example.

Asked how over-consumption and under-consumption could be addressed, he called for an integrated framework that could enable each human being and organization to become a net-positive point on the planet.  Individuals and organizations should invest in sufficient progress around the world to achieve a positive net outcome.

Mr. JAECKEL summarized yesterday’s discussion as well as today’s, noting that the need for action had been made clear by all, as had the importance of de-linking growth from environmental degradation and the involvement of all stakeholders.  Among the many areas addressed were sustainable building and construction, transport and recycling.  The importance of eco-labelling had also been underlined.  Other areas of importance included:  public procurement; early education emphasizing, even in kindergarten, the importance of sustainable consumption; and corporate social responsibility.

He said he had been surprised by the many national and local strategies that Government representatives had presented.  However, obstacles to implementation included funding, an area where speakers had suggested engagement by international financial institutions and development cooperation bodies.  Lack of information and the need for the transfer of technology had also been mentioned, as had international trade law, he said.

In the area of opportunities, he said the “triple win” -- poverty eradication, job creation and environmental protection at the same time -– had been mentioned often, although it was not yet clear how to achieve that goal.  On the way forward, many speakers had raised the need for global responses in addition to regional, national and local responses.  The Marrakech Process had been highlighted often as a more unconventional initiative that had led to good results.  The challenge now was to develop the 10-year Framework of Programmes in Support of Sustainable Consumption and Production, mandated by the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, he said, adding that many possible elements for it had been presented during the discussion.

Panel on Inter-linkages, Cross-cutting Issues, Means of Implementation

Luis Alberto Ferraté Felice, Commission Chairman and Minister for the Environment of Guatemala, moderated today’s panel discussion, which featured Wolfgang Sachs of the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy in Germany; and Marina Fischer-Kowalski of Alpen-Adria University, and Director of the Institute of Social Ecology, Vienna.

Mr. SACHS said the transformation at the heart of today’s discussion sought to create an economy that left a light ecological footprint and allowed for its own growth, while also furthering equity.  He stressed that consumption and production patterns were sustainable when they were dematerialized, regenerative and moderate.

Saying he wished to paint a picture of the transformation envisioned in the shift towards sustainability by proposing a comparison between an oil tanker and a sailboat, he said the first question was whether the boat was light enough to leave port since overload would prevent movement.  Similarly, it was necessary to reduce the global economy’s weight on the planet, he said.  After years in which it had been assumed that humanity could continue to use natural resources without any limits, it was clear that nature was not “forever generous”.  Seen in that light, the focus should shift from increasing the productivity of labour to raising the productivity of resources, he said.

Dematerialization would render costs more efficient since the price system responded to the changes in the basic pattern of scarcity, he stressed.  Indeed, development was being hampered not by a lack of human labour, but a scarcity of natural resources like water.  The less resources used, the more the pressure on sustainable livelihoods could be reduced, he said, adding that dematerialization also emphasized the importance of using human brainpower, among other things.  He went on to note that a sailboat could develop speed and power without harming the environment.  It harnessed the wind, as did all machines that used regenerative resources such as solar and biomass technologies.  They were designed to tap into, but not diminish, the earth’s resources, and in that context, regeneration was both “nature-compatible” and economically friendly, since long supply chains were unnecessary in serving local, target communities.

Conjuring the sailboat image a third time and emphasizing how light and small it was in comparison to the oil tanker, he said the conclusion that they could not both attain the same level of performance was inescapable.  It must be recognized that sustainable economies could not do as much as industrialized ones.  To that end, consumption must be moderated, including the use of automobiles, the consumption of beef as well as air-conditioning and heating houses, he said, stressing that the economic structure must recognize that more was not always better.  Development must be the master of growth, he said, further noting that sustainable livelihoods fit into the perspective of moderation since less appropriation by the rich left more space for the poor.  Many countries favoured high motorization in favour of the few, but low motorization favoured the many, he said, noting that poverty alleviation had come on the wheels of the bicycle rather than those of the SUV.

Interactive Dialogue

In the ensuing discussion, several speakers emphasized the global financial, food and energy crises as major challenges to sustainable development.  Many also stressed the importance of global education, both formal and informal, in promoting sustainability.  It would empower people to make responsible, more sustainable lifestyle and behaviour choices, she said, cautioning, however, that international investment was crucial.

Many speakers also noted that human health, decent work, natural resources, gender equality, the green economy concept, and science and technology were inter-linked with all five sustainable development themes.  One speaker stressed the need to make sustainable use of natural resources, stating that environmental policies should include elements of resource and economic policies.  In terms of gender equality, some speakers called for the involvement of women in management and decision-making capacities.

Numerous speakers also addressed the need to prioritize the creation of a green economy and decent, green jobs, citing the key factors in ensuring that as sound national governance and the active involvement of society.  Another speaker highlighted the link between climate change and resource availability, citing drought, desertification and wood consumption as issues to be considered.  As solutions to the challenges, speakers suggested a more strategic approach to financing in developing countries, citing public-private partnerships geared towards green economic growth, and microfinance.

Speakers also highlighted the importance of cooperation, transparency, accountability, international support for developing countries, and the transfer of environmentally friendly technology.  One speaker said there was a dire need to close the “implementation gap” between developed and developing countries.  Another speaker, in keeping with the notion of putting back whatever was taken from the environment, underlined the value of the “3 Rs” -- reduce, reuse, recycle.

Participants in this afternoon’s discussion included the representatives of Yemen (on behalf of the Group of 77 and China), Spain (on behalf of the European Union), Canada, Switzerland, Indonesia, Norway, Argentina, Italy, Morocco, Guatemala, Mauritania, Libya and the Russian Federation.

Interventions were also heard from representatives of the following civil society major groups:  non-governmental organizations; children and youth; women; workers and trade unions; farmers; and indigenous peoples.

Mr. SACHS responded by saying that a “green” economy was not a “clean” economy, which referred only to the amount of waste resulting from the inputs used in that economy.  Rather, what should be discussed was a “resource-light” economy that caused less damage to the biosphere by using fewer resources.  That would relieve pressure on many indigenous and poor people living in subsistence situations, he said, adding that it would also reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which damaged the biosphere and, more importantly, undermined the economy.  He suggested that the international community could “forget about the Millennium Development Goals” because greenhouse gases were reducing the chances and means of attaining them.  A “resource-light” or “resource-saving” economy was strongly linked to the issue of social and human rights, on both the input and output sides, he added.

Noting that many speakers had mentioned equity, he said that while it was true that most resources were used by citizens of the richer world, and their lifestyles certainly had to be at the centre of attention, it was also true that many big consumers were found in developing countries.  The division of the global North and South did not apply well, and the discussion should emphasize changes in both, he said.  He went to say that the concept of sustainable consumption and production patterns turned any discussion of development “on its head”.  For decades, that discussion had focused on improving the fate of the poor, but current issues required lowering the ceiling, even as the floor was raised.  In that respect, poverty alleviation included wealth alleviation, he added.

The representative of Brazil then requested that the Commission “take on board” the fact that the international community had not yet defined clearly the concept of a green economy.  Moreover, discussions about it seemed to make frequent use of other terms that had not yet been defined.  Debate on those terms should be continued, he said.

TARIQ BANURI, Director, Division for Sustainable Development, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, said he understood the goal of sustainable development to be the creation of optimism, rather than pessimism, and he was concerned by a pessimistic note that had a persisted throughout the meeting.  Three basic themes were needed, he suggested.  First, more could be achieved with less, he said, noting that materials were being used unnecessarily, and it was in the hands of the international community to shift away from that pattern.  It was not a question of everyone reducing, but of everyone producing in such a way that the planet was not endangered.  Development was the midwife of sustainability, he said, adding that it must be recognized that resources were not infinite.  However, saying “everyone has to cut” was not a viable path.

Ms. FISCHER-KOWALSKI said that every year, more resources were consumed through the use of more energy from fossil fuels, which in turn had exhausted the natural-resource base.  Global resource consumption was driven by population growth, rising incomes, and increasing development.  Growing population numbers were the strongest drivers as the numbers had increased substantially and consumption per capita remained high, she said, adding that rising income was not as much of a threat to consumption levels.  A decoupling effect had taken effect over the years in which per capita resource materials had grown faster than income per capita.  In addition, energy use had slowed down in relation to income, she said, noting that development was the least harmful of the driving factors as it could actually relieve consumption tensions in some cases.

Calling attention to the internationally unequal distribution of resources, she said corporate control of resources was a major concern which had led to unequal consumption rates and an externalization of environmental costs, since resources from the developing world were often used in developed countries.  The consumption of natural resources -- including industrial and construction materials, fossil energy and biomass -- had “exploded” to between 18 to 60 billion tons over the last 100 years, she noted.  Industrialized countries had begun to stabilize their high consumption levels while developing countries were steadily increasing theirs.  She pointed out that two thirds of the world’s population lived in countries with low consumption rates by population and development, specifically India and China.

In efforts to foresee the consequences of continuing current consumption trends in the next 50 years, she shared three scenarios:  freeze and catch up; moderate contraction and convergence; and tough contraction and convergence.  The first scenario -- in which industrialized countries maintained current consumption rates while developing countries caught up -- would cause a doubling of resource consumption rates per capita.  The second would involve industrialized countries reducing their consumption while developing countries caught up, a method more in line with any moderate climate-protection strategy.  However, the third scenario, in which countries did not increase annual consumption rates, was nearly implausible as it would impose tough constraints, she said.  To achieve sustainable resource consumption, a new transition focused on sustaining human well-being and development was necessary, she said, emphasizing that the key was maintaining development while consuming less.

Ms. FISHER-KOWALSKI, asked whether the growth in gross domestic product since the 1970s had been a “bubble” created with “fictitious capital” by the financial sector through trading in derivatives, said she did not agree with that hypothesis, noting that material growth had been de-coupled from gross domestic product before that period.  Only the energy factor had changed, quite suddenly, in 1973, with a significant rise in oil prices that had led to the realization that the planet’s resources were not unlimited.  She said the industrialized countries had realized “all of a sudden” that their seeming abundance might have limits, and that had led to efforts to use energy more efficiently.

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