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, new publications, meetings, events or websites 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, e-mail: dzioubinski@un.org

The Oxford Commission developed the work program to promote action by citizens, governments, business, and the media to achieve sustainable patterns of consumption.

A free website facility provides information and tools for small and medium size companies to help in the practical implementation of sustainable development policies. The resources may also assist public policy makers and non-governmental organizations working in the area of sustainable development.

The Mentor Center website is linking small and medium size companies in all sectors with free environmental assistance. It offers information and links to over 300 programs that help companies protect the environment while improving their economic performance.

A web-based database can help policy analysts use the benefits transfer approach to estimate economic values for changes in environmental goods, services or human health.

A recent publication of the Federal Planning Bureau of Belgium, "Sustainable Development: A Project on the World Scale," provides an overview of the evolution and state of implementation of sustainable development in the world.

The first Report on Global Environment Negotiations "Green Politics" prepared by one of India’s leading environmental NGOs analyses important environment-related conventions from a Southern perspective.

The Federal Report "On the way towards sustainable development?" provides an overview of the current situation, as well as progress and failures on the way towards sustainable development in Belgium between 1992 and 1998.

Scientists in Zakarpattia (Transcarpathian Region of Ukraine) emphasize the importance of balanced and sustainable regional development in countries with economies in transition.

A recently created Europe-wide think-tank is dedicated to exploring sustainable development options for European societies.

A local youth environmental organization, Grupo de Jovenes de Accion Ecologica, is organizing a campaign to address issues related to growth in consumerism in Ecuador and other countries of South America.

Renew America and the US Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Policy and Reinvention presented the fourth annual "Way to Go!" Awards to projects that successfully addressed transportation needs and transit-related problems.

In-vessel composting provides effective means of food waste recycling.

A new online service from California’s Monterey Bay Aquarium provides information on sustainable eating of fish and seafood.

A web-based calculator provides comparison of environmental and financial costs for several options of daily commute to work.

The Expert Group on Improving Governments’ Role in the Promotion of Environmental Managerial Accounting provides a forum for the exchange of information among governments on how they could promote the use of EMA by the private sector.

Representatives of governments, National Cleaner Technology Centres and international organizations focused on national policy issues as obstacles or incentives to cleaner production at the Second Regional Conference of the Americas on Cleaner Production.

The Oxford Commission on Sustainable Consumption, set up by Mansfield College, Oxford, met for the first time on 17-19 September 1999 under the chairmanship of former British Environment Minister John Gummer. Commission Members are leaders from business, government, research institutions and the voluntary sector around the world, from both developed and developing countries. The goal of the Commission is to promote action by citizens, governments, business, the media and others to achieve sustainable patterns of consumption. The Commission will meet twice a year, and produce an Action Plan for the Earth Summit+10 in 2002. It is supported by a research team at the Oxford Centre for the Environment, Ethics and Society (OCEES) in Mansfield College. Members of the Commission are enthusiastic about their ambitious task and have agreed on general directions and their initial work program. The Commission will only recommend consumption changes for others that the Commissioners themselves are personally willing to adopt.

The Commission is concerned with both social and environmental impacts of the consumption patterns of the affluent, and with our failure to meet the needs of the poor. It aims to catalyze changes in consumption that will improve our individual and collective quality of life. Immediate research priorities are on food, advertising, transport, land use, and climate change. The Commission will establish liaison groups with business and the media to address their role in shaping consumption patterns. The Commission will combine efforts to encourage a shift in values with critical analysis to understand the action that is needed. It will make use of the huge volume of existing research and expertise, aiming to build a coherent picture of the interactions among the economic, technological, cultural and institutional mechanisms shaping consumption. Its approach will be interdisciplinary and encompass a wide range of viewpoints. Additional research will only be undertaken where necessary to fill gaps in the body of evidence.

A major program of community and stakeholder projects is being planned with the International Institute for Environment and Development. Working with local institutions, the program will involve setting up groups in a number of countries around the world to develop their own action plans for sustainable consumption. The Commission is also working with the UNEP Youth Advisory Council, which has set up a youth committee to carry out research into youth consumption patterns and to contribute to the Commission’s Action Plan.

More details on the Commission, its membership and research program, are available at the OCEES website http://users.ox.ac.uk/~ocees. If you would like further information or are interested in getting involved in the work of the Commission, contact Dr. Laurie Michaelis, tel.: +44 1865 282 903, e-mail: laurie.michaelis@mansfield.ox.ac.uk

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A new website "Sustainable Development – ONLINE" has been launched by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, a nonprofit autonomous agency of the European Union.  The resources may also assist public policy makers and non-governmental organizations working in the area of sustainable development. Primary emphasis is on sustainable production in accordance with the current Working Programme of the Foundation.

The website is database driven. It has an extensive list of links with descriptions of approximately 300 organizations that are pioneering sustainable development. The four main databases are Conferences, Networks, Tools, and Professional Training Courses.

The Conference database provides a listing of special events and conferences in the sustainable development area taking place in the European Union. The Networks directory identifies those bringing solutions and know-how to the sustainable development challenge. The networks cover a large range of subjects such as new job opportunities, healthier and more environmentally benign forms of production and more sustainable ways of living and consuming products. The Tools database lists and classifies tools, applications and resources to help in the practical implementation of sustainable development policies. It is a reference point for researchers and social partners. The Training directory lists and summarizes the growing number of sustainability-orientated vocational education and training courses available throughout the European Union.

The Foundation site will be developed further and maintained in the future. Regular announcements will alert thousands of organizations worldwide to its existence. It is hoped that this will generally strengthen interest and knowledge in the area of sustainable development.

For additional information, contact Dr. Yorick Benjamin, tel: + 31 (0) 20 684 8929; fax: + 31 (0) 20 524 8104; e-mail: eden@antenna.nl or susdev@eurofound.ie. Website: http://susdev.eurofound.ie

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A new online service <http://www.mentor-center.org> is linking small and medium size companies in all sectors with free environmental assistance. The Mentor Center website offers information and links to over 300 programs that help companies protect the environment while improving their economic performance. The Center links businesses with peer-to-peer assistance and consulting programs that harness the expertise of companies that have demonstrated environmental leadership as well as programs from universities, chambers of commerce, government agencies, and trade associations.

At the heart of the Mentor Center is a database. Users identify their company's size, sector, and state and are presented with mentoring programs specific to their needs. Each listing provides a brief description of the program – how it works, who it helps, how to participate, and who to contact for more information. The Center also features other resources useful to mentoring. There is no charge or registration required for using the Center. The Mentor Center supports a growing trend in the world of business and the environment: large companies helping smaller companies address environmental problems and challenges.

The Mentor Center is one of the projects of the Institute for Corporate Environmental Mentoring (ICEM) of the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation (NEETF). Among the companies participating in ICEM are 3M, AT&T, BP Amoco, CH2M Hill, Compaq Computer Corp., Lockheed Martin, Lucent Technologies, Mobil Oil, R.R. Donnelley & Sons, Pitney Bowes, and Volvo Cars of North America. All of these companies have proactive environmental strategies such as industrial ecology, life-cycle analysis, design for the environment, waste minimization, energy efficiency, and other pollution-prevention technologies to create production practices and processes with substantially reduced environmental impacts. Each of these companies can, through their supplier relationships, reach thousands of other businesses.

For more information, contact Derek Young, National Environmental Education and Training Foundation, tel.: +1 202 628 8200, ext. 23, e-mail: young@neetf.org or Walt Tunnessen, Institute for Corporate Environmental Mentoring, tel.: +1 202 628 8200, ext. 21, e-mail: tunnessen@neetf.org or visit websites: http://www.neetf.org and http://www.mentor-center.org

Source: Environment News Service (ENS), October 11, 1999,

http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Oct99/11Oct9902.html

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The Environmental Valuation Reference Inventory (EVRI) is a web-based database that can help policy analysts use the benefits transfer approach to estimate economic values for changes in environmental goods, services or human health. It has recently been developed by the economic unit of Environment Canada, a Canadian government department. Through the benefits transfer approach, the results of previous studies stored in the EVRI database can be used (transferred) to estimate the economic value of changes stemming from a proposed project or policy. The main advantage of benefits transfer is that it requires less time and fewer financial resources to derive value estimates as compared to primary valuation studies, which involve survey work. In addition, benefits transfer may be useful in policy contexts where quick benefits estimates may be used as a screening device for reviewing the advisability of a policy or project.

Protecting and managing resources and the environment has often been considered by governments and industry as an additional cost burden, without immediate economic benefits. When a government or a corporation can tangibly assess the value of a particular environmental asset, they will see an economic benefit in protecting it. EVRI measurements and valuations can be used by corporations and countries to internalize these values in their accounts.

The EVRI abstracts of valuation studies outline the pertinent valuation issues and results necessary to identify the best candidate studies for a potential benefits transfer. There are six main categories of information in records: Study Reference; Study Area and Population Characteristics; Environmental Focus of the Study; Study Methods; Estimated Values; and Alternative Language Summary or Abstract. Currently, entries in the EVRI are concentrated in the area of water valuation studies. The scope of the EVRI is being broadened to include valuation studies for other types of natural capital from all parts of the world. The information in the EVRI is available to subscribers.

For more information (available in English, French and Spanish), including information on subscription, visit the EVRI website at http://www.evri.ec.gc.ca/evri/

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A recent publication of the Federal Planning Bureau of Belgium, "Sustainable Development: A Project on the World Scale," provides an overview of the evolution and state of implementation of sustainable development in the world, along the lines set out in Agenda 21.

The Earth Summit agreement (Agenda 21), with its objective of improved living standards for all in the 21^st century, is still widely unknown. The publication recalls why and how it was adopted in Rio in June 1992 by the world community, after years of difficult negotiations. The paper describes progress and failures since Rio in the implementation of the agreement. It starts with a detailed description of the context and conclusions of the review of progress by the international community in June 1997. The following parts of the report are devoted to the description of unsustainable trends, actions undertaken to change these unsustainable trends, further efforts required on the way towards sustainable development, and political commitments for each social, economic and environmental chapter of Agenda 21. The report goes on with the successes and difficulties met by the major groups, and addresses the means of implementation of Agenda 21, by both the public and private sector. Finally, it considers the efforts needed to design strategies to take up the challenge of sustainable development. It starts by illustrating these efforts with various aspects of Kyoto Protocol implementation and ends by addressing the issue of sustainable development policy-making, noting the Belgian Law on the Co-ordination of Federal Policy on Sustainable Development (May 5^th 1997).

The publication is available in French and Dutch only at http://www.plan.be/en/pub/pp/detail_pp.stm?pub=PP085. For more information, contact Sylvie Varlez, Federal Planning Bureau – Task Force Développement durable, 47-49, avenue des Arts 1000, Brussels, Belgium, tel.: +32 2 507 74 77, fax: +32 2 507 74 86, e-mail: sv@plan.be or visit the website of the Federal Planning Bureau: http://www.plan.be

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"Green Politics", the first Report on Global Environment Negotiations (GEN-1) was released on November 2, 1999, during the Fifth Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Bonn. The report has been prepared by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), one of India’s leading environmental NGOs with a deep interest in sustainable natural resource management.

The GEN reports (there are plans for producing GEN-2 and GEN-3) are an effort to document global environmental negotiations from a Southern perspective. GEN-1 analyses important environment-related conventions in light of their origin and the political influences that resulted in the decisions taken. It examines the politics between rich and poor nations in these conventions, and how the stand of one country has influenced the stand of others. It documents the attempts of international institutions to move towards sustainable development. It serves as a resource book on the Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Convention to Combat Desertification, the UN's environmental agenda, the Global Environmental Facility, the proposed Multilateral Agreement on Investment, and the ongoing international negotiations on Persistent Organic Pollutants, forests, and trade and the environment.

The authors of the GEN reports see them as the beginning rather than the end of a process. They hope that the reports will initiate debate and lead to better informed interventions in global negotiations. They also believe that to move towards a more sustainable world, civil society must intervene when the fate of the world is being decided, and prompt governments into taking steps in the right direction. But to do this it must have information – about the state of the world's environment and the negotiations being conducted by various global players over the future of that environment.

For more information or to purchase a copy of the report,  contact Sunita Narain, Deputy Director, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), New Delhi, India, tel.: 91 11 698 1110 or 91 11 698 3394, fax: 91 11 698 5879, e-mail:sunita@cseindia.org or cse@cseindia.org. CSE website: http://oneworld.org/cse/

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The Federal Report "On the way towards sustainable development?" provides an overview of the current situation, as well as progress and failures on the way towards sustainable development in Belgium between 1992 and 1998.

The report includes a conceptual and institutional framework for operationalizing sustainable development policies. It focuses on several sustainable development themes: changing consumption patterns, combating poverty and social exclusion, and protection of the atmosphere and the marine environment. Criteria to be used in the assessment of projects or policies aimed at sustainable development are covered, including global awareness, long-term concerns, integration, uncertainty and precaution, participation of major groups and the responsibility of citizens. The functioning of international, European and Belgian institutions that are needed for the implementation of sustainable development agreements and decisions is explained.

A set of indicators of sustainable development is classified according to the Driving force – Pressure – State – Impact – Response (DPSIR) Framework. The report provides a detailed analysis of the objectives, policies, and measures adopted by the federal government during the period 1992-98. Three scenarios using different risk perceptions in the environmental, social, and economic fields are outlined for the debate on possible future courses of action. Views and actions of the major groups are also reported.

The report concludes that progress in the areas of sustainable development analyzed appears to have been insufficient in meeting the criteria.

The publication is available in French and in Dutch only. Summaries in Dutch and French are available on the website of the Federal Planning Bureau at http://www.plan.be/en/pub/other/detail_other.stm?pub=OPSDREP02 . For more information, contact Sylvie Varlez, Federal Planning Bureau – Task Force Développement durable, 47-49, avenue des Arts 1000, Brussels, Belgium, tel.: +32 2 507 74 77, fax: +32 2 507 74 86, e-mail: sv@plan.be or visit the website of the Federal Planning Bureau: http://www.plan.be

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On 5 October 1999, a special session of the Western Research Center of the Ukrainian National Academy of Science was held in Uzhhorod, Ukraine. Representatives of the Ukrainian National Academy of Science, Uzhhorod State University, Transcarpathian Oblast State Administration, and Pryashiv University (Slovakia) participated in the discussion "Social and Economic Development Models of Border Regions Using the Example of Zakarpattia (Transcarpathian Region)". They emphasized the importance of balanced and sustainable regional development in countries with economies in transition, a requirement for successful development of a country as a whole. This would require national governments to give the regions more freedom in developing and implementing models of sustainable development.

Participants mentioned the flood in Zakarpattia in autumn 1998 as an example of the catastrophic consequences of overconsumption of natural resources. It had a disastrous impact on communities living in the areas adjacent to the rivers Tysa, Latorytsa, Uzh and Rika. Even though there is no strong agreement among scientists on what caused the flood, many suggested that it might have been due to reduced forest cover as a result of unsustainable logging and subsequent changes in the level of ground water. It was stressed that appropriate policies at different levels of government are necessary to both predict such occurrences in the future and minimize the damage.

Dr. Vasyl P. Miklovda presented a model of economic development and environmental conservation in Zakarpattia. It is based on the concept of evaluating all economic activities in the region taking into account environmental and social criteria of sustainable development. Dr. Miklovda argued that this approach would make it possible to overcome deep economic and social deformations and stop degradation of human resource potential while creating a favorable ground for new competitive kinds of economic activities in the region.

For more information, contact Ms. Svitlana Slava, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Uzhhorod State University, tel./fax: +380 3122 3 70 30, e-mail: svitlana@gd.uzhgorod.ua

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The Sustainable Europe Research Institute (SERI) was established in September 1999. The intention of its founders is to create a Europe-wide think-tank dedicated to exploring sustainable development options for European societies. SERI's research agenda and methodology is based on previous work by Friends of the Earth and the Wuppertal Institute in the context of the Sustainable Europe Programme, focusing on the concepts of environmental space and a substantial reduction of material flows in human societies. The members and scientists of SERI support, by means of scientific research, the dialogue within European civic society among citizens’ environmental organizations, governments, trade unions and industry. The headquarters of SERI is in Vienna, but its members and scientists live and work throughout Europe. The scientific dialogue is supported by an Internet site, meetings and publications.

The Sustainable Europe Research Institute investigates environmental, economic, social and institutional conditions for sustainable development; develops and disseminates information on environmental, economic, social and institutional limits, as well as steps toward sustainability; and develops scientifically based and feasible suggestions for the implementation of policy measures within Europe and beyond.

For more information, visit SERI website at http://www.seri.at (information presented in English and German) or contact Dr. Friedrich Hinterberger, tel./fax: +43 1 405 5673, e-mail: Fritz.Hinterberger@seri.at

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A local youth environmental organization, Grupo de Jovenes de Accion Ecologica, is organizing a campaign to address issues related to growth in consumerism in Ecuador and other countries of South America. Liberalization and opening of markets allowed new products to be introduced there. These recent developments have strong impact on local culture, traditions and lifestyles, and eating habits. Often local companies unable to compete with multinationals are forced into bankruptcy. In rural areas a lot of indigenous farmers had to abandon their land and migrate to cities. Prices at which foreign companies buy local agricultural products in most cases do not reflect actual cost of production or the cost of environmental impact when intensive methods are introduced.

The group emphasizes recent shifts from traditional food consumption patterns, which include eating locally produced plants with high protein content, to consumption of such food items as hamburgers, pizza, hot dogs and other foods high in fat. These types of consumption behavior "imported" from developed countries are especially popular among young people and, according to Grupo de Jovenes, may have a strong negative impact on the health of this generation. The group intends to provide reliable information on possible implications of unhealthy diets.

As a motto for their campaign on consumerism, Grupo de Jovenes selected "4 R’s": reject, reduce, reuse, and recycle. One of their main obstacles, as for many non-governmental organizations in developing countries, is lack of financial resources. They are trying to contact organizations and institutions interested in supporting this campaign. They are also looking for more information about the current trends in consumerism in developed countries and are interested in establishing contacts with other organizations involved in similar activities.

For more information, contact Ms. Alexandra Velasco, Grupo de Jovenes de Accion Ecologica, Quito, Ecuador, tel./fax: +593 2 527583, +593 2 547516 or +593 2 230676, e-mail: chuchaki@hoy.net

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Renew America is a non-profit organization that coordinates a network of community and environmental groups, businesses, government leaders and civic activists to exchange ideas and expertise for improving the environment. By finding and promoting programs that work, Renew America helps inspire communities and businesses to meet today’s environmental challenges. Crowded roads, traffic congestion, and the effects of urban sprawl are among those challenges and now part of the everyday life for most Americans. On September 27, 1999, Renew America and the US Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Policy and Reinvention presented the fourth annual "Way to Go!" Awards.

Each winning program has addressed transportation needs and transit-related problems with a unique set of solutions. Businesses have come together to improve their customers’ and employees’ access. Transit agencies have met communities’ needs with better services and improved promotion of those services. These winning examples demonstrate that communities of many sizes are seeking to improve the quality of life and succeeding.

Among the 9 winners of the 1999 Way to Go! Awards are:

• Intel RideShare, Intel Corporation (Santa Clara, California) offers employees numerous transportation benefits, including ridematching, carpool/bike parking, free vanpools, and free or low cost transit passes;

• The Electrowave Shuttle, which has brought transit service to Miami Beach’s South Beach business district, carried 1.5 million one-way passengers on seven 22-passenger electric buses in its first year of operation;

• Transit Choices for Livability turned over the design of the suburban transit system in Portland, Oregon, to citizens, resulting in an entirely new type of transit service on the street in four different communities.

Complete list of the award winners is available on the website http://solstice.crest.org/sustainable/renew_america. For more information, contact Marna Louis, Deputy Director, Renew America, tel.: +1 202 721 1545, fax: +1 202 467 5780, e-mail: mlouis_renewamerica@counterpart.org.

Source: Environment News Service (ENS), September 27, 1999, website: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/Sept99/27Sept9902.html

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A working compost tub nine feet in diameter was set up at the 18th annual National Recycling Coalition conference in Cincinnati, Ohio, to demonstrate food waste recycling. Green Mountain Technologies developed the Earth Tub, a 1.5-ton in-vessel system designed specifically for on-site composting of food-wastes. The Earth Tub is a fully enclosed composting vessel featuring power mixing, compost aeration, temperature control, and biofiltration of all process air. This self-contained unit can be used for composting at schools, universities, restaurants, hospitals and supermarkets. This was the first time the National Recycling Coalition has had a demonstration of in-vessel composting. Food represents about eight percent of waste in a typical landfill, but only one percent of that is being recycled. "If cities are serious about meeting their goals of recycling, food waste recycling has got to start happening now," said Michael Bryan-Brown, president of Green Mountain Technologies. All materials and food scraps collected from the luncheon were recycled in the compost tub. Biocorp USA sponsored the exhibit.

For more information on in-vessel composting system, contact Green Mountain Technologies, tel.: +1 802 368 7291, fax: +1 802 368-7313, e-mail: gmt@sover.net. Website: http://www.gmt-organic.com/index.html

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A new online service from California’s Monterey Bay Aquarium provides frequently updated information on sustainable eating of fish and seafood. The E-Quarium website <http://www.montereybayaquarium.org> launched on October 20 by the Monterey Bay Aquarium is one of the new initiatives sponsored by the Packard Foundation to promote sustainable fisheries and teach consumers how to eat to save the seas. It features online exhibits, conservation information and a "Seafood Watch" section on fisheries in trouble, as well as those that are well managed and can support sustainable commercial fishing.

Working on projects like the National Audubon Society’s Living Oceans Program, the Marine Stewardship Council's fisheries certification program, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), the Packard Foundation is targeting deep sea research and consumer education to help protect ocean environments. Aquarium executive director Julie Packard points out that without detailed information about the interactions of marine species, it is difficult for fisheries managers and world governments to make informed decisions on how best to manage fisheries sustainably. Poor decisions have led to sharp declines in many of the world’s most valuable commercial fisheries. Packard points to how recent "food fads" have increased demand for certain species including orange roughy and Chilean sea bass.

The Packard Foundation is striking at the bottom line of commercial fisheries, by educating the public about which fish are safe to eat. For example, a recent crusade against swordfish, which have been overfished to the point of collapse, successfully removed the fish from the menus of many restaurants, supermarkets and the tables of consumers. Now consumers who are interested in learning what other fish to avoid can check out the E-Quarium website for detailed information on which fisheries, in which areas, can support sustainable fishing. For example, wild Alaskan salmon come from a well-regulated fishery and are considered a good environmental menu choice. On the other hand, the American lobster has been so heavily overfished that the Aquarium recommends against buying them. The website, one of the Packard Foundation’s attempts to influence consumer behavior in favor of conservation, will be updated frequently as the aquarium continues to research fisheries.

For more information, visit Monterey Bay Aquarium website: http://www.montereybayaquarium.org

Source: Environment News Service (ENS), October 18, 1999,

http://ens.lycos.com/ens/oct99/1999L-10-18-06.html

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Commuting to and from work or school is something most of us do every day and can make up a significant proportion of the distance each of us travels in a given week. The "Calculator" <http://www.iclei.org/games/comcalc.htm> developed by Cities for Climate Protection (CCP) will allow you to estimate the CO₂ emissions that result from your current commuting habits and determine how changes in your commuting behavior could change these results. Estimates of your commuting costs are also included. They indicate that the cleanest forms of transportation are also the cheapest. The calculator provides comparison for five options: non-mechanized modes (cycling or walking), public transit (subway, bus, streetcar, etc.), carpool or vanpool, economy car with single occupant, and luxury car or sport utility vehicle with single occupant. Even though the results are only rough approximations and do not take into account location, exact type of vehicle, and other important factors, the calculator is a valuable tool for a conscious consumer and a good educational instrument. The CCP offers other interactive and educational online activities, such as CCP Enviro-Quiz, Calculate your personal CO2 emissions, and Virtual Energy Manager in its Energy Arcade <http://www.iclei.org/co2/earcade.htm>.

The CCP is a campaign of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), which encourages cities to reduce local emissions of carbon dioxide, other greenhouse gases contributing to global warming, and related air pollutants. The CCP operates a variety of technical assistance projects that focus on innovative approaches to financing and implementing energy-efficiency measures in municipal and commercial buildings, reducing greenhouse gas emissions through effective waste management programs and land-use planning, and developing strategies and programs to reduce emissions in the transportation sector. The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) is an association of local governments dedicated to the prevention and solution of local, regional, and global environmental problems through local action. Approximately 300 cities, towns, counties, and their associations from around the world are Members of the Council.

For more information, visit website  ICLEI at http://www.iclei.org/ or contact ICLEI World Secretariat, Toronto, Canada, tel.: +1 416 392 1462, fax: +1 416 392 1478, e-mail: ccp@iclei.org

Sources: In Balance, No. 13 (October 1999), Monthly E-Bulletin of the Center for a New American Dream, http://www.newdream.org/bulletin; ICLEI website http://www.iclei.org/

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The Expert Group on Improving Governments’ Role in the Promotion of Environmental Managerial Accounting (EMA) met for the first time in Washington on 30-31 August 1999. The Expert Group was organized for the exchange of information among governments on how they could promote the use of EMA by the private sector. Participants were mostly from national environment agencies, with a few participants from industry, accounting firms and academia. The US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) and the UN Division for Sustainable Development (DSD) organized the meeting in cooperation with UNEP, EC DGIII-Enterprise and IIIEE-Lund University.

The costs to industry of waste, pollution and regulatory compliance have increased rapidly in the past 20 years with increasingly stringent environmental regulations. Conventional accounting systems, however, attribute many environmental costs, such as waste handling, monitoring and reporting, legal fees and insurance, to general overhead accounts. The consequence is that product and production managers have no incentive to reduce their environmental costs and executives are often unaware of the extent of environmental costs.

International coordination mechanisms, with participation of UN agencies, exist with respect to corporate environmental reporting and national environmental accounting, both of which are government responsibilities. Corporate managerial accounting, however, is not subject to government regulation and has therefore not been a subject for inter-governmental discussions. The participants welcomed this first opportunity to exchange information. Policies and programmes that have been used by governments to promote EMA include information, training, demonstration of EMA by public agencies, EMA software development and technical assistance,

As priorities for the next few years, the group identified dissemination of information on EMA through education, training, publications, case studies and guidelines. They agreed that studies should be undertaken of the linkages of EMA with reporting, environmental management systems (EMS) and national environmental accounts for consideration at future meetings of the Group. The participants agreed that the Expert Group should continue to meet periodically for exchange of information, coordination, and development of cooperative activities, with DSD as the secretariat.

For more information, contact Mr. Tarcisio Alvarez-Rivero, UN DESA, Division for Sustainable Development, tel.: +1 212 963 5708, fax: +1 212 963 4260, or visit our website at http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/sdissues/technology/est1.htm

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The Second Regional Conference of the Americas on Cleaner Production was held in Bogota, Colombia from 5 to 7 October 1999. The Conference combined two meetings: it was the Second Regional Conference of the Americas on Cleaner Production, and the first UN Division for Sustainable Development (DSD) regional expert meeting on national cleaner production strategies. It included both discussions of policy issues among representatives of governments, National Cleaner Technology Centres and international organizations, and discussions of technical issues among participants from industry and technical agencies.

Government representatives from the region focused on national policy and institutional issues as obstacles or incentives to cleaner production. It was generally agreed that most dirty production in the region is inefficient, wasteful and uneconomic, and requires improved organization of work and operating procedures, resulting in both environmental protection and increased productivity and profitability. Cleaner production policies in the region should therefore emphasize education, information and incentives for cleaner production, rather than regulation and enforcement. At a time of economic recession (particularly in Colombia), governments were not interested in shutting down dirty industries, but in helping them become more resource-efficient.

A variety of pressures and trends were promoting resource-efficiency and cleaner production in the region, including reduction of subsidies for natural resources, privatization of state-owned enterprises, increased competition due to market liberalization, public pressure over increasing pollution, and exports to environmentally-sensitive developed markets. Nonetheless, industry, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, needs help in responding to those pressures.

DSD presentations focused on national long-term, multi-sectoral strategies for promoting economic growth based on clean industries and new clean technologies. Regional participants emphasized the importance of inter-ministerial policy coordination covering trade and tariffs, taxes and subsidies, public sector environmental performance, and other issues over which environment ministries had little control.

To promote regional cooperation and coordination, government representatives agreed to take back to their governments a proposal to establish a Council of Governments of the Americas on Cleaner Production. A follow-up meeting to develop a work plan will be held in Buenos Aires early next year.

The Conference was co-sponsored by the Ministry of the Environment of Colombia, the Division for Sustainable Development, the Departamento Administrativo del Medio Ambiente of the Bogota region, the National Industrial Association of Colombia, UNIDO, UNEP, the National Cleaner Production Center of Colombia, and the Government of Switzerland.

For more information, contact Mr. Tarcisio Alvarez-Rivero, UN DESA, Division for Sustainable Development, tel.: +1 212 963 5708, fax: +1 212 963 4260, or visit our website at http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/sdissues/technology/est1.htm

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Previous issues of "News and Trends"

News and Trends July - September 1999

News and Trends April - June 1999

News and Trends February-March 1999

News and Trends December 1998-January 1999 

News and Trends October-November 1998 

News and Trends August-September 1998 

News and Trends June-July 1998