June-July 1998

The 1998 Human Development Report (HDR) Global Launch and Symposium
The 1998 Human Development Report (HDR) Global Launch and Symposium will be held in The Hague, The Netherlands on 9-10 September 1998. An international media launch will be held on the morning of 9 September, with Dr. Richard Jolly, Chief Architect of the HDR, followed by a one-and-a-half-day international symposium. The symposium will be open to the public, and will discuss the Report and issues related to consumption from a human development perspective, the theme of this year's Human Development Report. The symposium discussion will be led by Dr. Jolly, senior Government of the Netherlands officials, eminent economists, consumer activists and others. 

For further information, please contact: Sarah Burd-Sharps, UNDP, at (212) 906-3664; E-mail : sarah.burd-sharps@undp.org. 

New Publication on Perverse Subsidies
The recent publication "Perverse Subsidies: Tax $s Undercutting Our Economies and Environments Alike", written by Norman Myers and Jennifer Kent was published by the International Institute for Sustainable Development. The book lays out the scale and scope of perverse subsidies that adversely affect sustainable development. The book documents the problem of perverse subsidies in five main sectors: agriculture, fossil fuels/nuclear energy, road transportation, water, and fisheries. Some chief findings are that total subsidies in those sectors can be estimated at around $1,900 billion per year, and perverse subsidies at $1,450 billion. According to the authors, perverse subsidies have the capacity to exert a highly distortive impact on the global economy of $28 trillion, and inflict large-scale injuries on our environments.

For more information, contact the IISD, tel: (204) 958 77 00, fax: (204) 958 77 10, E-mail: info@iisd.ca.

Bulletin: "Sustainable Transportation Monitor"
The Centre for Sustainable Transportation based in Toronto, Canada recently launched a new bulletin: the "Sustainable Transportation Monitor". The objective of the bulletin is to raise awareness about the impacts of the transportation sector in Canada, by providing an annual assessment of Canada's transportation systems according to how much they are moving towards or away from sustainability. The March 1998 issue of the bulletin discusses, among others, trends in the movement of people in Canada, urban and suburban travel, energy efficiency in different passenger modes, trends in the movement of freight, global environmental impacts of transportation, and suggestions as to how Canada's Kyoto target could be met.

For more infomation, contact the Centre for Sustainable Transportation, 15 Borden Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 2M8, tel: (416) 923 99 70, fax: (416) 923 65 31, E-mail: cstctd@web.net. 

Scenarios of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development
The Scenario Unit of the WBCSD works on scenarios with the objective to issue statements on potential developments of the world economy, that should be comprehensible to decision-makers in business and politics. The scenarios describe what could happen in 50 years as a result of different levels of environmental awareness in the production and distribution of goods and services. The first scenario, "Frog!", presupposes strong economic growth at a worldwide scale. Environmental protection is not considered as an urgent matter, while technology is seen as the main means for solving all future environmental problems and health matters. The "Frog!" scenario is also characterized by impoverishment of some segments of the population and an intolerable destruction of ecological systems. Under the assumptions of the second scenario, "Geopolity", supranational organizations and govermental institutions have considerable sanctioning powers, and are able to force the economy to move towards sustainable development. Finally, under the "Jazz" scenario, all players involved cooperate closely towards the solution of social and ecological problems. This scenario is characterized by transparency, freely available information, and rapid progress in information technology.

Source: Future, the Hoechst Magazine 2/98
For more information, contact Mr.Ulrich Goluke, Manager Scenario Unit, World Business Council for Sustainable Development, tel: + (41 22) 839 31 00, fax: (41 22) 839 31 31, E-mail: goluke@compuserve.com. 

Consumers and the Environment - an Action Plan for sustainable development
The Swedish Government has submitted a report on consumer policy to the Parliament. The objective is to start a process to encourage households to take responsibility for the environment and resource management. According to estimates by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, households generate close to half of all Sweden's environmentally harmful emissions. Key components of the Action Plan are to acquire more knowledge about issues relating to consumers and the environment, including circumstances that affect household behaviour, to provide more information about environmentally sound consumer behaviour to households, various measures relating to the consumption and production of goods and services (e.g. product testing, participation in the work on standardization), more support to local and voluntary activities, and active work at the international level. Housing and travel receive particular emphasis. 

Source: Fact Sheet, Ministry of the Interior, Sweden, April 1998
For more information, contact Sophie Nordstrom, Senior Administrative Officer, Ministry of the Interior, tel + 46 (0) 8 405 42 18.

Europe to phase out leaded gasoline
At the Environment for Europe conference to be held in Aarhus, Denmark in June, European environment ministers are likely to adopt a strategy aiming at a phase out of leaded petrol by 2005 at the latest. A draft strategy for the phase out was agreed upon earlier by experts from 55 European countries. Signatories of the strategy will commit to reducing the average lead content of petrol to a maximum of 0.15 grams/liter by 2000 and to ensure that unleaded petrol has at least an 80 percent market share by 2002.

Source: "Tomorrow - Global Environment Business", number 2, volume VIII, March-April 1998

Greenpeace Publication "PVC Plastic: A Looming Waste Crisis"
Greenpeace has published a new report arguing that recycling of PVC is not economically viable and that other recovery or disposal methods are environmentally unsound. The report "PVC Plastic: A Looming Waste Crisis", calls for an urgent international phase-out of PVC. According to Greenpeace's research in Europe and North America, less than 1 percent of PVC consumed worldwide is recycled in practice. It also claims that recycling costs 2-3 times more than producing virgin PVC. The NGO accuses the vinyl industry of lobbying for the continued incineration or landfilling of PVC waste, while deceiving the public into believing the material is recyclable to prevent government action to limit its production and use. The report is aimed in particular at putting pressure on the European Commission to take action against PVC. The Commission's environment directorate is currently undertaking a review of environmental and health issues raised by PVC waste and plans to table proposals to addresss any problems it finds next spring.

Source: Environment Watch: Western Europe, 1 May 1998
For more information, contact Axel Singhofen, Greenpeace EU Unit, tel + 32 2 230 84 13; Website: www.greenpeace.org

"Energy Efficiency in the European Community - Towards a Strategy for the Rational Use of Energy"
A policy paper with the above title was recently published by the European Commission. It estimates that EU energy consumption could be reduced cost-effectively to 18 percent below 1995 levels by 2010 through a set of "win-win" measures, including new mandatory energy efficiency requirements for a range of appliances and equipment, and legislation to promote public purchasing of energy-efficient equipment. According to the paper, energy intensity is improving at a slow rate - 0.6% a year - an increase that should be boosted by a further 1 percent. Stronger energy efficiency increases are necessary if the European Union is to meet its target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions to 8 percent below 1990 levels by 2008-2012.

Source: Environment Watch: Western Europe, 1 May 1998
For more information, contact Armand Colling, European Commission, tel +32 2 295 40 87, 
fax +32 2 296 42 54