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Arab Region
The Arab region launched its Regional Strategy on SCP
in Cairo, Egypt, during its second roundtable on SCP.
The 2nd roundtable meeting on sustainable consumption and
production in the Arab region took place on 27th - 29th
September 2009, at the League of Arab States (LAS) premises
in Cairo, Egypt. It was organized by UNEP in close collaboration
with the LAS, the UN ESCWA, UNIDO, United States Environmental
Protection Agency (US EPA), Centre for Environment and Development
in the Arab Region and Europe (CEDARE), US National Pollution
Prevention roundtable (NPPR) and the Egyptian National Cleaner
Production Centre.
The meeting brought together around 50 participants the
region including Government representatives, Business and
civil society as well as international organizations.
The main objectives of the meeting were to:
>>Discuss the updated draft of the Arab Regional
Strategy on SCP and develop an action plan based on
the agreed strategy incorporating the regional priorities(energy,
waste, water, poverty alleviation and rural development,
sustainable lifestyles and education but also tourism).
>>Review progress and exchanging views on the needs
and priorities of the region to feed the discussions
on SCP into the Regional Implementation Meetings as input
to the UN Commission for Sustainable Development (CSD18
and 19) and thus contribute to the elaboration of a Ten
Year Framework of Programmes on SCP (10YFP)
>>Institutionalize the roundtable to ensure
exchange of expertise & knowledge, the carrying out
of capacity building, the reviewing of case studies and
the overall development of an Arab SCP network.
Three capacity-building and training workshops were also
organized on the 29th September on 'Public participation'
organized by US EPA, 'Principles of Pollution Prevention
and Cleaner Production' organized by USEPA and NPPR and
'Sustainable Lifestyles and Education for Sustainable Consumption'
organized by UNEP.
>>See agenda
of the meeting
>>Arab Regional Strategy on SCP coming soon!
>>Meeting report coming soon!
First Roundtable Meeting of Experts
on SCP
Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates (17-19 March 2008)
The first Roundtable Meeting of Experts on Sustainable
Consumption and Production (SCP) in the Arab Region held
in Al-Ain on 17-19 March 2008 has achieved concrete outcomes,
and engaged the region actively in the Marrakech Process,
with the support of the League of Arab States (LAS)
and the UN Economic and Social Commission for West Asia
(ESCWA).
The main outcomes are listed below:
- Regional SCP priorities were identified: energy, water,
waste, rural development & poverty alleviation, and
education and sustainable lifestyles
- The region agreed to develop a 'SCP Action Plan' based
on the outcomes of the meeting and under the institutional
umbrella of the Arab Sustainable Development Strategy
and other existing declarations
- Cooperation was built with the Marrakech Task Forces
on Sustainable Public Procurement and on Sustainable Lifestyles.
A workshop on YouthXChange was held successfully
- The region called for the establishment of a regional
network on National Cleaner Production Centres (NCPCs),
to be organized in close cooperation with UNIDO
- The UAE announced their interest to establish a NCPC.
Plenary of the West Asia Expert
Meeting in Al-Ain
The meeting was attended by around 60 participants, with
good representation from governments and NCPCs, NGOS and
research centres. In future meetings, it was agreed to have
more participation from business, development cooperation
agencies and financial institutions.
As follow up of its first regional meeting on SCP, the
Arab Region is developing its regional strategy .
The draft strategy was discussed at the 40th Meeting of
the Council of Arab Ministers Responsible for Environment
(CAMRE) in December 2008, where the Arab countries were
given until 31st January 2009 to submit their comments on
the draft strategy in order to incorporate and circulate
to members of the Joint Committee, and then to 41st Meeting
of CAMRE for their approval.
Priority implementation areas include energy for sustainable
development, water resources management, waste management,
rural development and alleviation of poverty, and education
and sustainable lifestyles. The region expressed a particular
interest in areas such as cleaner production, sustainable
public procurement, eco-design and eco-labeling, life cycle
analysis, corporate social and environmental responsibility,
and environmental risk assessment.
Link:
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