Canada
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Delivered by: Lauren Sweeney / Canada
CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY
Canada?s Statement
Intergovernmental Preparatory Meeting for
United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development ? 19th Session
10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and
Production
New York, 3 March 2011, 9:00 am
Canada would like to start its intervention by reporting on the January 31 -
February 1, 2011, North American Sustainable Consumption and Production
Workshop on Green Building that the Governments of Canada and the United
States as well as the United Nations Environment Program held in Ottawa,
Canada.
The goal of the workshop was to foster a multi-stakeholder dialogue promoting
bi-national collaboration on green building, as an important application of
advancing international Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) efforts.
The Workshop successfully accomplished this goal and demonstrated that North
America?s approach has something to contribute to other countries in showing
collaboration among governments and business/ civil society can move us
forward with SCP. A key message emerging from the workshop is that
government policy frameworks could be complemented by industry initiatives and
partnerships as much as possible, in pursuit of SCP. A variety of stakeholders
should be involved in such partnerships.
More specifically, in North America the green building sector has led
development of greening standards and certification processes that build on
government frameworks. Industry is also partnering with governments to move
toward 'net zero' impact buildings and beyond. This collaboration among diverse
partners can be a model for advancing SCP in other regions .
The workshop also demonstrated how existing collaborations can move forward.
Indeed, many topics for collaboration emerged at the workshop such as on life
cycle databases, partnerships between cities, and the skills gap in the operation
and building performance of green buildings. Based on this success in
establishing collaboration and partnerships, participants agreed that this
workshop could serve as a good model for North American workshops on other
sectors, such as agriculture and tourism.
With respect to developing draft decisions for the 10 Year Framework of
Programmes on SCP (10 YFP), Canada is interested in a 10 YFP that supports
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the numerous SCP activities that are currently taking place in Canada and
elsewhere, whether they are being promoted by the federal, provincial, municipal
governments, civil society, business or other stakeholders. This support could
take the form of giving international recognition to these initiatives and promoting
best practices that could be shared with other countries.
Canada supports the role of the CSD as a forum which provides the opportunity
to share experiences, assess risks and challenges, and make informed decisions
based on an integrated perspective on economic, social and environmental
objectives.
Canada also believes that the Marrakech process and its bottom-up approach
have been useful in supporting Sustainable Consumption and Production
initiatives. Canada hopes that we can draw on the Marrakech process
experience to develop a practical 10 YFP that is open and supportive of national
and regional actions.
Canada supports the criteria of flexibility identified in current discussions about
the 10 YFP model. Also, while acknowledging the need to simplify
communications, Canada has concerns with the potential reporting burden that
could arise from any new structure.
Canada also considers that many SCP related topics (e.g., energy, water) are
already covered by other international agreements / institutions and that in
developing a 10 YFP it will be important to avoid duplication of effort and
resources with other international processes.
Canada?s Federal Sustainable Development Strategy released in October of
2010 includes most of Canada?s Federal Government programs related to
Sustainable Consumption and Production. The Strategy will be updated every
three years and will reflect Canada?s current Federal SCP priorities and
programs.
Canada?s Federal Sustainable Development Strategy also includes greening
government operations targets for the federal government that will contribute to
promoting sustainable consumption and production.
The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development taking place in
2012 (Rio+20) includes the Green Economy as one of its themes. As SCP
initiatives support the transition to a green economy, there are opportunities to
make a clearer link between the CSD-19 discussions on SCP and the Rio+20
Conference.
Delivered by: Lauren Sweeney / Canada
CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY
Canada?s Statement
Intergovernmental Preparatory Meeting for
United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development ? 19th Session
10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and
Production
New York, 3 March 2011, 9:00 am
Canada would like to start its intervention by reporting on the January 31 -
February 1, 2011, North American Sustainable Consumption and Production
Workshop on Green Building that the Governments of Canada and the United
States as well as the United Nations Environment Program held in Ottawa,
Canada.
The goal of the workshop was to foster a multi-stakeholder dialogue promoting
bi-national collaboration on green building, as an important application of
advancing international Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) efforts.
The Workshop successfully accomplished this goal and demonstrated that North
America?s approach has something to contribute to other countries in showing
collaboration among governments and business/ civil society can move us
forward with SCP. A key message emerging from the workshop is that
government policy frameworks could be complemented by industry initiatives and
partnerships as much as possible, in pursuit of SCP. A variety of stakeholders
should be involved in such partnerships.
More specifically, in North America the green building sector has led
development of greening standards and certification processes that build on
government frameworks. Industry is also partnering with governments to move
toward 'net zero' impact buildings and beyond. This collaboration among diverse
partners can be a model for advancing SCP in other regions .
The workshop also demonstrated how existing collaborations can move forward.
Indeed, many topics for collaboration emerged at the workshop such as on life
cycle databases, partnerships between cities, and the skills gap in the operation
and building performance of green buildings. Based on this success in
establishing collaboration and partnerships, participants agreed that this
workshop could serve as a good model for North American workshops on other
sectors, such as agriculture and tourism.
With respect to developing draft decisions for the 10 Year Framework of
Programmes on SCP (10 YFP), Canada is interested in a 10 YFP that supports
- 2 -
the numerous SCP activities that are currently taking place in Canada and
elsewhere, whether they are being promoted by the federal, provincial, municipal
governments, civil society, business or other stakeholders. This support could
take the form of giving international recognition to these initiatives and promoting
best practices that could be shared with other countries.
Canada supports the role of the CSD as a forum which provides the opportunity
to share experiences, assess risks and challenges, and make informed decisions
based on an integrated perspective on economic, social and environmental
objectives.
Canada also believes that the Marrakech process and its bottom-up approach
have been useful in supporting Sustainable Consumption and Production
initiatives. Canada hopes that we can draw on the Marrakech process
experience to develop a practical 10 YFP that is open and supportive of national
and regional actions.
Canada supports the criteria of flexibility identified in current discussions about
the 10 YFP model. Also, while acknowledging the need to simplify
communications, Canada has concerns with the potential reporting burden that
could arise from any new structure.
Canada also considers that many SCP related topics (e.g., energy, water) are
already covered by other international agreements / institutions and that in
developing a 10 YFP it will be important to avoid duplication of effort and
resources with other international processes.
Canada?s Federal Sustainable Development Strategy released in October of
2010 includes most of Canada?s Federal Government programs related to
Sustainable Consumption and Production. The Strategy will be updated every
three years and will reflect Canada?s current Federal SCP priorities and
programs.
Canada?s Federal Sustainable Development Strategy also includes greening
government operations targets for the federal government that will contribute to
promoting sustainable consumption and production.
The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development taking place in
2012 (Rio+20) includes the Green Economy as one of its themes. As SCP
initiatives support the transition to a green economy, there are opportunities to
make a clearer link between the CSD-19 discussions on SCP and the Rio+20
Conference.
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