April - June 1999

Welcome to the Bulletin Board on "Changing Consumption and Production Patterns"!
This page provides selected information on projects, initiatives, suggestions, and ideas for making consumption and production patterns more sustainable.

If you have any information on innovative policy instruments, a new publication or web-site related to "Changing Consumption and Production Patterns", a relevant business initiative, or any other idea or suggestion, do not hesitate to make it available to us.

If we consider that the information is of general interest, we will post it on this page, or elsewhere on the Consumption and Production website. This Bulletin Board will be updated on a bi-monthly basis.

Please send your inputs to Oleg Dzioubinski, Division for Sustainable Development, United Nations, Two UN Plaza Room DC2-2284, New York NY 10017, USA. Tel: +1 212 963 1859 Fax: +1 212 963 4260

Germany's Karstadt launches ethical shopping initiative
Karstadt, Germany's second largest department store chain, has begun promoting foodstuffs from producers in developing countries in an effort to encourage consumers to make more ethical shopping decisions. Under the initiative Karstadt is buying coffee, tea, cocoa, orange juice, bananas and honey at above market prices to boost the producers' income, through a Cologne-based association devoted to helping the producers (TransFair). For example, Karstadt is paying TransFair $1.33 for a pound of coffee, or around 27 cents more than the current market price.

As part of the promotion campaign, Karstadt has enlisted the support of Environment Minister Juergen Trittin of the Green party and featured women from Africa plugging the products. Flyers informing consumers about the Karstadt-TransFair arrangement are also handed out at the chain's stores. According to the head of Karstadt's environmental policy office, the campaign has been well received by the public, as the TransFair products currently make up about two percent of the group's $1.06 billion in food sales.

For its part, TransFair ensures that the extra revenue generated by the higher prices goes to the producers in developing countries. Apart from improving their own quality of life, the producers often help to finance the building of schools and other important infrastructure, according to TransFair. The association also notes that more than half of the coffee and tea which it sells is organically grown.

For further information, please contact Karstadt in Essen, Tel: +49 201 727 1.

Source: http://www.tomorrow-web.com/ (June 1, 1999)

Results American Survey on Energy
A national public opinion survey in the United States released on June 3, 1999 confirms that most citizens believe renewable energy and energy efficiency should be given priority for federal energy funding and that nuclear power and fossil fuels should be the first technologies subject to budget cuts. Furthermore, by large margins, the public favors inclusion of provisions to promote sustainable energy technologies and consumer disclosure in federal electric utility restructuring legislation, and opposes having electricity customers pay for nuclear plants. Finally, Americans overwhelmingly support federal tax incentives to encourage the use of renewable energy in electricity production and to stimulate the purchase of energy-efficient automobiles, homes, and heating and cooling systems.

The above are key findings from the survey, "America Speaks Out on Energy: Funding Priorities, Electric Utility Restructuring, and Tax Incentives" conducted for the Sustainable Energy Coalition by Research/Strategy/Management, Inc.of Sterling, Virginia from May 10-18 among a sample of 1,029 Americans.The Sustainable Energy Coalition is a coalition of 35 national business, environmental, consumer, and energy policy organizations founded in 1992 to promote a shift in federal energy priorities away from nuclear and fossil fuels and towards renewables and energy efficiency.

Copies of the 50-page survey are available for $15 (pre-paid). For more information, please contact Ken Bossong, Sustainable Energy Coalition, 315, Circle Avenue, #2, Takoma Park, MD 20912-4836, Tel: 301 270 22 58, Fax: 301 891 28 66.

Source: SUN DAY Campaign, Sustainable Energy Coalition, June 3, 1999.

Publication on Food Consumption and Traveling in Sweden
In her doctoral dissertation (1999), Ms. Annika Carlsson-Kanyama of the Department of Systems Ecology of Stockholm University analyzes how consumption patterns in Sweden affect the environment. One of the objectives of the thesis, which includes six separate papers, is to develop per capita environmental accounts for consumption patterns and to propose ways to evaluate such accounts. The author applies these methods to the analysis of food consumption and traveling patterns in Sweden, with a particular emphasis on energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. The thesis also proposes alternative scenarios for projecting future food consumption and traveling patterns, their environmental consequences, and measures required to make them more sustainable.

In her analysis of travel behaviour, the author calculates per capita "accounts" for travel-related energy use and CO2 emissions. She then evaluates current accounts against a benchmark quota calculated on the basis of ecosystems' capacity to produce goods and services, and the principle of equity among current and future generations. The thesis thereby distinguishes travel accounts from population categories based on age, gender, and income.

The main conclusion of these travel studies is that most population categories in Sweden use far more energy for travel than allowed by a sustainable quota, and that there are significant differences among age, gender, and income groups. The projections of future travel patterns indicate that more resource efficient vehicle technology alone will not be enough to meet sustainability goals, and that more substantial lifestyle changes would be needed.

Ms.Carlsson-Kanyama applies Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methods in her analysis of food consumption patterns. Per capita accounts for various food products are based on the calculation of greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, and other environmental impacts occurring in the life cycle. The author also examines how distances between consumers and producers have increased. Food consumption patterns that comply with the sustainability quota are composed of local grains, vegetables and small amounts of meat.

Source: Annika Carlsson-Kanyama, Consumption Patterns and Climate Change: Consequences of eating and traveling in Sweden, Doctoral thesis in Natural Resources Management, Department of Systems Ecology, Stockholm University, Stockholm 1999.

For more information, please contact Ms. Annika Carlsson-Kanyama, Natural Resources Management, Department of Systems Ecology, Stockholm University, Sweden, Tel: +46 8 764 74 63, Fax: +46 8 15 84 17.

UN Guidelines for Consumer Protection: The Road Ahead
The Indian Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS) initiated a programme two years ago to analyse the implementation of the UN Guidelines for Consumer Protection in India. The programme began with the objective to produce a comprehensive report on the state of the Indian consumer which would further provide inputs to a consumer policy statement. The analysis was done within the framework of the five sections of the UN Guidelines for Consumer Protection that address eight consumer rights, namely to basic needs, safety, choice, information, consumer education, redressal, representation, and a healthy environment.

The basic approach was to document the legislative and administrative framework that existed in the country to protect each of these eight rights. These frameworks were further examined to point out lacunae and strengths. A detailed analysis of implementation was also undertaken. Under each of these rights, possibilities and processes for improvement were suggested. Drawing on the experience gained while conducting the above study, CUTS prepared a draft "Toolkit for operationalisation of the UN Guidelines for Consumer Protection" incorporating administrative and legislative prescriptions.

In addition to the sections dealing with the above eight rights, the Toolkit also includes a section on the new components on sustainable consumption that have been incorporated in the Guidelines and recently passed by the UN Commission on Sustainable Development. The Toolkit also suggests measures to operationalise these new areas that will become part of the UN Guidelines for Consumer Protection after it is passed by ECOSOC and the General Assembly. The above study and Toolkit proposal were discussed and debated in various meetings during the 7th session of the Commission on Sustainable Development, and were generally well received. The Toolkit is an open document meant for review and improvement through inputs from all possible sources. In fact, a column for comments has been provided specifically for this purpose.

Subject to availability of funds, CUTS plans to take this work forward by organising skillshare and training workshops in South Asian countries with respect to the methodologies used in the study, and to facilitate civil society groups in the South Asian region in preparing similar studies for country reports on implementation. CUTS also wants to continue with lobbying work at all levels for better implementation of the Guidelines and to involve other groups in the process. With these country reports and expert opinion as inputs, CUTS intends to facilitate the development of toolkits and model laws, and to act as a clearinghouse of information on status of implementation in the countries of the region.

The study on implementation of the Guidelines was supported by a grant from the Consumer Welfare Fund, Ministry of Food and Consumer Affairs, Government of India. Any individual, organisation, government, or inter-governmental body interested in further information or willing to collaborate in any manner in this process are requested to contact Rajat Chaudhuri, Coordinator Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS), 3B Camac Street Calcutta, Pin - 700 016, India, Tel: 91-33-229 7391/229-2786, Fax: 91-33-249 6231, E-mail: cutscal@vsnl.com,Website: www.cuts-india.org [under construction].

New Consumers: A discussion with Professor Norman Myers
The topic "New Consumers" was discussed at a recent "Electronic Conference" held on the website of the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). The debate was facilitated by Professor Norman Myers, one of the world's leading thinkers on environmental economics, and author of the 1998 publication "Perverse Subsidies: Tax $s Undercutting Our Economies and Environments Alike" (see News and Trends June-July 1998). "The New Consumers" will also be the title of Dr. Myers' next major book, to be published next year.

Numerous reports to date have highlighted present consumption patterns and their harmful environmental effects. For example, a 1997 report (Goodwin et al.) points out that since 1950 the global economy has quintupled, consumption of grain, beef, and lamb has almost tripled, while paper consumption has risen six times. The same report illustrates that the combustion of fossil fuels has grown nearly four times, and carbon emissions likewise since 1950.

Inequality on a worldwide scale in the use of resources needed for production and consumption has also been at the forefront of the international debate on consumption patterns. The 1998 "Human Development Report" by the United Nations Development Programme notes for example that "Americans spend more on cosmetics ($8 billion annually) and Europeans on ice cream ($11 billion) than the estimated cost of providing basic education ($6 billion) or water and sanitation ($9 billion) to the more than 2 billion people worldwide who are forced to go without schools and toilets".

At present, increasing attention is being paid to the implications of the 800 million consumers in affluent nations being joined by 800 million new affluent consumers in developing and transitional economies. In 1998, Americans, with one twentieth of the global population, contributed one quarter of the emissions of carbon dioxide in the global atmosphere. Their 270 million people accounted for more emissions than China's 1.2 billion people. However, if China goes ahead with its plan to build 20 coal-fired power plants per year, then by the year 2020 it will emit more carbon than all the OECD nations put together (Ehrlich and Ehrlich, 1996).

Similarly, if China's per-capita consumption of beef, currently only 4 kgs. per year, were to match the United States' 45 kgs., and if the additional beef came from feedlots, this would take almost 350 million tons of grain, equivalent to the entire United States grain harvest. If China were to seek extra animal protein through seafood at the per-capita level of Japan, it would need 100 million tons, more than today's entire ocean fish catch (Brown et al., 1999).

The Electronic Conference discussed whether the new consumers could be enabled to engage in more sustainable consumption patterns, and what these consumers could learn from both the mistakes and positive experiences of the affluent nations in order to keep their environmental impacts at acceptable levels. The Conference also considered how far the established affluent consumers could be persuaded to adopt more sustainable lifestyles which could serve as models for the new consumers.

Source: Websites: http://iisd.ca/susprod/newbackground.htm; http://iisd.ca/susprod/newconsumers.htm; and http://iisd.ca/susprod/newquestions.htm.

Smart Growth
Dr. Peter Newman, Professor at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia, recently launched his book "Sustainability and Cities: Overcoming Automobile Dependence", co-authored with Jeff Kenworthy, in the White House. "Smart Growth' is defined as the set of policy options that relates the reshaping of urban growth to transportation priorities. Urban sprawl follows freeways and beltways, whereas more compact urban development and revitalization of older areas in cities tend to be associated with development of public transit systems.

On the basis of research on urban development patterns in a global sample of 44 cities - twelve cities each in the United States and Europe, six each in Canada and Australia, and eight in Asia, the authors conclude that "smart growth" is becoming an international trend. Metropolitan areas everywhere are beginning to reverse their historic trend towards sprawl. Densities are increasing or have stopped decreasing after a century of decline in all but two cities in the sample. This is happening mainly because cities are revitalizing older areas more than building on the urban fringe. Australian and New Zealand cities, for example, have in some cases doubled their central area populations in a decade, and their inner areas are now the most desirabe places to live and work.

Drs. Newman and Kenworthy mention several reasons for positive trends in achieving "smart growth" in the world's cities. The principle "if you build it they will come" appears to hold true for transportation infrastructure: cities building beltways have sprawled, cities emphasizing transit have not. In addition, one of the underlying forces for sprawl, the need for large expanses of land for manufacturing, is declining. Jobs are increasingly being created in information-related services.

Moreover, according to the authors, the political and environmental limits of car-based urban sprawl in the US and elsewhere are being reached. Cities require "smart growth" for many other reasons, including reducing greenhouse gases, facilitating the new economy, and saving landscapes. The autors point out, however, that one of the main reasons is the common desire to rebuild community. Finally, there is also an economic dimension to car-based sprawl. Data show that cities that prioritize freeways and sprawl spend a much higher proportion of their resources on transportation (12 to 16% of gross regional product), whereas cities which prioritize transit and more compact development spend a much lower proportion of their wealth on transportation (4 to 8% of gross regional product).

Peter Newman and Jeff Kenworthy, Sustainability and Cities: Overcoming Automobile Dependence, Island Press, Washington D.C./Harcourt Brace, Sydney, 1999.

For more information, please contact Professor Peter Newman, Director, Institute for Science and Technology Policy, Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia, Tel: 61 89 360 29 02, Fax: 61 89 360 64 21. Peter Newman is also Visiting Professor in City and Regional Planning at the University of Pennsylvania (Tel (215) 573 79 77 or 898 83 29; Fax (215) 898 57 31).

Drinking Water Campaign in Ukraine
Drinking water quality in Ukraine is adversely affected by the pollution of surface and groundwater resources. Though the slowdown in some industrial activities has led to a decrease in emissions of some pollutants, problems in waste water purification and sewerage systems tend to offset the "positive" environmental effects of the economic situation. Water leakages occur on a regular basis because of deteriorating water pipes, thereby contributing further to reduced availability of clean drinking water.

Consumers' access to water is often interrupted because of general water scarcity problems. Consumers often enhance this problem by wasteful water consumption. Since households are not equipped with water meters, consumers have no incentive to economize on water use.

For the above reasons, the NGO MAMA-86 has launched a campaign on consumption, supply, and distribution of drinking water in Ukraine. MAMA-86 conducts research on the quality of drinking water made available to consumers and its health impacts, monitors drinking water quality changes, and searches for alternatives to the centralized drinking water supply. The NGO also raises awareness at the grass-root level about the relation between clean drinking water and health, and on ways to consume water more efficiently. In addition, MAMA-86 conducts consumer surveys on awareness and knowledge about drinking water quality and sources among consumers in Ukraine, and on the extent to which consumers relate water quality to health problems. A recent example is a sociological study undertaken by MAMA-86 in five Ukrainian cities and towns.

One of MAMA-86's long-term objectives is to influence the government's drinking water policy, which would include tightening of national standards on drinking water, adopting a law on drinking water, implementing the existing national programs on water supply, and rehabilitating surface water sources. These measures all presuppose the re-allocation of the budget resources in accordance with those new priorities. As a short term solution to the drinking water quality problems, MAMA-86 encourages local communities to install additional water purifying techniques. These citizen-run purification devices which service small entities such as hospitals and kindergartens, can be maintained with the support of consumers associations or clubs.

For more information, please contact Yelena Panina.

Journal of Industrial Ecology
The Journal of Industrial Ecology is an international, multidisciplinary quarterly designed to promote both understanding and practice in the emerging field of industrial ecology. It is edited by the Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and published by The MIT Press.

Industrial ecology is a rapidly growing field that examines local, regional, and global material and energy uses and flows in products, processes, industrial sectors, and economies. It focuses on the role of industry in reducing environmental burdens throughout the product life cycle from the extraction of raw materials and energy, to the production and use of goods, to the management of the resulting wastes.

Industrial ecology is ecological in that it places human activity in the larger context of the biophysical environment from which we obtain resources and into which we place our wastes, and looks to the natural world for models of efficient use of resources, energy, and by-products. Industrial ecology sees corporations as key players in the protection of the environment, particularly where technological innovation contributes to environmental improvement.

The Journal of Industrial Ecology addresses topics including material and energy flow studies, technological change, dematerialization and decarbonization, life cycle planning, design and assessment, extended producer responsibility, product-oriented environmental policy, and eco-efficiency.

The Journal welcomes submissions in various editorial departments. The "Forum" section publishes papers related to the policy and strategic implications of industrial ecology as well as the conceptual development of the field. The "Applications and Implementation" section contains articles describing practices based on industrial ecological principles. The journal also has a "Research" section including articles that report findings from primary research of a more traditional academic nature. Finally, the "Book Reviews" section contains reviews of current publications related to industrial ecology.

For more information, please visit the journal's website at http://mitpress.mit.edu/JIE.

Mission Possible
New ways are needed to communicate the challenge of sustainable consumption. Mission Possible is a 10 minute video which takes a fresh look at the issue and profiles examples of success. Commissioned by the Norwegian Ministry of the Environment and made by North-South Productions in association with the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), Mission Possible opens with a graphic presentation of the global consumption challenge. It then presents two pioneering examples of change.

The first is the Mumbai Grahak Panchayat, a consumer cooperative in India which serves more than 100,000 people with high quality, locally produced food, at prices lower than conventional sources and with important environmental benefits. The video then turns to the role of the business sector, and profiles the flooring manufacture Interface in the UK and the way it is closing the waste loop and reinventing its products with sustainability in mind.

Mission Possible is available from IIED Bookshop at £10, plus VAT where relevant and postage and package: E-mail bookshop@iied.org. For more information about IIED's work on sustainable consumption and trade, please contact Nick Robins or Sarah Roberts, or have a look at the website http://www.iied.org/scati.

Ecological Footprints of Benin, Bhutan, Costa Rica, and the Netherlands
The "Ecological Footprint" (EF), was defined some years ago by Mathis Wackernagel and William Rees as the total amount of ecologically productive land required to support the consumption of a given population, wherever that land is located. The central metaphor of the EF is an important reason for its popularity: the expression of the impact of human consumption as a footprint on the land.

Some feel the EF is an interesting indicator of sustainable consumption and production patterns, since it reflects relocation of environmental pressure to other countries, consumption of resources, and impacts of the use of renewable resources, trade, and changes in consumption patterns.

Though the EF has already been calculated at different scales by several organisations, work on the indicator is still in an exploratory stage and has also received criticism from various corners. Problems associated with the EF are the aggregation methods used and the lack of commonly accepted methodologies. Concerns have also been expressed on how land productivity (i.e. land use per unit of production) is used in international comparisons. The use of "ecological deficits and surpluses" indicating the extent to which a country is able to supply itself with resources such as food and timber, or relies on "net imports of land" is also controversial.

In a recent article, the National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) in the Netherlands applies the EF to four different countries, Benin, Bhutan, Costa Rica, and the Netherlands. The authors analyze how the EF changed over time from 1980 to 1987 to 1994. Based on a review of EF literature, the authors modified the orginal methodology for some elements. They focus on individual components of the EF (land and carbon dioxide emissions) instead of the aggregated EF. The authors also use local yields to calculate land use, instead of using global averages. Although per capita and total land use differ greatly among the four countries, available data suggests increases in total land use over time in all four countries while per capita land use decreases. The EF for carbon dioxide emissions increases for all four countries, both in per capita and absolute terms.

The authors discuss potentials and limitations of the EF as a sustainable development indicator. The EF can be relevant for policy making if the indicator is part of a larger set of sustainable development indicators. One of the advantages of the EF is that it can encourage policy makers to consider effects of national consumption and production patterns on other countries, and provides an interesting basis for discussing environmental effects of consumption patterns as well as international equity in resource use.

The authors point out that the interpretation of the EF is more ambiguous for international comparisons than for use at the national level. They also suggest that the per capita EF seems more appropriate for communicative purposes than the EF expressed in absolute terms.

D.P. van Vuuren, E.M.W. Smeets, and H.A.M. de Kruijf, The Ecological Footprint of Benin, Bhutan, Costa Rica and the Netherlands, RIVM, Bilthoven, The Netherlands.

For more information, please contact D.P. van Vuuren, National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, PO Box 1, 3720 BA Bilthoven, The Netherlands, Tel: +31 30 2742046, Fax: +31 30 2744435. 

UNEP's activities on sustainable consumption
UNEP's activities on sustainable consumption began in 1998, with the objective of developing a better understanding of the driving forces behind consumption patterns. Better insight into those forces can contribute to cost-effective and environmentally sound improvements in products, services, and infrastructure.

In carrying out these activities, UNEP collaborates with business and industry, governments, international organizations, consumers, and civil society. An example of such a partnership is the joint organization with the Carl Duisberg Gesellschaft of the International Business Forum on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns, to be held in Berlin, 13-15 October 1999. The Forum will build upon the outcomes of the 7th session of the Commission on Sustainable Development and is intended to give participants from both industrialized and developing countries an opportunity to exchange information and experience in promoting sustainable consumption, and to develop new strategies in this field. Participants will be top level representatives from industry and business, business associations, development and environmental agencies, and consumer protection organizations.

Issues discussed will include product and process innovation, such as eco-design and life cycle management, and the promotion of sustainable consumption by the information and communication sector, including advertising and marketing strategies. The Forum will also address the role of business as consumer and producer, and will look into supply chain management, green procurement, and the role of wholesale and retail industries. Other topics covered will be ways to promote sustainable consumption at the sectoral level, for example through codes of conduct and voluntary agreements, and globalization and changing international business conditions.

UNEP has launched an initiative to explore how the advertising industry can contribute to the sustainable consumption agenda. Together with the UN Division for Sustainable Development, UNEP organized an International Expert Meeting on Advertising and Sustainable Consumption in Paris in January 1999. The meeting identified concrete recommendations on what can be done and who should be involved. More information on the sustainable consumption activities of UNEP's Division of Technology, Industry and Economics is available on the web page http://www.unepie.org

In addition to highlighting the various initiatives underway, the UNEP web site provides a listing of other sustainable consumption-related web sites. Of particular interest is a topical overview of internet resources on sustainable consumption compiled by the UNEP Working Group on Sustainable Product Development. The complete Kabelvåg workshop report 'Consumption in a Sustainable World' and the CEE CAP report 'Impacts of Economic Globalisation and Changes in Consumption and Production Patterns' can be downloaded.

More information is also available from: Sustainable Consumption Activities, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Division of Technology, Industry and Economics 39-43 Quai Andre Citroen, 75739 Paris CEDEX 15, France, Tel: (+33-1) 4437 14 50, Fax: (+33-1) 4437 14 74, E-mail: unepie@unep.fr .

EU-US Consumer Dialogue to Look at Food and Trade
The Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD) was formed in September 1998 by consumer groups in the European Union and United States. The first formal activity of the TACD was preparing commentary on the Transatlantic Economic Partnership (TEP) Action Plan, which is part of the 1995 New Transatlantic Agreement between the United States and the European Union. TACD formally presented its comments on the TEP at the United States-European Union governmental summit held in Washington DC in December 1998.

The second session of the TACD was held in Brussels on April 23-24 1999. This conference, attended by some sixty European and American consumer representatives, aimed at developing a series of common positions on food safety, electronic commerce and international trade and standards.

Some of the 21 recommendations of the Conference, based on a broad, transatlantic consensus among European and American consumer organisations, relate to sustainable consumption. In the area of food, recommendations addressed views on genetically modified organisms (GMO's), the use of bovine growth hormone and dietary supplements, and nutrition labelling. With regard to GMO's, TACD calls upon the governments of the United States and the European Union to establish effective and mandatory government approval systems for human health, safety, and enviromental protection. Goverments are also urged to require mandatory labelling of all genetically engineered foods and ingredients based on complete traceability of GMO's throughout the entire production, processing, and distribution chain. Consumer participation in the setting of international food standards in the Codex Alimentarius and the WTO, as well as application of the precautionary principle for protection of public health, safety, or the environment are also stressed in the recommendations on food.

Under recommendations on trade, the TACD calls for application of international social, environmental, health and safety, and consumer protection rules to companies operating internationally, and welcomes the development of voluntary fair trade labelling. Finally, for autosafety standards, the TACD opposes any harmonization of motor vehicle and environmental standards that would merely integrate existing national standards or reduce the level of protection provided by any existing national standards.

The TACD Secretariat is based at the Consumers International Office for Developed Economies in London.  For more information, please contact Nadia Chelafa in CI's London Office , E-mail: tacd@consint.org .
Sources: World Consumer, No 232/March 1999, published by Consumers International, and Website: www.tacd.org .

Factors 4 and 10 in the Nordic Countries
The Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21, adopted at the Earth Summit + 5 in June 1997, refers to the importance of undertaking studies of efficiency improvements in resource use. Industrialized countries in particular are encouraged to increase their resource productivity by a factor 4 in the next two to three decades, and by a factor ten in the long run. In response, the Nordic Council of Ministers prepared a study on "Factors 4 and 10 in the Nordic Countries". This study was presented at the seventh session of the Commission on Sustainable Development as a contribution to the implementation of the International Work Programme on Changing Consumption and Production Patterns.

The goal of the study was to identify opportunities and obstacles in the implementation of factor 4 and 10 targets at the sectoral level in four Nordic Countries. The report includes case studies on the transport sector in Denmark, the forestry sector in Finland, the real estate and building sector in Norway, and the food supply chain in Sweden. For each sector, the report analyzes the extent to which it is possible to implement eco-efficiency targets of factor 4 and 10. It then examines the role governments could play in promoting achievement of these targets, and how business and industry, academics, NGOs, and consumers could participate in this endeavour. The study considers various options for behavioural change, ranging from the introduction of new technologies, to radical changes in consumption and production patterns.

The approach used in the case studies is still relatively new, the case studies are not comprehensive, and the approaches used differ slightly among sectors. The results should therefore be considered as exploratory. More comprehensive and detailed models and methods need to be developed for assessing the long-term impacts of the sectoral activities under consideration. The studies conclude that it would be difficult to reach the factor 4 target in two to three decades (i.e. 2030) and the factor 10 target in the long run (i.e.2050) without considerable changes in individual and social values as well as regulatory regimes.

For example, the Danish case study concludes that though it would be possible to reduce material and energy consumption as well as CO2 emissions in the transport sector, substantial changes would be needed for achieving factor 4 and 10 goals within the above mentioned time-frame. They include changes in expected service from the transport system, in the organisation of related production processes, and in daily consumption patterns.

According to the report, governments have an important role to play in implementing eco-efficiency strategies and factor 4 and 10 targets. The measures suggested in the case studies include a mix of economic, legal, and social instruments, and additional measures aimed at enhancing R&D. The report also stresses the importance of participation of all partners, including business, industry and trade, academics, NGOs, authorities at all levels, and consumers.

For more information about this report, please contact the Nordic Council of Ministers, Store Strandstraede 18, DK-1255 Copenhagen, Tel: +45 3396 0200, Fax: +45 33 96 02 02.

Sustainable Community Indicators
What is a sustainability indicator? How do I know if my community is making progress towards becoming a sustainable community? Is there a right indicator for my community? How do I know if an indicator is really measuring sustainability? What is a sustainable community anyway?

These questions are addressed in the 2nd edition of the "Guide to Sustainable Community Indicators". Like the first edition, published in 1995, the updated 1999 edition is for communities trying to build a better future. The audience includes people working on community economic development, grassroots activists, municipal and state agency staff, nonprofit organizations, and local businesses. The intent of the guide is to explain both sustainability and indicators, and to encourage the reader to begin to use indicators or improve indicators already in use.

Like the first edition, the new edition is written to be easily understood and used by individuals at the community level. It explains concepts such as community capital and pressure-state-response indicators, has expanded information on the key issues of consumption, carrying capacity, and population, and includes indicators for topics including business, production, recreation, land use, and transportation. It also provides detailed examples of good sustainability indicators, explains how to identify good sustainability indicators for your community, and has a updated list of almost 700 indicators being used by communities of all sizes.

If you are interested in ordering this publication, please ask for an order form from Hart Environmental Data, PO Box 361, North Andover, MA 01845, USA, E-mail: mhart@tiac.net, Website: http://www.subjectmatters.com/indicators.

Research on Green Consumption and Public Voluntary Programs at the Center for the Study and Improvement of Regulation (CSIR)
The Center for the Study and Improvement of Regulation (CSIR) is a new research center in the Department of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburg, United States. CSIR's objective is to develop and promote strategies for improving regulatory processes at the federal, state and local levels.

CSIR aims at developing more democratic, transparent, and flexible incentive structures and institutional arrangements, and at improving the integration of scientific knowledge into decision making processes. In carrying out its research activities, the CSIR draws on public values and preferences. Elements of the Center's research program include analyses of how institutions can learn from experience; examination of mechanisms for setting goals and priorities and for improving decision making processes; development of regulatory structures reflecting scientific knowledge; and exploration of alternative risk management strategies and institutions.

CSIR's research activities also include work on green consumption and product ecolabelling. Ecolabels offer firms the opportunity to inform consumers that a labelled product is more environmentally friendly than other products in the same category, thereby allowing for product differentiation. Though firms are generally looking for ways to differentiate their products in order to defend or increase their market shares, many firms are opposed to the development of ecolabels. One of the objectives of CSIR's research work will be to increase understanding of corporate strategies vis-a-vis ecolabelling, in order to facilitate development of policies for improved design and use of ecolabels.

Since the beginning of the nineties, ecolabelling programs have been implemented at the national and international level. Around twenty ecolabelling schemes are either under developent or already in place in a variety of OECD countries as well as in China, Brazil and India. In 1992, the European Union issued a regulatory framework for the creation of an ecolabeling scheme. CSIR's research started with the experience from the European Union, and will be progressively expanded to include experience from the United States and evidence on other types of instruments, including quality-standards and other public environmental programs.

For more information, please contact: Alain Nadai, CSIR/EPP, Carnegie Mellon University, 129 Baker Hall, Pittsburgh, PA-15213-3890, Tel 00 1 412 268 8099, Fax 00 1 412 268 3757.

Contribution of Major Groups to Sustainable Consumption and Production
For the seventh session of the Commission on Sustainable Development, the Stockholm Environment Institute prepared a background paper on "Case Studies on The Role and Contribution of Major Groups to Promoting Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns", in cooperation with the Division for Sustainable Development.

The report includes 28 case studies on how the nine major groups of Agenda 21 contribute to sustainable consumption and production. The paper demonstrates the importance of the contributions of major groups in promoting sustainable development. The case studies focus on the five elements of the Commission's International Work Programme on Changing Consumption and Production Patterns.

Examples involving women groups include solar electrification projects carried out by the Vietnam Women's Union, and a agroforestry project in Nicaragua undertaken by CARE-Denmark. Business and industry activities case studies include a Waste Recycling and By-product Synergy Scheme (STM Microelectronics, France), a Zero Emissions Project (Golden Hope Plantations, Malaysia), an Eco-Efficient Printing Process (Beacon Press, UK), and a By-Product Synergy project (Chaparral Steel Company, USA).

For more information about the project, please contact Johannah Bernstein of the Stockholm Environment Institute, Rue du Taciturne, 50, Brusseles, 1040 Belgium, Tel: +32-2-230 6589, Fax: +32-2-230 9530. Hard copies can be obtained from Alejandro Carpio, Division for Sustainable Development, United Nations, Two UN Plaza Room DC2-2258B, New York NY 10017, USA. Tel: +1 212 963 4606 Fax: +1 212 963 4260.

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