Africa Review Report on Sustainable Consumption and Production - Main Report English]

Moving to more sustainable consumption and production (SCP) is at the heart of sustainable development, and international cooperation is essential to effect that transition. Recognizing this, governments at the Johannesburg Summit in 2002 called for the development of a 10-year framework of programmes (10-YFP) in support of regional and national initiatives to accelerate the shift towards SCP patterns that would promote social and economic development within the carrying capacity of ecosystems. The 10-YFP was among the cluster of issues discussed during the Eighteenth Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-18) in 2010. CSD-18 reviewed progress and achievements, as well as obstacles and challenges to implementation of SCP. CSD-19 will serve as the basis for negotiations for the global 10-YFP on SCP. The Marrakech Process, led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), is the global platform that brings all stakeholders together to work jointly in the promotion and implementation of SCP patterns and elaboration of this 10-YFP on SCP. United Nations General Assembly Resolution 58/218 mandated the United Nations Regional Commissions in collaboration with the Secretariat of CSD, regional institutions as well as United Nations organizations to organize multi-stakeholder Regional Implementation Meetings (RIMs) to provide regional input to CSD work. The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in collaboration with other UN organizations and other institutions including United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) organized the Africa RIM for CSD-18 in October 2009, under the auspices of the Sixth Session of the Committee on Food Security and Sustainable Development (CFSSD-6). This RIM reviewed progress achieved in the thematic cluster of issues discussed at CSD-18, based on the commitments, goals and targets agreed in Agenda 21 (A21), the Programme for Further Implementation of Agenda 21 (PFIA21), and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPOI). To undertake the implementation review, the Committee had this regional review report before it for consideration. The Secretariat of the African Roundtable on Sustainable Consumption and Production (ARSCP), with guidance from UNEP and UNECA, took the lead role in its preparation. It provides an in-depth review of concrete actions and achievements, identifies and documents implementation challenges and constraints, and proposes the way forward for accelerating implementation progress in the area of SCP in Africa.