Australia, The Netherlands and United Kingdom
Sustainable Consumption and Production / Climate Change
Statement by Australia, Netherlands and UK
Mr co-Chair
We believe that the efficient use of natural resources and more inclusive growth is critical to sustaining economic growth, creating jobs, raising living standards, improving health and wellbeing, protecting and enhancing the environment and the ecosystem services it provides, tackling the impacts of climate change while driving low emission development and the transition to low carbon economies, and expanding economic and social choices.
We have already mentioned a number of targets on Sustainable Consumption and Production in our interventions under other focus areas. Our troika would like to see Sustainable Consumption and Production effectively integrated across the framework in key areas such as agriculture, food, water, economic growth and energy. This will be critical to the future sustainable use of natural resources. We believe that six targets from the co-chairs’ focus area on Sustainable Consumption and Production could be included with slight modification, as follows:
• Achieve greater sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources
• Encourage greater resource productivity of economic activities, through integrating a product life-cycle approach in supply chains.
• Redouble efforts to raise awareness for creating a culture of sufficiency and sustainable lifestyles including sustainability information on products and services.
• Increase the proportion of companies reporting on corporate, social and environmental responsibility, including through integrated reporting.
• Increase the efficient use of resources including through increased waste prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse.
• Encourage incentives that promote sustainable consumption and production patterns including through a product life-cycle approach and voluntary initiatives
Climate Change
Mr co-Chair, regarding climate change, we feel that the Open Working Group and UNFCCC processes should be complementary, but separate. We need to be aware of the risk – for both processes - of making the handling of climate change in our proposals contingent on the outcome the UNFCCC. On the other hand, we need to ensure complementarity. Keeping this in mind, pragmatic solutions are called for. We believe that the post-2015 goal framework should visibly recognize, in an integrated manner, that tackling climate change and meeting the ‘below 2 degrees C objective’ is essential to poverty eradication and should support efforts to achieve this. Climate is a cross-cutting issue which could be properly integrated into a number of focus areas, in particular growth, food, health, water, energy, and by ensuring targets across the framework are “climate-smart” We support refining relevant targets in focus areas that include climate-related action, including (but not restricted to) those related to disaster resilience, climate-smart agriculture, sustainable energy and deforestation.
Finally
We have noted a number of interventions on the OWG process, based on concerns over substance and balance in the focus areas document. We also have serious substantive concerns regarding this document. We have raised our concerns throughout this week and we will continue to raise them. But we have faith in our process. Changing the working procedures of this group will not help us achieve a better result.
- We remain committed to an ambitious outcome that is carried by this group. To be able to achieve that, we feel that a reorganization of the process will distract from the important substantive discussions and delay our progress.
- We would like to stress that the Open Working Group is 'open'. We appreciate the interaction with and input of civil society members, fostering accountability and dialogue.
- We stress the need to continue to involve capitals. The OWG should produce ambitious goals and targets that will need to be carried and implemented by our governments and societies at home.
Thank you
Statement by Australia, Netherlands and UK
Mr co-Chair
We believe that the efficient use of natural resources and more inclusive growth is critical to sustaining economic growth, creating jobs, raising living standards, improving health and wellbeing, protecting and enhancing the environment and the ecosystem services it provides, tackling the impacts of climate change while driving low emission development and the transition to low carbon economies, and expanding economic and social choices.
We have already mentioned a number of targets on Sustainable Consumption and Production in our interventions under other focus areas. Our troika would like to see Sustainable Consumption and Production effectively integrated across the framework in key areas such as agriculture, food, water, economic growth and energy. This will be critical to the future sustainable use of natural resources. We believe that six targets from the co-chairs’ focus area on Sustainable Consumption and Production could be included with slight modification, as follows:
• Achieve greater sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources
• Encourage greater resource productivity of economic activities, through integrating a product life-cycle approach in supply chains.
• Redouble efforts to raise awareness for creating a culture of sufficiency and sustainable lifestyles including sustainability information on products and services.
• Increase the proportion of companies reporting on corporate, social and environmental responsibility, including through integrated reporting.
• Increase the efficient use of resources including through increased waste prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse.
• Encourage incentives that promote sustainable consumption and production patterns including through a product life-cycle approach and voluntary initiatives
Climate Change
Mr co-Chair, regarding climate change, we feel that the Open Working Group and UNFCCC processes should be complementary, but separate. We need to be aware of the risk – for both processes - of making the handling of climate change in our proposals contingent on the outcome the UNFCCC. On the other hand, we need to ensure complementarity. Keeping this in mind, pragmatic solutions are called for. We believe that the post-2015 goal framework should visibly recognize, in an integrated manner, that tackling climate change and meeting the ‘below 2 degrees C objective’ is essential to poverty eradication and should support efforts to achieve this. Climate is a cross-cutting issue which could be properly integrated into a number of focus areas, in particular growth, food, health, water, energy, and by ensuring targets across the framework are “climate-smart” We support refining relevant targets in focus areas that include climate-related action, including (but not restricted to) those related to disaster resilience, climate-smart agriculture, sustainable energy and deforestation.
Finally
We have noted a number of interventions on the OWG process, based on concerns over substance and balance in the focus areas document. We also have serious substantive concerns regarding this document. We have raised our concerns throughout this week and we will continue to raise them. But we have faith in our process. Changing the working procedures of this group will not help us achieve a better result.
- We remain committed to an ambitious outcome that is carried by this group. To be able to achieve that, we feel that a reorganization of the process will distract from the important substantive discussions and delay our progress.
- We would like to stress that the Open Working Group is 'open'. We appreciate the interaction with and input of civil society members, fostering accountability and dialogue.
- We stress the need to continue to involve capitals. The OWG should produce ambitious goals and targets that will need to be carried and implemented by our governments and societies at home.
Thank you