Annex
DEFRA NEWS
RELEASE
6 February 2003
41/03
Towards a UK Strategy for Sustainable
Consumption and Production: Beckett
In a keynote speech given today at the "Guardian
and the Observer Business and Society Conference" in London,
Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett announced the development
of a UK strategy for sustainable consumption and production (SCP),
one of the key commitments made at the Johannesburg Summit in
September 2002.
The strategy, to be developed over the coming
months with a view to publication in early Summer, would provide
a clear and concise statement of the Government's aims and objectives
on taking forward the SCP agenda;
"The strategy will set out the framework
for future action by government and business, to drive the transition
towards sustainable development. It will also set out the steps
that we will be taking to fulfil our commitment, made in Johannesburg,
to sustainable consumption and production."
The role of stakeholders will be an important
element in the developing strategy and Defra, which will oversee
the development of policy in this area, will be seeking the views
of a wide range of interests, including those of other Departments
and the Devolved Administrations. Input from external groups such
as the Sustainable Development Commission and the Government's
advisory committees ACBE and ACCPE will also be sought. In reaffirming
her commitment to the important role of stakeholders in helping
to shape environmental policy Mrs Beckett said;
"We aim to publish this in early summer,
and will work closely with colleagues in DTI, the Treasury and
elsewhere in the development of the strategy and taking it forward.
I hope that many of you will be able to contribute to this."
In setting out the framework for future action
by Government and business the strategy will encompass linkages
to existing and planned activities at national, EU and wider international
level and also take account of parallel workstreams including
the recently published Strategy Unit report on waste ("Waste
not, want not" November 2002), the forthcoming report to
Government from the Sustainable Procurement Group and the Energy
White Paper.
NOTES FOR
EDITORS
1. One of the key WSSD outcomes was a commitment
"to promote a 10-year framework of programmes in support
of more sustainable patterns of consumption and production".
Sustainable consumption and production (SCP) is an ambitious agenda
both in terms of the overall scope of the different issues to
be addressed and the array of actions/policies that need to be
enhanced, introduced or developed, which all need to be coherent
and complementary.
2. The strategy will set our approach to
this challenge at UK level, and translate our commitment into
practical action at national level. It will also inform our contribution
to policy frameworks, priorities and plans at EU and international
level (including UNEP and OECD).
3. The work we have already done on resource
productivity (and other related themes over the last year) will
provide a basis for further work and action at UK and EU level.
Since WSSD, we have been actively cooperating with EU partners
to identify priorities and ensure proper integration with other
relevant strategies for sustainable development, innovation and
growth. This includes getting clarity about the wider role of
international organisations, notably OECD and UNEP. Ideas for
this have been set out in a paper from the EU Working party on
International Environmental Issues, submitted to the UNEP Governing
Council which meets in Nairobi in from 3-7 February 2003.
4. During 2002, Defra led work across Whitehall
on the response to the Strategy Unit report, "Resource Productivity:
making more with less" of November 2001. The Strategy Unit's
work on resource productivity was one of three complementary workstreams,
sitting with its energy review (which led to the Energy White
Paper) and its recently published waste review ("Waste not,
want not" of November 2002).
5. The sustainable consumption and production
strategy will:
— Set out the economic, social and
environmental rationale for long-term policy planning to decouple
economic growth from environmental degradation and resource use.
— Draw on the two major policy blocks
of energy and waste as core elements of a "sustainable consumption
and production" future.
— Consider the case for further indicators
for resource use as a means to drive long-term improvements.
— Set out the Government's approach
to sustainable consumption, with specific proposals to help empower
consumers and improve the environmental impacts of goods and services
(eg with better information right through the supply chain to
end consumers).
— Identify the key policy levers for
encouraging SCP, and set out how a coordinated use of tools and
instruments could drive such a programme.
6. A number of existing programmes within
the UK are already contributing to this policy direction—eg
the Sustainable Technologies Initiative, the Envirowise programme,
WRAP, the Market Transformation Programme and the work of the
Carbon Trust and the Energy Saving Trust. Other market drivers
are also being actively considered, notably in the context of
the recent Treasury statement on green taxation and the review
of policy and practice on sustainable procurement across Government.
7. Today's conference by the Guardian and
the Observer Business and Society is exploring the role of responsible
business in the context of the globalisation debate and the challenges
which face managers seeking to meet the demands of employees,
consumers, campaigners and shareholders. The Secretary of State's
speech, which is available from Defra's Press Office, will move
the debate forward on the role of companies in sustainable development
and that of government in promoting transparency in the context
of the company law review.
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