December 1998 - January 1999

The Urban Waste Expertise Programme (UWEP)
UWEP is a six-year research and pilot project on urban waste in developing countries. The programme is coordinated by WASTE, and funded by Netherlands Development Assistance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. UWEP has pilot projects in Bangalore (India), Bamako (Mali), La Ceiba (Honduras), and Batangas Bay (Philippines). Types of projects undertaken include the establishment of "local waste coordinating bodies", the development of community-based waste management systems under community-private partnerships, the enhancement of resource recovery and recycling sectors in municipalities, and the improvement of the integration of waste management. The approach used by WASTE is participatory, and the projects are intended to be mutually supportive. 

A research study is assessing the willingness to pay for a solid waste management system for the urban community of the Tingloy island which is located at about two miles off the Batangas mainland. The urban area of this island accomodates low-income families, densely grouped together in small settlements on the shore of the island. Due to the absence of a proper waste collection system, the accumulation of refuse endangers the living conditions of the Tingloy population. 

By means of a marketing study and 120 interviews, the local population was consulted about their preferences, ideas, problems, and solutions related to the accumulation of waste. The residents of Tingloy mentioned the need for a redemption center which would function as a storage for recyclables and compostables, and where solid waste could be discarded. On the basis of these studies, a suitable site was identified for the center, and its creation was approved by official bodies. The results of the survey highlighted both the value the population attributed to the cleanliness of their neighbourhood, and the low willingness to pay for solid waste services.

For further information, please contact Anne-Lies Risseeuw, Nieuwehaven 201, 2801 CW Gouda, Fax: +31 (0) 182 550313, E-mail: alrisseeuw@waste.nl.

Source: 15th E-mail Bulletin of the Urban Waste Expertise Programme, October 1998.

Marine Stewardship Council's Accreditation Scheme
Nowadays, sixty percent of the world's fish resources are in danger of over-exploitation, fish catches are decreasing, fishermen are at risk of loosing their livelihoods, and some fish species are threatened with extinction. The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) was set up in 1997 to bring together stakeholders to ensure responsible, environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable fisheries practices, while maintaining the biodiversity, productivity, and ecological processes of the marine environment.

Based on cooperation with stakeholders, the MSC has drawn up a set of principles for sustainable fishing. These principles, agreed upon by a high level group of internationally respected and independent experts, are the following: (i) maintenance and re-establishment of healthy fish populations; (ii) maintenance of the integrity of ecosystems, (iii) development and maintenance of effective fisheries management systems, taking all relevant biological, technological, economic, social, environmental, and commercial aspects into account; and (iv) compliance with relevant local and international laws, standards, and agreements.

The MSC intends to encourage consumers to purchase fish products from sustainable sources through its MSC Accreditation Scheme. The details of the scheme were published in June 1997, and it was launched officially this year at "Fish '98" in Bremen. The scheme is based on the above principles and an additional set of criteria for sustainable fisheries, and is applicable, at this stage, to marine fish and invertebrates. Aquaculture and freshwater fisheries are not yet included in the scheme. 

The MSC has published an accreditation manual with more specific information about the scheme, which is based on ISO standards. The MSC has set up a strategy for raising awareness on fisheries issues among consumers, certification companies, intermediate consumers, and fishermen. It has also designed a specific "outreach programme" for the developing world. 

For further details please contact the Marine Stewardship Council, Tel: +44 171 350 4000, Fax: + 171 350 12 31; E-mail: secretariat@msc.org; Web-site: http:www.msc.org.

Sources: Various information folders published by the Marine Stewardship Council.

"Sustainability in the market": an initiative of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development
Until now, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) has focused on the "supply side" of the economy, emphasizing the improvement of eco-efficiency of processes and product design and use. The "demand side" has not undergone the same scrutiny, though the route towards sustainability requires significant change in this area. Consumers are becoming more environmentally conscious, and stakeholders from government and business can influence consumers' views. New opportunities emerge as market dynamics change, and companies engaged in the debate on sustainable consumption can anticipate future demand. This can allow them to be on the cutting edge of changes in consumption patterns, and to gain competitive advantage. The WBCSD has decided to explore the demand side of the market further by organising direct and intensive stakeholder dialogues with consumers, consumer organisations, retailers, business, NGOs, and governments. 

The topic for discussion at the first stakeholder dialogue that took place in February 1998, was "Rights, Roles, and Responsibilities". Responsibilities of consumers, NGOs, government, and business were discussed in fields such as responsible marketing, ensuring that prices reflect environmental costs, fuller scientific understanding of the impacts of consumption, valuing natural resources, meeting basic human needs, and modifying consumption patterns through innovation and technology. "Innovation" was the topic of the second dialogue, held in September 1998. Conclusions of this session were that it was important for companies to identify and publicize corporate values underpinning their approach to innovation, and to provide transparent information to consumers in order to educate them about new technology and how it can be used. Business should also anticipate and understand the potential social consequences of innovation. Participants in the dialogue felt that governments had the task to provide companies with a consistent policy framework reducing the risks of innovation, and to support smaller companies, which are an important engine for innovation.

The WBCSD plans to disseminate the learning experiences from its dialogue sessions and to incorporate best practices from the discussions into its own work programme. A progress report will be issued to inform business on the importance of this issue and to contribute actively to the policy debate, particularly at the 7th session of the Commission on Sustainable Development in 1999. The WBCSD will make special efforts to obtain stakeholder inputs from emerging economies in this debate, since consumption in these countries is expected to increase considerably in the near future, encouraging companies to prepare themselves for new challenges and opportunities.

For further information, please contact: Markus Lehni, Program manager, Tel: +41 22 839 31 00, Fax: +41 22 839 31 31, E-mail: lehni@wbcsd.ch, Web-page: http://www.wbcsd.ch.

Sources: Executive Brief of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, November 1998, and a Discussion Paper, "Towards Sustainability: the Role and Conduct of Innovation by Business", for the Stakeholder Dialogue, held on 13, 14, and 15 September 1998, in Brussels, Belgium.

A Gallery of Environmentally Preferable Goods and Services
Many advocates of sustainability argue that its realization must rest on a new set of technologies that will be capable of achieving several objectives at once: vastly reducing energy and material demands while producing waste and pollution only at levels that are consistent with the limits of natural ecosystems. Goods and services based on such technologies are beginning to show up in the marketplace, but information about the characteristics of these goods and services is scarce.

A new Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) project, now in trial development, provides a publicly available database on the World Wide Web that consists of examples of innovative goods and services that incorporate at least some aspect of sustainable design. For example, two products listed in the Gallery are Electrolux's solar powered lawn mower, which emits no pollutants during operation, and BenGay Power Industries' Free Play Radio, which is powered by a combination of clockwork mechanisms and a carbon-steel spring. 

MIT is examining the rapidly growing number of such products and organizing them in a manner useful to firms, academic researchers, policy analysts, and the public. Firms that want to emulate industry leaders and join them in bringing innovative sustainable products to the market are invited to visit the gallery. The Website can be reached at http://tbe.mit.edu/gallery/. You can also access more information about the MIT Technology, Business and Environment program and its research at http://tbe.mit.edu/index.html.

For further information, please contact John R. Ehrenfeld, Director, MIT Technology, Business and Environment Program, Center for Technology, Policy, and Industrial Development, Tel: (617) 253-1694, Fax: (617) 253-7140, E-mail: jehren@mit.edu, TBE Internet Homepage WWW URL: http://web.mit.edu/ctpid/www/tbe.

New study: "Approaching the Kyoto Targets, Five Key Strategies for the United States"
A new study by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) shows how the United States can achieve over 60 percent of the carbon emissions reduction necessary for meeting the Kyoto Protocol target through actions in the United States that will save consumers and businesses money. The five strategies stimulate widespread energy efficiency improvements in all sectors of the American economy.

The strategies are: (i) new appliance and equipment efficiency standards and related voluntary programs; (ii) a public benefit trust fund as part of electric utility industry restructuring; (iii) fuel economy standards and market incentives to improve vehicle fuel economy; (iv) removing barriers inhibiting greater use of combined heat and power systems; and (v) power plant efficiency standards.

According to Howard Geller, Executive Director of ACEEE and co-author of the study, these five initiatives could cut U.S. carbon emissions in 2010 by 310 million tons per year. Furthermore, the emissions reductions could nearly double by 2020 as efficiency improvements continue to be made and more appliances, buildings, vehicles, and power plants are replaced. 

For copies of this study, please contact the ACEEE publications office, Tel: (202) 429-0063; E-mail: ace3pubs@ix.netcom.com.

Source: The Gallon Environment Letter, Vol. 2, No. 26, October 8, 1998, Canadian Institute for Business and the Environment; 506 Victoria Ave., Montreal, Quebec H3Y 2R5, Tel: (514) 369 0230, Fax: (514) 369- 3282, Email  cibe@web.net.

Sustainability Counts
"Sustainability counts", a consultation paper on a set of "headline" indicators of sustainable development was published in November 1998 by the government of the United Kingdom. According to the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, the 13 headline indicators proposed in the publication would act as a "Barometer of the quality of life in Britain". The UK government has selected a small number of key indicators, which it hopes can give an overview of developments in a way intelligible to the general public. Seven of the indicators are environmental, three measure economic development, and a further three social progress. The Government has no plans to aggregate or explicitly link different indicators in the set, since aggregation is not yet scientifically valid or technically robust.

Of the seven environmental indicators selected, six are intended to measure aspects of environmental protection and one natural resource use, for which the proposed indicator is waste and waste disposal. Environmental protection indicators are: greenhouse gas emissions as a measure of contribution to climate change; days of air pollution as a measure of air quality; road traffic for reflecting trends in transportation; the percentage of rivers classified as "good" or "fair" quality as a measure of water pollution; populations of wild birds as a measure of the state of wildlife; and the proportion of new homes built on previously developed land as a measure of land use.

Social indicators are: life expectancy for women and men as a measure of health; proportion of the population attaining a set level of qualifications by age 19 as a measure of education; and the proportion of homes judged unfit to live in as a measure of housing quality. The government intends to develop the life expectancy indicator further to measure expectancy of healthy life, which varies between social classes.

Economic indicators are: gross domestic product as a measure of economic growth; investment in public assets such as transport, hospitals and schools as a measure of social investment; and proportion of people of working age in work as a measure of employment.

For further information, please contact UK environment ministry (http://www.detr.gov.uk), 
Tel: +44 171 890 3000; Web-site: http://www.environment.detr.gov.uk/sustainable/consult.inde.

Sources: "UK to publish sustainability Barometer, ENDS Daily, 23/11/98; and "Sustainability counts - consultation paper on a set of "headline" indicators of sustainable development", Department of the Environment, Transport, and Regions, November 1998.

Re(f)use: a travelling Design Exhibition
The Dutch organisation "Cultural Connections" has launched an international design exhibition on contemporary items produced with reused, recycled, and biodegradeable materials. The travelling exhibition, "Refuse - making the most of what we have", is currenly being shown in various European countries. The exhibtion demonstrates that environmentally friendly design can be beautiful and practical, without necessarily being more costly. 

The exhibition is divided into five sections: interior, clothing, office and paper products, recreation and public space, and new applications. Examples include a chair made of recycled plastic, paper and steel; a television casting in pressed wood waste and formaldehyde glue; and a swiss clock made of scrap car metal.

For further information, please contact: Ms. Natacha Drabbe, Cultural Connections, Tel: (+31 ) 30 23 04 913, Fax: (+31) 30 23 64 818, E-mail: cc@knoware.nl.

New energy efficiency program in Eastern Europe
A new partnership has been launched  in Central and Eastern Europe to revolutionize the energy business by  promoting the concept of energy efficiency. In March 1998, the US Agency  for International Development (US AID), the Alliance to Save Energy and the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC) launched a three-year energy efficiency project in five countries in the region: Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.The partnership aims to assist NGOs and businesses learn about the economic and environmental values of reducing energy consumption. 

For more information about the project's partners, please visit the Web-sites :
http://www.ase.org/http://www.ase.org; http://www.rec.org/REC/Programs/Energy; and http://www.rec.org/REC/Programs/Energy.

Source: The Gallon Environment Letter, Vol. 2, No. 26, October 8, 1998, Canadian Institute for Business and the Environment; 506 Victoria Ave., Montreal, Quebec H3Y 2R5, Tel: (514) 369 0230, Fax: (514) 369- 3282, Email  cibe@web.net.

The Green Guide to Cars and Trucks
The above publication by John DeCicco and Martin Thomas provides the first-ever comprehensive environmental ratings for cars and light trucks. DeCicco and Thomas offer car buyers a practical guide for buying environmentally friendly cars, with Green Score rankings for every 1998 vehicle sold in the United States.

The publication is available from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). For more information, call (202) 429 00 63, or click on the Web-page http://www.aceee.org.

Source: "Enough! - a quarterly report on consumption, quality of life, and the environment", No. 6., Winter 1998/99, published by the Center for a New American Dream, Tel: (301) 891 36 83, Fax: (301) 891 36 84; E-mail: newdream@newdream.org, Internet: www.newdream.org.

Resource Equity among Generations: Key Theme for discussion at the Global Meeting of Generations in January 1999
The 1999 Meeting of the International Development Conference,"Global Meeting of Generations", to be held in Washington, D.C., on January 13-15, 1999 is the first-ever global meeting that will join leaders of different generations and nations in identifying ways to develop vision and action for equitable development in the 21st century. The meeting will be an inter-generational forum joining 100 young leaders in social development from around the world with other youth, current and former leaders in development. The conference will be organised in association with eleven other civil society organizations, UN and other multilateral agencies, international youth and older persons organizations.

The Environment is one of the twelve themes to be discussed at the meeting. Scott Smith of the Global Environment Facility will address tools for biodiversity conservation, and its importance for future generations. Bill Faries of the Global Environment Facility and Julie Tanner of the National Wildlife Federation will lead a discussion on Financing for Sustainable Development, including topics such as the role public and private entities at global, regional, national, local, and individual levels could play in this regard, and how local communities can obtain better access to funds for sustainable development. Anita Nayar of the Women's Environment and Development Organisation will address differences among "veteran" and "youth" environmental activists in organising their strategies, and will generate a discussion about industrial hotspots and eco-catastrophes such as Bhopal, Valdez, and Chernobyl, with the objective to design strategies for changing policies at the international and domestic level. 

Other themes for discussion are: family and community; work, employment, and income; demographics, health, and life; governance and participation; knowledge and technology; values and ethics; international development cooperation and finance; human security and peace; poverty, social justice and peace; private sector and development; and development, education, and communication.

For more information,visit the Web-site of the International Development Conference 1999- Global Meeting of Generations: http://www.idc.org/gmg.Tel: (202) 884-8580, Fax: (202) 884-849, and E-mail: gmg@idc.org. 

Previous versions of "News and Trends"

News and Trends October-November 1998 

News and Trends August-September 1998 

News and Trends June-July 1998