5 Initiatives in the amber box: shift in...., Danish Environmental Protection Agency

Build on the Positive Trends - next steps in the global effort for sustainable production and consumption

5 Initiatives in the amber box: shift in production and consumption

So far, an important element in national and international efforts towards sustainable production and consumption has been the use of political instruments aimed chiefly at shifting production and consumption from more to less environmentally harmful products, rather than promoting or halting particular types of consumption.

The need for massive work in this area will continue into the future, although it is generally important to focus not solely on the products’ environmental damage, but also on other consequences for sustainable development, not least if the products improve or worsen the living conditions of poor people.

Proposal 4: World commissions on the production of raw materials (UNEP and World Bank)

Developing countries are still, to a great extent, fulfilling the role as suppliers of raw materials for rich countries. In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to the side effects of commodity extraction. Mining, oil-drilling and logging are examples of activities that frequently cause damage to the environment and communities in developing countries.

In 2000, the World Commission on Dams (WCD) published a reassessment of the global expansion of hydroelectric power.¹¹ The commission, composed of a group of experts and stakeholders, estimated the positive and negative effects, issuing recommendations on precautions to be taken on the occasion of future dam-building. One of the parties behind the initiative was the World Bank, which also contributed financially to its work.

The same model should be pursued to set up world commissions tasked with assessing the production of raw materials in developing countries. It will probably be most appropriate to let the UNEP and the World Bank organise the commissions together. UNEP could follow up on the commissions’ work by developing sector-specific guidelines for environmental protection, which could serve as inspiration for commodity producers as well as environmental authorities in developing countries.

Proposal 5: Sector-specific objectives for sustainable production and consumption (OECD)

As mentioned, one ambition of the ten-year framework for programmes of sustainable production and consumption should be that rich countries can present an array of examples of sectors in which it has been possible, over some years, not just to maintain the decoupling of environmental degradation and economic growth, but also to reduce markedly the stress on the environment.

If this is to be achieved, cooperation must be started very swiftly to bring about measurable changes at the sector level in rich countries. Such a joint enterprise would be a natural extension of the OECD’s effort towards sustainable development.

Establishing international cooperation on the selection of sectors, objectives, policy tools, etc. brings with it practical benefits for authorities as well as businesses. For firms about to invest in producing less environmentally harmful products, international cooperation has the advantage of preserving their competitiveness, since the producers of other countries will have to incur the same expense. For those firms that deliver environmental goods and services, an international effort has the benefit of expanding the potential market for their products.

In connection with the selection of sectors, definition of objectives, etc., it is important to assess and take account of consequences for the environment and development in developing countries. In this regard, it should be estimated if the measures give rise to special needs for transferring environmental technology to developing countries.

Among the essential tools are clear recommendations to public purchasers and other consumers. Such recommendations may also serve to involve local authorities meaningfully in the effort for sustainable production and consumption.

Proposal 6: Experiments with international environmental taxes – tax on aviation fuel (OECD)

The polluter-pays principle has long been recognised as a desirable goal of international environmental policy-making. Nevertheless, the world community has scant experience of international levies on environmentally harmful activities. Moreover, no agreement has been reached on phasing out subsidies to environmentally harmful production and consumption.

Aviation fuel is among the most obvious candidates for a system of international environmental taxes. Unlike the fuel for wheeled traffic, aircraft fuel is rarely subject to any particular duties, but the damage to the climate is much greater in the air than on land. Since the emission of nitric oxides (NO_x) in the higher layers of the atmosphere and the condensation trail also contribute to global warming, the overall greenhouse effect of flying is 2-4 times greater than the effect of the aircraft’s CO₂emissions.¹²

In order to introduce international environmental taxes, a world-wide system should not be attempted from the outset. Duties on aircraft fuel in all OECD countries, or just in the EU, will probably make a significant impact and be feasible to administer.

It is also relevant to establish international environmental taxes in other fields, e.g. on industrial greenhouse gasses (HFCs, PFCs and SF₆) or on extraction of rare raw materials.

Proposal 7: Stronger implementation of guidelines for multinational companies (OECD)

In the long run, binding global rules should be introduced to enforce corporate responsibility for sustainable development. Today, there is merely an assortment of voluntary guidelines. The most important set of guidelines was passed by all OECD countries at a ministerial meeting in 2000.

‘The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises’, cover the enterprises’ activities all over the world. According to these guidelines the companies should, for instance: respect human rights; respect the workers’ right to form unions; contribute to fighting child labour; establish and maintain a system of environmental management with measurable objectives; spread environmentally-optimal technology to all parts of the company and keep the population informed; refrain form giving bribes; and refrain from seeking exemptions from national rules on environment, working conditions, taxation, etc.¹³

Allthough the guidelines are voluntary, a contact point exists in every OECD country which receive complaints on companies that are believed to violate the rules. If the guidelines are to make a real difference, the authorities have to start vigorously publicising the rules, monitor their compliance, and seriously address concrete complaints.

The OECD governments may take the opportunity to demand adherence to the rules in connection with the use of public subsidy schemes, such as export credits. It would also be natural to require pension funds, which often enjoy tax privileges, to seek to ensure that the companies in which they invest are abiding by the OECD’s guidelines.

Under the auspices of the OECD, specific agreements should map out an ambitious and coordinated effort among the countries to promote observance of the guidelines.

Proposal 8: Development of technology-transfer programmes (EU, WTO)

In Rio, the rich countries committed themselves to transferring environmental technology to developing countries on favourable terms.¹⁴ This pledge was confirmed at the summit in Johannesburg.¹⁵ At the WTO’s Ministerial Conference in Doha, the rich countries also committed themselves to providing financial and technical assistance to those least-developed countries, which may experience problems as result of new environmental and health standards in other countries.¹⁶

A handful of rich countries have long tried to live up to the commitment from Rio. For example Denmark, which has a separate programme of environmental aid for developing countries since 1993. One experience of this programme is that developing countries are keen to gain access to modern environmental technology. At the global level, the Montreal Protocol’s multilateral fund is systematically promoting the transfer of technology to developing countries, just as some effort is being made under the aegis of the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and international environmental conventions.

If developing countries are to be constructively engaged in global environmental work, it is crucial that rich countries live up to their commitments to transfer environmental technology. Given its prominent environmental profile and development assistance to virtually every developing country, it is natural for the EU to take the lead in this area. Thus, EU should establish a separate environmental aid programme, which supports technology transfer, demonstration projects and corresponding capacity building to all developing countries on the basis of the countries own assessment of needs. At the same time, steps must be taken to flesh out and widen obligations under the WTO.

Proposal 9: Global initiative for training of product designers (UNESCO)

In Rio, all countries undertook to integrate teaching in environment and development into all levels of their education system by 1995.¹⁷ Unfortunately, not all countries have complied with this commitment.

It is beyond comprehension that some rich countries are still not systematically teaching their future product designers to consider environmental concerns. In order to promote less environmentally harmful products, it is important to ensure that designers, engineers, architects, builders, etc. are solidly grounded in environmental issues. Obviously, they should also be taught to assess the social impact of their designs in developing countries.

The UN General Assembly has proclaimed a Decade of Education for Sustainable Development starting on 1 January 2005. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) carries overall responsibility for organising this. It seems obvious to take the opportunity to launch a global initiative which should ensure that future product designers are trained in paying attention to sustainable development.

Experiences should be exchanged between the countries, while deadlines must be set for incorporation into educational curricula. Rich countries should have ample time to complete this before the start of the decade. Moreover, objectives should be laid down for assistance to ministries of education and to educational establishments in developing countries.

Proposal 10: Impact assessment of future technologies (OECD and UNEP)

International environmental policy-makers set great store by the reductions in environmental damage to be enabled by future technological progress. Despite this optimistic approach, there is no international cooperation to continuously assess the environmental potential of future developments within a wide range of technologies.

Such cooperation should be established to contribute to setting research priorities, ensure faster dissemination of less harmful technologies, and avoid investment in technologies conducive to greater environmental risks.

It will probably be most appropriate to set up two separate bodies of cooperation, one to monitor technological development, primarily directed towards the industrialised countries, and another to promote technological development, mainly aimed at servicing developing countries. It appears relevant to place the former under the auspices of the OECD, and the second within the UNEP.