International – Marrakech Process
The Marrakech Process enabled the development of a ten-year framework on sustainable consumption and production by the UN Environment and UN Department of Environmental and Social Affairs (UN DESA). It includes the building of regional strategies, as well as implementation mechanisms with regional and national ownership. The framework also helps in organizing regional consultations and the implementation of concrete programs and projects. Through it, it is also possible to monitor, evaluate and share information on progresses made.
General Goals
To assist countries in their efforts to green their economies
To help corporations develop greener business models
To encourage consumers adopt more sustainable lifestyles.
Specific Goals
Decouple economic growth from environmental degradation while preventing a rebound effect
Couple economic development with the creation of decent jobs and increase in welfare.
Mainstream the sustainable use and management of natural resources in the decision-making process of governments, private sector and civil society organizations.
Stimulate demand for and supply of sustainable products and services in the market which would involve creation of new economic activities and decent jobs, within the carrying capacity of ecosystems.
Promote more sustainable and low-carbon lifestyles.
Enhance social development through sustainable investment in people and communities.
Participants
Lead agencies:
UN Environment
UNDESA
Others:
National governments
Development agencies
Civil society
The seven Task forces:
Regional focus
Leading Country – Germany
Objective: to provide specific support to the activities and programs of the 10-year work plan for Africa in what concerns sustainable consumption and production. This implies encouraging the different national governments to incorporate the concepts of sustainable production and consumption.
Africa is the first region to have developed and launched its own 10-Year Framework of Programmes (10YFP) on sustainable consumption and production.
Activities:
– Integration of SCP in national plans and programmes
– Support that enables African Countries to ‘leapfrog’ towards SCP patterns.
Social and behavioural issues
Leading Country: Sweden
Objective: to promote sustainable lifestyles, where people live in harmony with the environment and to develop strong and socially cohesive communities.
Activities:
– Explore means for changing lifestyles and behaviour with a focus on how sustainable lifestyles can be enabled by actors such as governments and business, and on how consumers can be encouraged to make sustainable choices.
– Projects are exploring actions that individuals can take to modify their lifestyles toward greater sustainability.
– Support projects that are supporting capacity building on education and communication for sustainable lifestyles
Social and behavioural issues
Leading Country: Italy
Objective: to introduce the subject of sustainable consumption and production in education. Thus, producing a change in the way of thinking, generating a strong and constructive environmental conscience.
Activities:
– Collection of good practices
– A database and a technical planner on ESC
– The drafting of guidelines on the introduction of ESC into formal learning processes
– The creation of linkages and synergies between the Task Force initiatives and relevant regional and international organizations active in the field of ESC
– The definition of sets of indicators and quality criteria for monitoring and evaluation.
– A special focus of the Task Force is on the Mediterranean region, and sharing its experiences globally.
Sectoral focus
Leading Country: France
Areas of priority:
– Climate change
– Biodiversity
– Cultural and natural heritage
– Local development.
Activities:
– Encouraging the implementation of actions that promote sustainable tourism through the development of support tools, pilot projects and good practices in other countries.
Sectoral focus
Leading Country: Sweden
Objective: to promote energy efficiency, energy saving; to promote renewable energy; to develop policies and legislation.
Activities:
– Develop a checklist for decision-makers not familiar with challenges and opportunities for sustainable buildings and construction.
– Research projects and publishing best policy practices.
– Reports on energy use and GHG emissions in construction & buildings and issued recommendations for policy action points.
Policy tools and programmes
Leading Country: Switzerland
Objective: to promote and support the implementation of sustainable public interventions, developing tools and abilities in developed and developing countries which lead to an increase in sustainable products and services.
Activities:
– To develop practical guidance and toolkits for sustainable public procurement
– To carry out research and prepare policy papers on SPP
– To promote SPP through training and assistance
– To facilitate dialogue and work amongst stakeholders and countries on SPP
Policy tools and programmes
Leading country: United Kingdom
Objective: to achieve concrete progress on specific products through international networks of experts. Known as Global Sustainable Product Networks (GSPNs), such networks have already been set up to cover: lighting, home entertainment, and electronic motors.
How to achieve sustainable consumption
If you are really interested about changing your consumption into a more stustainable one, we have a few tips and tricks on our page “Your Sustainablity”. However, what do you have to take away from the lecture? Well, there are a few points that have to be considered:
Food
So, what do you eat? A lot of meat or more vegetables? And most important, how to you buy food. You need to think about the criteria you have when going grocery shopping. What are you paying attention to, the price of the products? Maybe if it is organic or regional? Or how it is packed?
As organic products are often more expensive, it can be difficult for students to rely on them only. What you can do for sure though, is to pick one or new habits. Do you drink for example a lot of milk? Perfect! Buy organic milk, it is not that much more expensive. You can also start by avoiding packed products, if there are loos tomatoes, pick them instead of the once in a packing, often they are even cheaper… Oh but please don’t put them in a plastic bag! That would ruin the whole point 😉 Read more about this zero waste in our “Your Sustainability” page.
After doing your “smart” grocery shopping, the next step is to avoid throwing food away! Therefore, you should consider buying your food in smaller quantities. Think about what you really need for this week or the next few days. If you think about it, it is not only the food you throw away but also your money. So why not go a few times more often to the supermarket and really consume everything you buy.
Clothes
Clothing has also mayor impacts on our planet. Starting from the raw material production, we use a lot of space to grow cotton for example. Mostly production is in developing countries with little to no regulations for waste water treatment. The water is still polluted with color particles and heavy metals when it is discharged into rivers and contaminates heavily its environment.
You should consider the following aspects when you buy clothing:
– The materials… there is such a thing as organic cotton 😉
– Fair Trade labels (the link shows some examples)
– Good workmanship and durability, so quality over quantityÂ
– The option of buying second-hand clothing, you can find real treasures when buying at a flea market or a second-hand shop
Travel
We all love to travel! And we should travel, or shoudn’t we?! But when we book a flight, we don’t like to think about the stress we will put our environment through. So, if you know that you will be travelling soon by plain, you could start changing your travel behavior for short distance trips, because they also matter! Most German cities have good connections for public transportation, good bike lanes and even better sidewalks. Sidewalks?! You might laugh at this, but we should consider us lucky that we have sidewalks in Germany. There are too many countries where people do not have that “luxury” and are at risk when walking through the streets.
With that knowledge, try to reduce your footprint in your everyday. You have more than one option to compensate for the plane ticket you have in our pocket. (For more tips check out our “Your Sustainability” page)
Reflection
What are task forces of the Marrakech Process?
Which task forces have the same focus/ tackle the same sector?
If you could pick a task force to work on, which one would it be? And why?
What does sustainable consumption mean? And how do you think you could apply it?