Poland and Romania
Statement on Sustainable Production and Consumption Patterns
Thank you, Mr. Chair, for giving me the floor. I will be speaking on behalf of Poland and Romania. Let me firstly associate ourselves with the statement delivered by the European Union.
Mr Chair,
Given that one of the main outcomes of Rio+20 was the adoption of the Ten Year Framework of Programmes for Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns, now it becomes ever-more necessary to join efforts in operationalizing and fully implementing its 5 programmes: consumer information, sustainable public procurement, sustainable lifestyles and education, sustainable buildings and construction and sustainable tourism, including eco-tourism.
Creating an approach for consumption and production for the 21st century requires change. Our societal objectives, hard and soft infrastructure, and the tools we use to deliver our objectives, need a rethink. Whereas in the past, we focused more on wealth, growth and efficiency, the future will need to be about well-being, quality and sufficiency. The SCP agenda offers the opportunity to develop an intelligent and controlled transition to living better and more equally, within planetary limits.
It is essential that the SCP agenda is seen as a strategic one that is embedded in an appropriate institutional framework. It should be seen as an overarching agenda playing a central role in our national Sustainable Development Strategies. The 3Rs “reduce, reuse, recycle” principle should guide both production and consumption patterns, as well as the provision of social infrastructure for sustainable lifestyles, information-based instruments, regulatory and economic instruments.
There should be sharing of responsibility for sustainable consumption and production. This should involve governments (both local and national), the private sector, labour (trade union movement) and civil society as to a certain extent we are all producers and consumers, some more than others. We should act on building partnerships with the private sector to boost investments in environmentally-friendly technologies.
Changing our ingrained patterns of consumption and production to be more sustainable will require fundamental alterations to our behaviour as individuals and organisations. More particularly, it will require us to challenge and revolutionise prevailing business models that externalise social and environmental costs and pass on the debt of negative impacts to future generations.
Action by companies is fundamental to achieving SCP. Individual businesses cannot address the entire agenda, but they can address their own impacts. Business can work on some aspects with a great degree of autonomy, and many are doing so. Other aspects require more collaborative solutions.
In conclusion, we believe that sustainable consumption and production can be strong driver in a future transformative agenda.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, for giving me the floor. I will be speaking on behalf of Poland and Romania. Let me firstly associate ourselves with the statement delivered by the European Union.
Mr Chair,
Given that one of the main outcomes of Rio+20 was the adoption of the Ten Year Framework of Programmes for Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns, now it becomes ever-more necessary to join efforts in operationalizing and fully implementing its 5 programmes: consumer information, sustainable public procurement, sustainable lifestyles and education, sustainable buildings and construction and sustainable tourism, including eco-tourism.
Creating an approach for consumption and production for the 21st century requires change. Our societal objectives, hard and soft infrastructure, and the tools we use to deliver our objectives, need a rethink. Whereas in the past, we focused more on wealth, growth and efficiency, the future will need to be about well-being, quality and sufficiency. The SCP agenda offers the opportunity to develop an intelligent and controlled transition to living better and more equally, within planetary limits.
It is essential that the SCP agenda is seen as a strategic one that is embedded in an appropriate institutional framework. It should be seen as an overarching agenda playing a central role in our national Sustainable Development Strategies. The 3Rs “reduce, reuse, recycle” principle should guide both production and consumption patterns, as well as the provision of social infrastructure for sustainable lifestyles, information-based instruments, regulatory and economic instruments.
There should be sharing of responsibility for sustainable consumption and production. This should involve governments (both local and national), the private sector, labour (trade union movement) and civil society as to a certain extent we are all producers and consumers, some more than others. We should act on building partnerships with the private sector to boost investments in environmentally-friendly technologies.
Changing our ingrained patterns of consumption and production to be more sustainable will require fundamental alterations to our behaviour as individuals and organisations. More particularly, it will require us to challenge and revolutionise prevailing business models that externalise social and environmental costs and pass on the debt of negative impacts to future generations.
Action by companies is fundamental to achieving SCP. Individual businesses cannot address the entire agenda, but they can address their own impacts. Business can work on some aspects with a great degree of autonomy, and many are doing so. Other aspects require more collaborative solutions.
In conclusion, we believe that sustainable consumption and production can be strong driver in a future transformative agenda.