Preventing Wall-E Toward Adoption of a Ten Year Framework of Programmes for Sustainable Consumption and Production at the 2012 Earth Summit (Rio+20)
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Preventing Wall-E Toward Adoption of a Ten Year Framework of Programmes for Sustainable Consumption and Production at the 2012 Earth Summit (Rio+20) By Victoria Floor February 2012
Victoria Floor: Preventing Wall-E
About the Author
Victoria Floor, a graduate of Brown University, is a freelance writer living in met-
ropolitan Washington, DC. She is the author of the forthcoming D Generation, a
Dantesque treatment of the failings of the generation of Baby Boomers, of which
she is one, and Via Terra, a collection of poems. She is currently working on a mem-
oir about white propaganda and German resistance during World War II.
Published by the Heinrich Böll Stiftung
Washington, D.C., April 2012
© All rights reserved
Author: Victoria Floor
Design: Anna Milena Jurca
Cover image by andy castro under CC BY-NC 2.0 Lisence. Original: flickr.
Heinrich Böll Stiftung
Washington, D.C. Office
1432 K Street, NW
Suite 500
Washington, D.C. 20005
United States
T +1 202 462 7512
F +1 202 462 5230
E info@us.boell.org
www.us.boell.org
IIVictoria Floor: Preventing Wall-E
Table of Contents
Introduction
I. Enter: The Marrakech Process
II. The Problem—how to change the consumption habits of billions?
III. Marrakech Focus: Lifestyle and Education
Sustainable Lifestyles Task Force
Education for Sustainable Consumption (ESC) Task Force
IV. Background on Trends in Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP)—the Weakening of
Governments
V. Efforts to Promote SCP since 2002
VI. The Status of the 10 Year Framework Programme in SCP
VII. Challenges and Possibilities Posed by a 10YFP
VIII. A Sustainable World Vision
IX. Conclusion
Appendix I. Marrakech Process Task Forces
Appendix II. Some SCP Efforts Since 2002
Acronyms
10YFP 10 Year Framework of Programmes for Sustainable Consumption and Production
BRIC Brazil, Russia, India and China
CGIAR Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
CSD Commission on Sustainable Development
ESC Education for Sustainable Consumption
ESCAP Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
GAVI Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GRIHA Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment
GSSL Global Survey of Sustainable Lifestyles
JPOI Johannesburg Plan of Implementation
MDG Millennium Development Goals
NGOs Non-governmental Organizations
NSDS National Sustainable Development Strategies
PERL Partnership for Education and Research about Responsible Living
SAICM Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management
SCP Sustainable Consumption and Production
UNDESA United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
UNEP United Nations Environment Programme
UNIDO United Nations Industrial Development Organization
WSSD World Summit on Sustainable Development
YXC YouthXChange
IIIVictoria Floor: Preventing Wall-E
Summary
The 10 Year Framework of Programmes (10YFP) for Sustainable Consumption
and Production is a mechanism to launch, monitor, replicate, evaluate and hold
governments accountable for efforts to enhance sustainability at local, national
and international efforts. The Framework facilitates programmes in a broad range
of areas: from education and lifestyles to buildings, construction, production pro-
cesses, procurement and tourism. The measures promoted by the 10YFP are vol-
untary, but they can improve consumption and production patterns, while raising
awareness of the need for far-reaching, binding measures to safeguard the planet.
The EU called the 10YFP for Sustainable Consumption and Production “the single
most important deliverable outcome of the CSD 19 [19th session of the UN Com-
mission on Sustainable Development].” Yet, in the May 2011 CSD session, nations
failed to reach consensus on it. This paper describes the origin and functions of
the 10YFP – particularly those aspects relating to education and lifestyles – and
makes the case for adopting and financing the 10YFP at the UN Conference on
Sustainable Development (UNCSD), or Rio +20, in June 2012.
Introduction
Thanks to the success of mass marketing practices coupled with an array of infor-
mation-sharing devices, most of the world now knows the Disney animated feature
film, Wall-E. For those who were not impacted by the onslaught of advertisements,
publicity, line of toys and other merchandise that accompanied this 2008 Oscar-
nominee, the premise of Wall-E is that the Earth has been destroyed somehow and
nothing but man-made junk remains. There are no plants, animals, or humans, only
discarded computers, cars, TVs, toasters and other material effluvia of a lost civili-
zation. The landscape is dirty, urban, with clouded skies over disintegrating streets
and buildings. The sole inhabitant is Wall-E, a tiny solar-powered robot who tries
pathetically to revive some of the broken hardware around him. His only compan-
ions are a few uncommunicative cockroaches. Wall-E’s ancestors—those who built
this world of trash devoid of life—may have rued the date of May 14, 2011, the day
the United Nations talks on sustainable development broke down.
Would Wall-E be so alone on a landscape of human litter had we been able
to give up our old myths of “consumption equals happiness” in time? If we had,
instead, embraced a lifecycle paradigm of production in which everything going
into making a refrigerator, or a chicken, was accounted for and managed responsi-
bly? What then? Might the world have brought down its emission levels in time to
stabilize the climate? Would survivors of the inevitable natural disasters brought
on by global warming—floods, famine, droughts, storms, heat-waves, pandemics—
have at least found a way to live in harmony with the surviving ecosystems? Might
Wall-E have had a few friends beside cockroaches?
The political will to bring about a paradigm shift is lacking in the real world
as well as Wall-E’s world. In May 2011, negotiators at the19th Session of the UN
Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) were unable to reach consensus
IVVictoria Floor: Preventing Wall-E
on a 10YFP for Sustainable Consumption and Production, despite the dire need for
one. For Example, Erik Assadourian writes in his poignant expose, The Rise and
Fall of Consumer Cultures:
Preventing the collapse of human civilization requires nothing less
than a wholesale transformation of dominant cultural patterns. This
transformation would reject consumerism—the cultural orientation Preventing
that leads people to find meaning, contentment, and acceptance the collapse of
through what they consume—as taboo and establish in its place a human civiliza-
new cultural framework centered on sustainability.1
tion requires
There are many forces militating against such a direly needed shift in thinking and nothing less
behavior, some of which will be discussed below. There may also be some hope for than a wholesale
a rallying behind sustainable consumption and production reforms once again as transformation
the world’s nations meet in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on June 20-22, 2012 for the 20th
anniversary of the 1992 Earth Summit, at which the United Nations established its of dominant cul-
Commission for Sustainable Development (CSD). By January 2012, the Zero Draft tural patterns.
of goals for the upcoming June Conference now known as” Rio+20” resolved: “To
evolve from ‘Voluntary Commitments based 10 Year Framework of Programmes on
Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP), to a ‘Commitment Based Interna-
tional Agreement on SCP.”2
This goal supports both themes of Rio+20, the “green economy” and “the
institutional framework for sustainable development.” The latter theme aims to:
• strengthen the institutional framework in the intergovernmental levels, e.g.,
UNEP [United Nations Environment Programme], CSD;
• develop systems strengthening participation, transparency, accountability,
and decision making processes at the national and regional levels;
• develop national sustainable development strategies, NSDS [National Sus-
tainable Development Strategies];
• discuss corporate social responsibility, including accountability;
• review and strengthen governance structures at all levels: local, national,
regional, global;
• ensure and strengthen the role of major groups at all levels; and
• develop elements of new framework conventions.3
This is an ambitious proposal, though not a new one. Planning the next 10 years
of sustainability goals and the means to implement them sounds like a minimal
commitment for the international community. Nations can go on blaming each
other for their increasing carbon footprints or start cooperating to reduce them.
Many 10YFPs have been launched all over the world and offer one path out of the
stalemate in climate negotiations. Now an important mission of the Summit par-
ticipants will be to take these programmes as a starting point and employ the same
growing communications networks that successfully market Disney films to expand
on consumer and producer options for earth-friendly practices.
VVictoria Floor: Preventing Wall-E
I. Enter: The Marrakech Process
In 2002, at the World Summit for Social Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg,
South Africa, which occurred on the 10th anniversary of the 1992 Earth Summit,
the failure to implement the objectives of the 1992 Summit was widely acknowl-
edged. Therefore, the Summit launched a Johannesburg Plan of Implementation
(JPOI), a broad framework for action on commitments relating to issues (poverty
eradication, consumption and production, the natural resource base) and initiatives
(small island developing states, African and other regional initiatives) – as well as
the means of implementation, including an institutional framework.
One work stream arising from the JPOI was the 10YFP for Sustainable
Consumption and Production of the Marrakech Process, which began with experts
meeting in Marrakech, Morocco in June 2003. These experts were representa-
tives of governments, UN bodies – UNEP, United Nations Department of Economic
and Social Affairs (UNDESA) – and a number of Non-governmental Organizations
(NGOs). The Marrakech Process, both global and informal, has been dedicated to
“encourage and promote the development of a 10 Year Framework of Programmes
in support of regional and national initiatives to accelerate the shift towards sus-
tainable consumption and production to promote social and economic development
within the carrying capacity of ecosystems by addressing, and where appropriate,
delinking economic growth and environmental degradation.”4
In Stockholm, in 1972, the UN Conference on the Human Environment ad-
opted the principle that “non-renewable resources of the earth must be employed
in such a way as to guard against the danger of their future exhaustion and to
ensure that benefits from such employment are shared by all mankind.” The rapid
industrialized development of the past 40 years has overshadowed this principle of
sustainability and contributed to the ever-increasing urgency of implementing it.
Since its beginnings in 2003, The Marrakech Process has grown in involve “thou-
sands of people from all over the world in the implementation and promotion of
SCP.” These “stakeholders have been building alliances, networks and partnerships
to contribute to resource-efficient and low carbon economies, sustainable societies
and poverty eradication.” [Appendix I includes a complete listing of its task forces
and activities.]
Organizationally, the Marrakech Process has a Secretariat, jointly hosted
by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations
Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA). The Secretariat’s main
function is to facilitate and coordinate the various activities under the Process,
building cooperation at local, national, regional and international levels. The Ad-
visory Committee of the Marrakech Process, established in 2008, includes govern-
ment representatives from the different regions (Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin
America, North America, and Arab region) as well as three major groups: business
and Industry, NGOs, and workers and trade unions. Biennial meetings took place
in 2003, 2005, 2007, and in 2010 to prepare for the Panama City meeting of the
CSD in January 2011.
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There are seven Marrakech Task Forces:
• Cooperation with Africa,
• Education for Sustainable Consumption,
• Sustainable Buildings and Construction,
• Sustainable Lifestyles,
• Sustainable Products,
• Sustainable Public Procurement, and
• Sustainable Tourism Development
The existing work on the 10YFP should be formally endorsed and financed by the
Rio+20 Conference. During the past 9 years, the Marrakech Process, which has
grown in terms of the numbers of participants and scope, has borne fruit – particu-
larly in terms of the sharing of “best practices,” some of which were developed in
its own field studies, surveys, and research. The 10YFP has a flexible process for
implementing reforms at the national, international, and local, grassroots levels The 10YFP has a
where there must be grounding of the principles of sustainability. The Framework flexible process
is a largely “bottom-up” approach, bringing attention to practical solutions that for implementing
can be replicated worldwide with the hopes of mobilizing popular demands for
legislation, regulation, and enforcement of such reforms in patterns of production reforms at the
and consumption. national, interna-
In January 2011, UNEP’s Background Paper for meetings in Panama out- tional, and local,
lined the Framework’s functions including: a) providing a shared global vision
grassroots levels
and monitoring progress toward goals; b) strengthening knowledge sharing and
networking between all players; c) supporting nations and other groups in making where there must
policy; d) offering technical assistance; e) fostering collaboration and partnerships; be grounding of
and f) raising awareness, education, and civil society mobilization. The Background the principles of
Paper also provides discussion of various options for the two broad components of
the 10YFP: institutions and programmes. sustainability.
The Background Paper gives a variety of successful international institu-
tional models, including the Marrakech Process model which is already tailored
to the SCP themes. In assessing these alternative models,5 the writers credit the
Marrakech Process with having supported SCP programmes in 20 countries and
the incorporation of SCP principles into the planning processes of 30 more. How-
ever, a drawback of the Marrakesh Process is its lack of a “predictable funding
base.”6 Funding for the rapid implementation of 10YFP is needed and can be mod-
eled after the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) Achievement Fund or Quick
Start Programme of the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Manage-
ment (SAICM) to encourage a higher level of ambition in goals.
Regarding 10YFP goals, the Paper suggests a “dual track approach” to
endorse those goals where consensus is emerging (i.e., energy, water, material ef-
ficiency) and take more time to develop goals where consensus will have to be built
gradually by stakeholders (i.e., sustainable consumption and lifestyles). As with all
components of the 10YFP, flexibility and adaptability are paramount. The Frame-
work must be engineered to grow and develop over time as world economies evolve
and social/economic equality increases. Issues relating to social equality must be
solved within the processes of sustainable production as labor precedes consump-
tion as an equality issue. Fair wages and equal access to work have become more
prominent issues in developed countries in light of the current world recession
VIIVictoria Floor: Preventing Wall-E
and therefore deserve more support and attention. The “Life Cycle” approach to
production represents an important re-thinking of dignified labor as well as earth-
friendly manufactured goods and agricultural products. Without planned obsoles-
cence and monoculture, more labor-intensive work will be needed throughout the
life of every consumable. Local control over the means of production helps avoid
the waste and negative impacts of shipping. In other words, minimizing transpor-
What we need is tation of goods, as well as of people, is an important part of the paradigm shift
the will to imple- toward sustainability. As such concepts and practices evolve and are disseminated
ment sustainable world-wide, an organic growth of coordinated systems will necessarily evolve to
include all participants: laborers, distributors, consumers, recyclers. The 10YFP,
practices in time.
given the seeding of the Marrakech Process, will undoubtedly flesh itself out once
Developing the the backbone is constructed upon which all related activities can be grafted.
necessary collec- Back to Wall-E for a moment. Because this is a Disney film and not reality,
tive will involves the consumers, fat and helpless, white and Anglo-looking, have somehow escaped
the devastation of the biosphere and are living in luxurious spaceships. Sorry,
leadership at all Planet Earth. This is only a Disney cartoon. An escape route is not likely to be
levels of society. in the offing. We simply lack the science, or the financial resources, to recreate
spaceship Earth in orbit. There is science, however, that could allow us to stay on
Earth without it becoming Planet Landfill. Sustainable practices are scientifically
sound and many more can be developed through careful testing and study. What
we need is the will to implement them in time. Developing the necessary collective
will involves leadership at all levels of society.
II. The Problem—how to change the
coNsumption habits of billions?
Seven billion people now live on our small planet, using resources 30%
faster than one planet can cope with. At this rate we would need two planets by
2050. Though today’s consumer class is estimated at around 1.7 billion7, it is clear
that all lifestyles are not equal. Inequality causes social problems: crime, conflict,
ill health, political instability. The world’s poor suffer the most in what author Mike
Davis has called “planet of slums.” It is clear that their living standards must rise,
though this rise must be accompanied by a shrinking of the human footprint, or
“delinking” of growth and ecological impact.
Now we have plenty of scientific evidence that: we have degraded ecosys-
tems by 60% in the past 50 years;8 CO2 concentration in the atmosphere has al-
ready exceeded a threshold of safety and that new models are revising the resultant
temperature rise upwards to as much as 5.1 degrees Celsius by 2100;9 biodiversity
is severely threatened with 10% of all vertebrates and 3% of all plant species dis-
appearing.10 Yet, information and evidence do not necessarily lead to widespread
awareness and action.
Consumption continues to increase exponentially, despite dire predictions
of the environmental consequences. In 2008 alone, people around the world pur-
chased “68 million vehicles, 85 million refrigerators, 297 million computers, and
1.2 billion mobile (cell) phones.” Consumption is “up 28 percent from the $23.9
trillion spent in 1996,” almost tripling the consumption expenditures per person
VIIIVictoria Floor: Preventing Wall-E
since 1960.11 Industrialized countries used 50% of the fossil energy though repre-
senting only 15% of the population.
However, this trend is changing quickly. Developing countries increased
energy use by 40% between 1990 and 2006, while in the same period there was an
increase of only 20% in the so-called economically developed countries.12 While
the gap between rich and poor should be narrowed, it is clear that developed na-
tions need to take the lead in reducing their own consumption habits to compensate
for growing lifestyle inequality.
Since 1997 there have been a variety of formulas devised to quantify the
responsibility of wealthy carbon consumers in all countries, including so-called
“emerging economies.” Scientists issued a report before the 2009 Copenhagen
climate summit which defines capacity and responsibility in individual terms. The
authors of the report, Greenhouse Development Rights Framework13, found that
the US, with 36% of the population earning more than $20 per day and respon-
sible for the largest cumulative share of emissions since 1990, bears the greatest
responsibility to act on global warming. China, meanwhile, only has 5.8% of the
population earning above that $20/day development threshold, yet “bears a 5.5%
responsibility because of its large and rapidly-growing carbon emissions level.” The
study is designed to be fluid, allowing for shifts in carbon emissions obligations
over time as countries grow. Liane Schalatek, associate director of the Heinrich
Boell Foundation-North America argues for this per capita usage approach as more
equitable than former carbon footprint assessments pitting nation against nation:
“There is an understanding that you have to apply the concept of equity beyond just
country to country.”14 Assessing carbon footprints as individual products puts the In a few places,
focus on the consumer, wherever he or she lives. Germany and
As emerging economies gain in affluence and the global middle class in- California are
creases to perhaps 4 billion in 2030 the largest number of middle class consumers
two examples,
will live in India and China. Water and energy use, car ownership, personal travel,
meat and dairy consumption and waste all increase with income. Car ownership, downward trends
for example, increases rapidly as per capita incomes rise above a certain thresh- in energy con-
old (currently about $10,000). Energy consumption, particularly petroleum, rises sumption have
with incomes. A number of the countries with the fastest GDP growth since 1980
have also experienced rapid growth in energy consumption, though there are a few accompanied
exceptions (e.g., Philippines, Bangladesh, Austria). In a few places, Germany and economic growth,
California are two examples, downward trends in energy consumption have accom- showing that it
panied economic growth, showing that it can be done. This successful “delinking”
can be done.
is still, unfortunately far from the norm.15
Globalization has allowed production to be outsourced to developing coun-
tries, in particular the rapidly growing middle-income countries (e.g., Brazil, Rus-
sia, India and China (BRIC), resulting in a rise in production-based—as opposed to
consumption-based—emissions.16 We see a rising middle class in these nations that
is increasingly urban, situated near production centers where fossil fuel emissions
make for unpleasantly polluted skies over poor infrastructure, creating congested
living and transport conditions.
A 2009 analysis of consumption patterns in India showed that many house-
holds have access to basic lighting and a fan. As incomes reach about $5,000 per
year, television and hot water heaters become standard, and at incomes of $8,000,
“most people have an array of consumer goods, from washing machines and DVD
IXVictoria Floor: Preventing Wall-E
players to kitchen appliances and computers. As incomes rise further, air condi-
tioning and air travel become common.”17 People earning as little as $5,000 per
year—what many would call subsistence levels—are still contributing to unsustain-
able levels of CO2 emissions. More than a third of the world’s people now live above
this level, and that proportion is growing.
Urban expansion into former agricultural land is inevitable (as was the
pattern in the developed nations), while agriculture becomes increasingly industri-
alized to supply densely populated urban centers. Rapid growth and planning have
rarely gone together. The need for housing workers near new production centers,
People earning as
for instance, often results in considerable energy waste through inefficient trans-
little as $5,000 portation lines and poor-quality buildings—the phenomenon known as “sprawl.”
per year—what Buildings are responsible for about 40% of global energy use and a comparable
many would share of CO2 emissions. Fossil fuel use in buildings could be reduced by 70% or
more simply through better insulation; more efficient lighting and appliances would
call subsistence
pay for themselves through lower energy bills. This is as true in wealthy nations as
levels—are still in developing ones and yet what is the incentive to promote such practices when
contributing to growing GDP takes precedence over achieving sustainability?
unsustainable Rapidly growing producers, such as the BRIC nations, are now in a position
to provide consumer goods for their citizens. However, what lifestyle model will
levels of CO2 they have other than that of middle class attainment as exhibited in developed na-
emissions. tions? To a newly middle class Indian or Chinese consumer, it is tempting to make
all the same mistakes of over-consumption, waste, and poor planning that accom-
panied the Post World War II consumption binge from which the world is currently
reeling. How can developed nations be encouraged to “take the lead” in promoting
sustainable practices? This is part of the work of the Marrakech Process, which
began holding national roundtables in China and India in 2006, Brazil (2007) and
South Africa (2008) and Mexico (2010). Helping emerging economies adopt sus-
tainable practices superior to those of their consumer role models could become
an important component of a 10YFP.
III. Marrakech Focus on Lifestyles
and Education
If a paradigm shift is to take place, surely the way that the 10YFP models
of best practices and the empowerment of consumers through education are es-
sential. This section examines the work of two Task Forces – those on Lifestyles
and Education. “Sustainable Lifestyles” includes “Project Smart Start-up,” which
introduces sustainable lifestyles and entrepreneurship into African universities
and colleges; and “Creative Communities for Sustainable Lifestyles,” is a research
project that identifies best practices and provides policy recommendations on social
innovations for sustainable urban living. The education program Here and Now!,
which offers guidelines towards integrating “Education for Sustainable Consump-
tion” (ESC) into formal education from primary to higher education institutions,
will be discussed, as will the Partnership for Education and Research about Re-
sponsible Living (PERL).
XVictoria Floor: Preventing Wall-E
Sustainable Lifestyles Task Force
The Sustainable Lifestyles Task Force is predicated on the need to envision
and promote alternatives to the present cultural norm of “consumerism,” a behav-
ior pattern that has been likened to addiction. Paul Ekins describes “consumer-
ism” as a cultural orientation in which “the possession and use of an increasing
number and variety of goods and services is the principal cultural aspiration and the
surest perceived route to personal happiness, social status, and national success.”18
People, as consumers, have come to believe that their happiness relies on acquiring
goods and services. However, psychological studies show that though happiness in-
creases when people at the low income levels improve their economic security, the
richer they become, the less effectively their wealth converts to happiness. A high-
consumption lifestyle has also been linked to increased work stress, debt, cancers,
cardiovascular disease and diabetes, with obesity now effecting about 1.6 billion of
us worldwide (the roly-poly people in Wall-E).
Marketing instills consumer values in populations. The budgets for adver-
tising in emerging economies such as India and China have been growing at rates
of ”10 percent [and] more per year”).19 Combating consumerism, while promoting
alternative practices that lead to greater happiness, is a lengthy process that may
be the only hope of bringing about the needed cultural shifts to save us. It is largely
a matter of re-educating people by providing alternative visions of happiness and
well-being. As one Lebanese student wrote in response to a survey sponsored by
this Task Force: “We need a few things to be happy in life rather than having ev-
erything and no time to enjoy life.”20
The Lifestyles Task Force of the Marrakech Process is focused on guiding
and enabling sustainable lifestyles in social innovation, communication, education,
marketing, advertising, and business. It targets mainly central and local govern-
ments, as well as NGOs. Its ”Sustainable Lifestyle Manifesto,” based on lessons
learned so far, calls for the following:
• Enthuse and inspire—convey what sustainable lifestyles are about and how
great it is to live them; that these changes do not require drastic personal
sacrifices or huge expense, nor do they hinder personal freedoms or com-
promise national development.
• Create support structures—provide means for sustainable choices in the
form of innovative products and services, infrastructure improvements (i.e.
from bike lanes to online networks).
• Celebrate success—all over the world amazing work is happening to help us
live more sustainable lives.
• Focus your efforts—focused work is needed to create lifestyle s changes.
• Form partnerships—connect people and organizations, each with different
skills and expertise.
The above practices are, of course, applicable to any of the many Marrakech initia-
tives and exemplify one mission of the 10YFPs—that of coordinating efforts and
sharing information.
Removing barriers for individual and collective action, from tangible ones
such as restrictive infrastructure, uncoordinated policies and lack of financial capi-
tal, to intangible ones such as the consumerist culture that fuels desires for status
symbols, such as expensive cars, is the goal of this Task Force. Its final report
XIVictoria Floor: Preventing Wall-E
states: “We are beginning to see growing demand for policy tools to help us…but
it’s only just starting. If we create a thirst for sustainable lifestyles, then policy
will be shaped quickly to meet it…[as] social actions also encourage sustainable
living.” These interactions, or “social capital”, are as influential as physical and
human capital on a society’s productivity.
Developing social capital encourages people to use their networks—from
village to international levels—to steer fellow consumers toward more sustainable
choices in the products they buy and the ways they use them. To provide socially-
responsible alternatives to business practices, the Task Force provided a Toolkit for
Advertising and Marketing. The kit provides multilingual materials, including a
how-to piece, “Communicating Sustainability,” which has been downloaded nearly
a million times and a series of seven guidebooks covering business opportunities and
new business models for sustainable solutions. “Intercultural Sister Classrooms” in
US, Mexico, Costa Rico and Brazil is another project that includes a web platform
for disseminating training materials for educators and students engaging in inter-
national discussions. There is also a “Literature Review on Sustainable Lifestyles”
with recommendations for future research, as well as a project to research and
identify good practices from Brazil, China, India, and Africa showing how people
are coming together in “creative communities” to solve everyday problems. Con-
ferences and workshops for these Creative Communities for Sustainable Lifestyles
have been held in South Africa, Kenya, Botswana and Ghana. Eight common areas
in which community-led responses to sustainable lifestyles were identified:21
1. Co-operative purchasing groups where people buy in bulk directly from
suppliers
2. Local trading exchanges where people exchange services and skills with
each other
3. Children’s centers where children and parents can meet and play together
4. Car pooling where cars are shared between groups
5. Community agriculture exchanges that connect urban and rural producers
6. Elderly community care run by and for senior citizens to support each other
“`Sustainable 7. Urban vegetable gardens run by groups of people
lifestyles’ means 8. Community nurseries where mothers run small, local nurseries for children
being aware of Although these best practices were developed in African sites, they can be adapted
and replicated in any region and are already widespread.
your surround- The Global Survey (GSSL) is perhaps most impressive of the 9 projects
ings [and] aware undertaken by the Lifestyles taskforce. Conducted in 20 countries in 10 languages,
of the conse- with 45 participating partners (including universities, NGOs, research centers and
businesses), it analyzed 8,000 questionnaires on young peoples’ perceptions and
quences of the
attitudes on food, mobility, and housekeeping. There were four headline findings in
choices made the 2011 report, Visions for Change: Recommendations for Effective Policies on
and therefore Sustainable Lifestyles: 1) poverty and the environment are priority concerns, but
make the choices young people are missing a “holistic, compelling and pragmatic vision of a sustain-
able society and how the vision can be translated at the local and individual level”;
that do the least
2) there is a high level of desire to promote change in every country surveyed; 3)
harm.” (GSSL, sustainability is still not spontaneously nor widely valued as a factor of progress;
2010) 4) a large majority of young people react positively to sustainable scenarios when
they offer participatory, but non-intrusive, alternatives, and infrastructural chang-
es. One respondent in the survey wrote:
XIIVictoria Floor: Preventing Wall-E
`Sustainable lifestyles’ means being aware of your surroundings
[and] aware of the consequences of the choices made and therefore
make the choices that do the least harm. It involves more than just
care for the environment – it also involves thinking about people
and community. It involves thinking about health and well -being,
educational development, rather than just money and possessions.
(United Kingdom, GSSL, 2010)
Smart Start-up combines lifestyle education with business development skills to
promote sustainable entrepreneurship at universities in Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, Mo-
zambique, and Mauritius. The project pays special attention to motivating female
entrepreneurs in this male-dominated area. Phase one was a pilot test for training
packages, Phase 2 is an on-going educational programme for educators. The project
showed that ownership and approval of the participating universities is crucial, and
the liaison with government ministries is key to securing support from university
chancellors and professors. The training materials developed are transferable to
other universities, adaptable to local conditions, and replicable worldwide.22 The
Task Force for Sustainable Lifestyles published a final report in 2009 under the
Ministry of the Environment of Sweden before continuing its work under the aus-
pices of PERL (Partnership for Education and Research about Responsible Living).
Education for Sustainable Consumption (ESC) Task Force
This Marrakech Process Task Force is led by the Italian Ministry for
the Environment, Land and Sea. Members include Argentina, Armenia, Croatia,
Greece, Latvia, Mauritius, South Africa, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, and the
US, six international and regional organizations, twelve NGOs and private-sector
organizations and nine representatives from academia.23 Predicated on the knowl-
edge that consumption choices all demand energy, and that low-carbon lifestyles
are the goal, this task force pursues education as the means of citizens to influence
markets and production patterns. Through both informal and formal education,
organizations and individuals should be empowered in ways that produce socially
responsible, resource efficient, and environmentally friendly behaviors. There are
3 objectives: 1) mapping, exchanging and networking initiatives and good practice
on Education for Sustainable Consumption (ESC); 2) the advancement of ESC in
formal curricula; and 3) approaching ESC as a support to other sustainable devel-
opment policies.
ESC is all inclusive, from early childhood to adult literacy and numeracy,
especially for women. Other areas of activity include the advancement of research
on specific and appropriate learning and teaching methodologies, didactic tech-
nologies and materials oriented toward multidisciplinary teaching, and the creation
of knowledge and competencies in order to provide adequate professional skills.
The Task Force is also charged with developing monitoring and follow-up tools and
criteria for quality evaluation. Finally, it will integrate concrete policy options,
actions and initiatives into the 10YFP strategies and action plans for sustainable
consumption and production.
The first of two accomplishments of this Task Force, creating capacity-
building tools, involved the development of a manual: Here and Now! Education
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for Sustainable Consumption. This tool is meant to demonstrate to policy makers
the importance of ESC so that they integrate it into their education and sustain-
able development strategies, while helping teachers include ESC in their curricula.
The project has found that teachers are willing to include lessons on sustainable
consumption in their classes, but have no time to do so. Therefore, educational
authorities and policy makers must get involved. The Task Force emphasizes that
education on SCP provides personally empowering skills and thus should not be
confused with awareness and information activities. Teaching about ESC should
start immediately, since a long term process is required to influence and change
education. The Here and Now! project is implemented on a global scale, and its
booklet is available in English, Spanish, Chinese and French, and partially in Japa-
nese and Korean.
The second accomplishment of this Task Force is the creation of the Part-
nership for Education and Research about Responsible Living (PERL), a network
of about 100 higher education institutions in 40 countries which functions as a
platform to disseminate its work. PERL partners test and evaluate methods, such
as the active learning approaches “Looking for Likely Alternatives” and “Images
and Objects”—ways to help people understand sustainable lifestyles. PERL has
assisted in sustainable lifestyles training programmes in France, China, Italy, Co-
lombia and the US, and has produced country case studies on the implementation
of ESC in Mauritius, Japan and Mexico.24
Another function of the Task Force on Education for Sustainable Consump-
tion is to provide demonstration projects and examples of good practice for educa-
“[T]he primary tors from pre-schools to universities. Together with UNEP, it is promoting a project
aimed at advancing ESC strategies at the national level as part of a nation’s pro-
judgment of all
gramme for sustainable development. The Task Force has encouraged synergies
human institu- between the Marrakech Process and the UN Decade for Education for Sustainable
tions, profes- Consumption, and will soon be working to strengthen ESC in 3 pilot countries which
sions, and will involve close cooperation with UNESCO, Consumers International or the UN
University. Many observers are not as optimistic as Marrakech Process enthusi-
programs and
asts about the power of education to counteract the power of business influence
activities will on educational institutions. Erik Assadourian, for instance, cites, as an example of
be determined corporate intrusion into the classroom, Channel One News.25 This is a 12-minute
by the extent daily TV show that pipes commercials into some 8,000 US middle and high schools.
There is also a failure to teach media literacy to help students “critically interpret
to which they marketing” in a land where more children recognize the McDonald arches than
inhibit, ignore, or the letter “m”. Assadourian goes on to quote the noted ecological philosopher and
foster a mutu- priest, Thomas Berry:
ally enhancing
From here on, the primary judgment of all human institutions, pro-
human-Earth fessions, and programs and activities will be determined by the ex-
relationship.” tent to which they inhibit, ignore, or foster a mutually enhancing
(Thomas Berry) human-Earth relationship.
Transforming educational systems in order to empower individual consumers while
fostering a genuine commitment to interpersonal, communal sustainable lifestyles
will take much more effort and willpower than has heretofore been applied by any
national or international efforts to date. But if we don’t do it voluntarily, it may
well be forced upon us under conditions will not be pleasant.
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IV. Background on SCP Trends
The weakening of governments
The 1992 Earth Summit called for an improved definition of the concept
of “sustainable development.” In the following two decades, links have been built
between sustainability and human rights, such as those to food, health, and educa-
tion. However, the growth in power of multinational corporations to dominate civil
life and transcend the reach of many elected governments, and therefore citizen
consumers, has led to a weakening—not strengthening—of public policies and their
enforcement. In a Statement by the Civil Society Reflection Group on Global De-
velopment Perspectives on Rio+20 and Beyond, (a “work in progress”) the authors
discuss the failures of governments in past decades to bring policies in line with
sustainability principles. They note an over-reliance on economic growth and self-
regulation of markets. They call for changes in mindset, fiscal and regulatory poli-
cies, and governance mechanisms at national and international levels.
Governments need new metrics beyond GDP for sustainability and societal
progress, and should actively promote research into developing alternate metrics
with the broad participation of civil society. In other words, what is the best in-
dex of consumer/citizen happiness and well-being? The Reflection Group calls for
redirecting fiscal policies toward sustainability, because government priorities are
more clearly reflected in budgets than in espoused principles. The steps toward fis-
cal reform include reducing all harmful subsidies in agricultural, water, energy, fish-
eries, and forestry sectors, while strengthening public spending to stimulate growth
in areas such as renewable energy, sustainable and affordable public transporta- What is the best
tion, eco-efficient housing, and subsidies to poor households based on a new norma-
tive framework of burden-sharing under the solidarity principle—one of the core index of con-
values listed in the Millennium Declaration.26 Further, they advocate governments sumer/citizen
using their clout of public procurement policies to influence the production meth- happiness and
ods and products of their suppliers and supporting domestic suppliers to strengthen
well-being?
the local economy. In general, the years of global trends toward privatization and
deregulation must be reversed. Public authorities, they say, “have to reclaim the
responsibility to provide essential services for all citizens, including freshwater sup-
ply, sanitation, education, healthcare, shelter, public transport, communication, and
access to energy.”27 The effectiveness of international efforts to promote sustain-
able practices cannot be determined without “commitments and coherence at the
national level, and in all countries.”28
Sustainable Consumption and Production as a paradigm shift, change in
values, and state of mind is one thing, but sustaining nation-states responsive to
the needs of their citizens is quite another. Perhaps one of the greatest planetary
rescue missions should salvage government from multinational corporate domi-
nance and legal transcendence. While governments struggle to regain control of
their economies in the current recession, the United Nations and its many organi-
zational entities can and must take the lead in implementing sustainable practices.
Patricia Birnie and Alan Boyle, in their 800 page study “International Law and
the Environment” argue the following points: a) UN specialized agencies have
become important institutions of global and regional environmental governance
that “have the ability to influence the international policy-making agenda and ini-
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tiate or facilitate many of the most important law-making developments”29, b)
their role is to provide a permanent forum where states and other participants can
engage in dialogues and negotiations, representing an array of legal, cultural, and
religious values, c) sustainable development entails a compromise between the
natural environment and economic growth, and d) if states are to be held account-
able for achieving sustainability, then there must be clear criteria for measuring the
performance of individual states.
Clearly, the negative impacts of multinational corporate powers could be
mitigated by governmental regulations. Such regulations could help deal with the
widening gulf between haves and have-nots worldwide, which has generally been
attributed to the unregulated free markets of late-stage capitalism. Regional enti-
ties, such as the EU, and economic groups such as the G-77 (a self-identified group
of 77 developing nations in the UN since 1964) are supplementing sovereign na-
tions in the governance process. A Framework of Programmes enacted through the
UN would signal a new level of international empowerment of consumer-citizens
in the face of market forces that can no longer be allowed to run “free” no matter
how stimulating to short-term economic growth.
V. Efforts to Promote SCP since 2002
Though the trend in rising resource use per capita is undisputable, there
have been some efforts at the national and local levels to combat this trend. [See
Appendix II for more detailed descriptions.] Governments have applied measures
such as sustainable procurement, tighter efficiency standards for vehicles and
buildings, renewable energy standards and tariffs for electricity, subsidies to pro-
mote greener products, green stimulus spending, and eco-labeling. In addition to
procurement, tax measures have had some successes around the world, as have the
UN Principles of Responsible Investment with 640 signatories representing $14
trillion of assets.30
Voluntary labeling programmes, such as the popular Fairtrade agricultural
products, are linked to a growing share of the market of “ethical consumers” con-
cerned with small farmers and more environmentally sustainable products, such as
organic shade-tree coffee. Capacity building tools sponsored by UNIDO (United
Nations Industrial Development Organization), UNEP, the International Chamber
of Commerce and many NGOs also contribute to the reforms of industrial and ag-
ricultural production. There are research and reporting tools, while new tech-
nologies, especially communication equipment, have been credited with aiding the
transformation toward sustainable practices of global consumers, even to the point
of canceling out their own carbon footprints. Some businesses have cooperated by
setting sustainability timelines, signing voluntary pacts like the Global Compact,
Global Reporting Initiative, and Carbon Disclosure Project. Although little is re-
quired of signatories, the number of Global Compact signatories increased to over
6,000 by 2008, and included business participants in over 135 countries.31
We thus see some hope that initiatives are being taken on a global scale
toward enhanced practices of sustainable lifestyle choices, and that governments
are finding it economically necessary to support businesses and technologies that
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provide consumer citizens with better choices of products and services. However,
the net result of all human efforts to replace unsustainable production and con-
sumption practices with responsible and equitable ones is that it is, still, too little,
too late. A huge ramping up of such activities is vital if we are to avoid even a few
of the now almost inevitable impending disasters of global warming. An interna-
tional coordinating vehicle would make dissemination and sharing of best practices
go much more efficiently. Thus, the urgent need for a 10 Year Framework of Pro-
grammes.
Some Regional Programmes of the Marrakech Process
Since 2003, the Marrakech Process has been running field laboratories in 6 regions
and conducting regional coordination efforts, such as SCP roundtables, forums and
information networks. Actions have been carried out on 4 levels: raising aware-
ness and capacity building, setting up regional strategies, implementing concrete
projects and programmes, conducting international review meetings. This section
reviews a few of the pilot programmes reported in the 2011 Marrakech Process
Progress Report.
Africa
A 2009 regional training workshop on sustainable tourism led to:
• a UNIDO-UNEP follow-up project which resulted in Mozambique joining the
Global Partnership for Sustainable Tourism.
• Smart Start-up introduced sustainable lifestyles and entrepreneurship prac-
tices into universities in Egypt, Mozambique, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Uganda
and Zambia.
• Two national SCP action plans were developed (Mauritius and Tanzania)
• two city-wide plans (Cairo, Maputo).
Other programmes were also launched
• Promotion of SCP was conducted in primary schools in Tanzania through the
establishment of SCP clubs in coordination with the Ministry of Education
and the NGO “Nature for Kid”
• a sustainable Public Procurement Demonstration Project in Mauritius, and
the development of a Green Passport campaign in South Africa for par-
ticipants in the 2010 World Cup. Mauritius was a target nation in which
44 projects are to be implemented between 2008-2013 addressing waste
management, lifestyles, products and services, all in an effort to make Mau-
ritius a model of sustainability. Findings of the Mauritius projects to date
hold keys to success in other nations. For instance, it was discovered that
high level commitment is important for effective implantation, that media
was attracted by SCP issues, and that a multi-stakeholder approach was a
prerequisite to success. Promotion of SCP requires integrated action in all
sectors rather than individual initiatives.
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Asia
• YouthXChange (YXC) is a programme engaging young people in sustainable
lifestyles through NGO trainers in 12 West Asian nations. More than 25
workshops and trainings, each attended by over 50 teachers and youths, have
taken place to date. Their guidebook and activities have attracted much
media attention. And The Young Artists Fellowship for the Environment
(YAFE) adapted the YouthXChange initiative for the Philippines through
bicycle tours, mass media campaigns with celebrities, outreach conferences,
and capacity-building workshops with students and educators.
• training of 120 Vietnamese, 200 Thai (and other Southeast Asians) in sus-
tainable tourism practices.
• In Japan, a regional Partnership for Education and Research about Respon-
sible Living is being instituted, and the government of Vietnam has devel-
oped a national action plan for SCP.
• The Task Force on Sustainable Public Procurement with the International
Green procurement Network gave a regional workshop attended by repre-
sentatives from 13 countries.
Europe
European governments have led the Marrakech Task Forces and built North-South
cooperation through a variety of activities, including
• national roundtables in emerging economies, such as the SWITCH Asia
programme, which provides models of technical and financial support for
implementing a 10YFP.
• the Sustainable Consumption and Production and Sustainable Industrial
Policy Action Plan,
• the European Environment Agency, which has identified priority sectors of
housing, food and drink, and mobility.
• Resource Efficient Europe is one of 7 components of Europe 2020, EU’s
growth strategy.
Long-range planning and commitment to SCP goals is not new to the EU, and Euro-
pean governments have taken the lead. Frans Verspeak, Team Leader for SWITCH-
Asia Network Facility asserts: “Addressing SCP at the highest political levels is
essential to create top-down commitment and strong driving forces—complemen-
tary to market pulls—for changing unsustainable patterns…”32 Challenges remain
in the areas of data collection, improvement of institutional setting, environmental
management in the private sector, economic incentives and technical tools. Lack
of labeling and the need to provide consumers information on SCP is still a big
concern, and there is need for more promotion or organic food, efficient buildings,
public transport, reuse and recycling. One example of a successful Marrakech Pro-
cess effort in Europe was the development in Kazakhstan of a national SCP model
following a national workshop based on UNEP’s guideline Planning for Change.
Similar programmes were developed in the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Croatia.
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Latin America and the Caribbean
Promotion of SCP benefitted from interaction with sub-regional institutions includ-
ing MERCOSUR (Southern Common Market), CAN (Andean Community), CCAD
(Central American Commission for Environment and Development) and CARICOM
(Caribbean Community). Sustainable public procurement, development of capaci-
ties, and disseminating information were priority topics at regional meetings and
workshops.
• A regional information network on SCP (Red PyCS) offers videoconferenc-
ing, an e-forum, and virtual library with more than 400 publications on SCP.
• Awareness-raising workshops on sustainable lifestyles have been held in 8
countries through the UNEP-ENESCO YouthXChange initiative. National
waste management initiatives have been implemented in Peru and Ecuador.
• The Green Passport Campaign produced a TV spot for Brazilian airlines,
and Ecuador and Costa Rica have also begun national certified green tour-
ism businesses.
• A national SCP Action Plan was developed in Uruguay in collaboration with
UNEP, UNIDO and the Uruguayan government.
• Many training workshops have been given, including several in Central
America in cooperation with SICA (Belize, Honduras, Guatemala, El Sal-
vador) on sustainable tourism and cultural heritage based on an e-tool de-
veloped by the Task Force on Sustainable Tourism.
• More than 500 representatives of the private sector and 100 representa-
tives of government institutions have been trained in the implementation of
SCP by SMEs.
North America
The US and Canadian governments held a regional consultation in 2008 (1st North
American Multi-Stakeholder Workshop on Sustainable Consumption and Produc-
tion) reaching more than 60 officials, SCP experts, business representatives, NGOs
and academics. The aim of the meeting was to define an integrated approach that
would advance SCP and contribute to the Marrakech Process in the region. A
second such workshop took place in 2011 with a focus on green buildings and in-
cluding discussion on how the region could contribute to the 10 Year Framework of
Programmes. A regional survey of existing SCP initiatives and mapping progress
since the 1992 Earth Summit was suggested. As noted above, the Global Survey
on Sustainable Lifestyles (GSSL) targeting adults 18-35 was transformed into an
active and participatory campaign, raising awareness of sustainable lifestyles. The
results of the survey enabled the development of individual country papers taking
into consideration the specific cultural, economic and other conditions affecting
lifestyles at a national level.
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