Introducing the

Enabling developing countriesto seize eco-labelling opportunities

Capacity building and technical assistance for industries and governments in developing economies

UNEP mandate

Environment for Development

• Assess the state of the world’s environment & understand environmental challenges (GEO);

• Stimulate solutions to environmental problems

Promoting coherent International Environmental Law

Facilitating the development, implementation and evolution of norms and standards

• Build capacity and networks to enable implementing solutions

Six priorities and their objectives• To strengthen the ability

of countries to integrate climate change responses into national development processes

Climate Change

• that countries utilize the ecosystem approach to enhance human well-being

Ecosystem management

• that environmental governance at country, regional and global levels is strengthened to address agreed environmental priorities

Environmental governance

• that natural resources are produced, processed and consumed in a more environmentally sustainable way

Resource Efficiency - SCP

• to minimize the impact of harmful substances and hazardous waste on the environment and human beings

Harmful substances and Hazardous Wastes

• to minimize environmental threats to human well-being arising from the environmental causes and consequences of conflicts and disasters

Disasters and conflicts

Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP)

Resource efficiency and sustainable lifestyles

Influencing and advancing

sustainable consumption and

production patterns

Identifying obstacles & opportunities

Underlying

drivers for

consumptionImproving process,

products business

Modernizing infrastructure and policy framework

governments

Creating awareness, dialogues and reflection

consumer groups

Old way

extraction production distribution consumption disposal

6

Current economic development system is based on:

• Promoting increased consumption of goods and services

• Thus requiring increased production of goods and services

• Thus entailing ever increasing requirement of materials and energy

• Causing immense pressure on the natural resource base

HOW LONG AND HOW FAR?

7

1900 21002015 2050

If we go on with current production and consumption patterns

Two planets would be needed by 2050

8

Need for an alternative economic development system

• Aimed at improving the ‘well-being’ of people

• Alternative means of ‘meeting the needs’ of people, which: are more resource efficient (Cleaner Production, Eco-efficiency)

Sustain non-declining utility of the natural capital

• Links economic development with social and environmental aspects

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Sustainable resource

management

Design for sustainability

D4S

Cleaner production &

Resource Efficiency

Sustainable transport

Eco-labelling and

certification

Sustainable procurement

Sustainable marketing

Sustainable lifestyles

Waste Management

Sustainable Products based

on life cycle

Another way

Why?

• Complex product composition

• Globalized supply chain – opportunities for influencing the entire supply chain but also difficult to control inputs to the final product

• Complexity of environmental impacts

• Impacts shifting from one step in the life cycle to another

Taking the whole life cycle into account allows to take

holistic approach and improve impacts overall

Information tools

• Information tools are the ways to communicate the assessment results

• Voluntary initiatives to demonstrate environmental/sustainability qualities of products a form of assurance

• They are called different names: private/voluntary standards, certification standards, eco-labels, declarations, reporting

consumer-oriented information systems supported by detailed procedures and backed by governance structure

12

Purpose• Business:

- control performance through the supply chain supply chain /risk management tool

- communicate environmental credentials marketing tool to different products

• Consumers: Visual shopping guide action tool

• Governments : provide market incentive to produce sustainable goods and

services stimulate the demand for sustainable products through

supportive measures such as public procurement policy tool

How they function

• Provide information on the world behind the products• Use environmental and ethical values of consumers as a

market incentive for producers to improve their environmental and social performance

• Provide competitive advantage for producers in the market place

• Dynamic displacement process continuous environmental improvement

Information systems: landscape

mandatory

product labelling

usage /disposal information

declaration of contents

certificate of conformity

voluntary

‘Classical‘ ISO-Type I

(Blue Angel, EU-Flower)

ISO-Type I ‚like‘

(MSC, FSC)

others

ISO-Type IIIEPD

ISO-Type I (Eco-label)

ISO-Type II(self declaration)

national/regional

Individual company/industry

industry/national

international

Type I eco-labels

• ISO 14024, environmental multi-criteria (lifecycle thinking), multi-sectoral , third party certified

B2C: an easy aid for consumers

Leadership label: criteria are applicable for only a certain segment of the market

Type I–like eco-labels

• ISO Type I-like, often referred to as certification schemes or sustainability labelling

• Similar to Type I, main difference: focus on specific impacts (e.g. energy consumption, agricultural practice) and applied to a specific sector (energy using appliances, agricultural commodities).

• Unlike type I, they often look at social standards too.• Designed as baseline criteria for sector-wide uptake

Type II – self-declarations

• ISO 14021, self-declared, individual companies standards: large retailers or industries

• Mostly second-party certified (internal auditing)

• Communicated as sub-brand, increasingly use third party certification or certify their branded products with third-party schemes

18

Type III – product declarations

ISO 14025, environmental product declarations, similar to nutritional values matrix, based on LCA

B2B and B2C: through the supply chain or on certain durable products

Popularity of carbon footprinting but growing recognition to move beyond carbon

E.g France: CFP by major retailers in France and plans to introduce values of other impacts too and make such declarations compulsory with time

Project background

1. SCP is a global challenge: emerging global consumer class increasingly worried about the environment

2. Trade offers the opportunity of improving environmental performance of products around the world leveraging on consumers’ demand for environmentally preferable products.

1. Voluntary information schemes – a market reality with strategic importance

2. an important SCP element – interface between production and consumption patterns

Objective 1: Increase number of export products from target countries: Brazil, China, India, Kenya/Ethiopia, Mexico, South Africa awarded with a type 1 eco-label through capacity building and technical assistance

Objective 2: Develop a roadmap towards greater cooperation and mutual recognition of eco-labelling schemes

4-year project co-funded by the EuropeAid of the European Commission and the Federal Ministry for Economic

Cooperation and Development (Germany)

Key challenges:

• Information: access to coherent, credible and clear information about eco-labelling programs, requirements and markets

• Capacity building: comprehensive, coordinated and needs-based support to develop sustainable enterprises

• Policy framework: integration in supportive policy framework

Opportunities for participating countries

1. To produce high value products: environment2. To increase the international competitiveness and enhance

market access for their finished products3. To reduce the environmental impacts of the manufacturing

industries4. To improve the regional economic integration5. To be a frontrunner in respect to the other countries

The Team

Coordinator: UNEP DTIE, Sustainable Consumption and Production Branch

International partners and associates• InWent – Internationale Weiterbildung und Entwicklung gGmbH,

Capacity Building International (Germany)• Global Eco-labelling Network (GEN)• UBA: the Federal Environmental Agency (Germany)

National partners and associates• Foreign Trade Secretariat of Brazil (SECEX)• Sino-Japan Friendship Environmental Protection Centre (EDC) - China• Consumer Unit & Trust Society (CUTS) - India• National Institute for Standards and Certification (INMC) - Mexico• Kenya National Cleaner Production Centre (KNCPC) - Kenya• Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) through its

National Cleaner Production Centre (SA NCPC) - South Africa.

Project Implementation Process

1.Background

andAssessment

2.CapacityBuilding

3.Technical

Assistance 5.Conclusion,

disseminationand basesfor project replicationactivities

4.Cooperation

among eco-labelling schemes

Results achieved so far:

Motivated project team Assessment studies: legal and market situation, needs and

recommendations (selection of the label and strategies) SA decided to develop an eco-labelling programme, Ethiopia

- to join Higher awareness and engagement of stakeholders Training material developed, e-learning course Pool of experts: 25 trained to become experts on eco-

labelling and EU eco-label 16 training workshops each attended at least by 25 people At least 1 company in each country to apply for the label Requests for extension and replication

Textiles (India, South Africa)

Footwear (Mexico, Kenya)

Paper (Brazil)

Electric appliances (China)

Products groups and the EU eco-label

• Technical assistance to the companies in each target countries• TA to governments for the development of policies for eco-labelling

promotion• Continue working with eco-labelling bodies to encourage stronger

cooperation and engagement with developing countries• Regional conferences to disseminate the results• Record the lessons learned and guide for companies from

developing countries • Replicate the approach in other countries

What is next?

Expected results

• Strengthened capacity on eco-labelling among key industry’s, and governments’ representatives

• At least one product in the process of obtaining the EU Eco-label

• Increased attention of governments and other stakeholders to the question of promoting eco-labelling

• Synergies created with the development of an other regional initiatives and Global Eco-labelling Network

Thank youfor your attention!

Liazzat RabbiosiUNEP DTIE, SCP Branch

e-mail: liazzat.rabbiosi@unep.org Tel. +33 144 37 1490