What is the 10-year framework?
 

Concern over unsustainable patterns of consumption and production was reinforced by the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, which devoted Chapter III of its Plan of Implementation to the issue.

Recognising that consumption and production patterns are increasingly global and that international co-operation is needed to address them in cost-effective ways, the Johannesburg Summit called for the development of a 10-year framework of programmes in support of regional and national initiatives to accelerate the shift towards sustainable consumption and production patterns that will promote social and economic development within the carrying capacity of ecosystems.・This would require, among others, the following actions:

•  Identify specific activities tools, policies, measures and monitoring and assessment mechanisms, including, where appropriate, life-cycle analysis and national indicators. 
   
• Adopt and implement policies and measures aimed at promoting SCP patterns, applying, inter alia, the polluter-pays principle.
   
• Develop production and consumption policies to improve products and services.
   
• Develop awareness- raising programmes on the importance of sustainable consumption and production patterns, particularly among youth and relevant segments in all countries, through inter alia, education, public and consumer information, advertising and other media.
   
• Develop and adopt consumer information tools to provide the information related to SCP.
   
• Increase eco-efficiency, with financial support from all sources, where mutually agreed, for capacity-building and technology transfer.

The Marrakech Process is an international effort to formulate the 10-year Framework of Programmes on SCP. The Marrakech Process began in 2003 and will conclude in 2011 when the 10-year Framework will be launched at CSD-19.  More than a series of meetings, the Marrakech Process is intended to promote implementation of sustainable consumption and production policies and measures at the national and regional levels, with coordinated international support. It is expected that the 10-year Framework that emerges will be broad in scope and will help to catalyze and guide the transition to a more sustainable global economy.

Meeting the "implementation challenge" requires that the following phases are carried out: 

a) Organizing regional consultations to promote awareness and identify priorities and needs for sustainable consumption and production;
b) Building regional strategies and implementation mechanisms with regional and national ownership; 
c) Implementing concrete projects and programmes on the regional, national and local levels; 
d) Monitoring and evaluating progress and exchanging information and experience at the international level.

In general, implementation of strategies will be facilitated by programmes carried out by UNEP, UN DESA and other UN agencies, as well as bilateral, regional and other international organisations. For instance, UNEP's activities on SCP include a variety of methodologies, tools, initiatives, training packages and programmes such as Life Cycle Analysis, Cleaner Production, product-service systems (PSS), Eco-design, Sustainable Procurement, UN Guidelines for Consumer Protection, Advertising for Sustainable Consumption, Education and Awareness Raising, and UNEP is also working with National Cleaner Production Centers. The Work of UN DESA on SCP currently focuses on sustainable public procurement , analysis of policies and measures to promote sustainable consumption and production, and clean technology strategies.
 

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