North American Workshop on Sustainable Consumption and Production
Washington, D.C. - 6-7 November 2008
The North American Workshop on Sustainable Consumption and Production was convened on November 6-7, 2008, to promote a regional approach to advance sustainable consumption and production (SCP) in North America and also contribute to the global Marrakech Process. This workshop was the first regional consultation in North America and a valuable opportunity to shape North American needs and priorities for achieving SCP as well as to identify success stories, best practices, lessons learned and gaps in awareness-raising, policies and capacities to implement SCP. Regional meetings on SCP have taken place in the other five UNEP regions as part of the call of the World Summit on Sustainable Development's Johannesburg Plan of Implementation for the development of a 10-Year Framework of Programmes (10-YFP) on Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) under the United Nations’ (U.N.) “Marrakech Process.”
This meeting was organized by the Governments of Canada and the United States and the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Regional Office for North America (RONA) in collaboration with UNEP’s Division of Technology, Industry and Economics (UNEP DTIE) and in consultation with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA). The Government of Canada provided major financial support for the workshop with significant in-kind contributions from the Government of the United States and administrative assistance by UNEP.
The goals of the meeting were to:
This meeting was organized by the Governments of Canada and the United States and the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Regional Office for North America (RONA) in collaboration with UNEP’s Division of Technology, Industry and Economics (UNEP DTIE) and in consultation with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA). The Government of Canada provided major financial support for the workshop with significant in-kind contributions from the Government of the United States and administrative assistance by UNEP.
The goals of the meeting were to:
- Improve understanding of current SCP activities and approaches in North America;Define an approach to the development of a regional SCP framework;
- Identify implementation steps for North American efforts to promote SCP and provide ongoing input to the design of the Marrakech Process on the 10-Year Framework of Programmes; and
- Engage key stakeholder from the public and private sectors (including relevant government agencies, large and small companies, trade unions, environmental and consumer organizations and academic communities) in the promotion of SCP and in the development of a regional SCP framework.
Workshop documents
- Workshop agenda
- Participant bios
- Background paper 1 - Background on Sustainable Consumption & Production in North America
- Background paper 2 - Producing and Consuming Sustainably in North America
- Background paper 2 - APPENDIX
- Background paper 3 - Sustainable Consumption and Production Perspectives on a North American Vision
- Co-Chairs' Summary & workshop report
- Summary Report: North America SCP Workshop Bulletin, by IISD