The United Nations Environment Assembly,
Recalling General Assembly resolution 66/288 of 27 July 2012, on the outcome document of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, entitled “The future we want”, in particular those paragraphs relevant to sustainable consumption and production, and recognizing that fundamental changes in the way societies consume and produce are indispensable for achieving global sustainable development,
Also recalling General Assembly resolution 70/1 of September 2015, entitled “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, and acknowledging Goal 12 on “ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns”, also considering that the objective of sustainable consumption and production is reflected in other goals and targets.
Further recalling the importance of moving towards sustainable consumption and production, and noting that all countries should take action, with developed countries taking the lead, and taking into account the development and capabilities of developing countries, and acknowledging, when appropriate, that different approaches, including systems-based approaches such as sustainable materials management, material cycle society and a circular economy approach, at the national and regional levels as appropriate, contribute to sustainable consumption and production,
Further recalling its resolution 1/1, on the outcome of its first session, in particular paragraph (c) reaffirming the commitment of MINISTERS to accelerating and supporting efforts to promote sustainable consumption and production patterns, including through sustainable lifestyles and resource efficiency, and to accelerating actions, with the support of the United Nations Environment Programme, to implement the 10-year framework of programmes on sustainable consumption and production patterns as a tool for action on sustainable consumption and production, including its section on means of implementation,
Noting that efforts towards striving to achieve a land degradation neutral world and urban sustainability are important for supporting healthy ecosystem functions and services, and for enhancing food security,
Highlighting the commitment set out in paragraph 28 of General Assembly resolution 70/1 to making fundamental changes in the way that our societies produce and consume goods and services, including calling upon relevant stakeholders to contribute to changing unsustainable consumption and production patterns, including through the mobilization, from all sources, of financial and technical assistance to strengthen developing countries’ scientific, technological and innovative capacities to move towards more sustainable patterns of consumption and production,
Reaffirming the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns adopted at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, supporting its objectives and goals, and acknowledging the role of the United Nations Environment Programme as the Secretariat of the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns and as an implementing partner in all its programmes,
Acknowledging that the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns is a global framework for action to support regional and national initiatives to move towards sustainable consumption and production in both developed and developing countries in order to promote social and economic development within the carrying capacity of ecosystems, by endeavouring to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation, improving efficiency and sustainability in the use of resources and production processes, and reducing resource depletion, pollution and waste,
Emphasizing the need to further strengthen programmes, partnerships, and frameworks, such as the 10YFP, relevant to sustainable consumption and production to replicate and scale up sustainable consumption and production policies and good practices, respecting national ownership of countries’ development strategies,
Welcoming efforts at the various level to promote sustainable consumption and production through regional frameworks and forums, and other initiatives
Highlighting the importance of a promoting sustainable consumption and production patterns, taking into account national capabilities and priorities to ensure sustainable provision and utilization of natural resources and materials throughout the value chain while also maintaining and rehabilitating ecosystems and their services/functions and contributing to climate change mitigation and adaptation, and noting the importance of tools to facilitate and scale up investments,
Acknowledging that further action is needed to address challenges posed by management of nutrients and their impact on the environment,
Recognizing the importance of evolving science and knowledge in terms of sustainable use of natural resources in the context of coherent implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in particular the work of the International Resource Panel,
1. Encourages member States to take the necessary steps to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 12 and related targets in other Sustainable Development Goals, taking into account national capabilities and priorities recognizing the objective of moving towards sustainable consumption and production patterns, while improving global resource efficiency and endeavouring to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation, in accordance with the 10YFP on SCP, with developed countries taking the lead;
2. Encourages all member States, as well as other relevant stakeholders, to move towards sustainable consumption and production patterns, while taking into account national development priorities, policies and strategies, and to collaborate to:
(a) Promote life cycle approaches, including resource efficiency and sustainable use and management of resources, as well as science-based and traditional knowledge-based approaches, cradle-to-cradle and the 3Rs concept (reduce, reuse and recycle), and other related approaches, as appropriate
(b) Facilitate actions including by exchange of experiences and capacity building on the life-cycle approach, for materials, goods and services in order to use resources more efficiently,
(c) Promote the integration of sustainability into each stage of the life cycle of goods and services,
(d) Improve the availability of information that enables consumers, investors, companies and Governments to make informed decisions
(e) Invite companies to adopt sustainable practices and to continue enhancing the reporting of sustainability information consistent with evolving international standards
(f) Strengthen the enabling conditions for the creation of sound and equitable markets for secondary materials;
(g) Design and implement national sustainable consumption and production policies and action plans or broader sustainability strategies having sustainable consumption and production as a part, in accordance with national priorities and conditions;
(h) Integrate sustainable consumption and production in education/training to promote the shift to sustainable consumption and production patterns in all countries;
3. Encourages all countries and relevant stakeholders to take ambitious action to implement the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns and to achieve sustainable consumption and production-related goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including by using the 10-Year Framework of Programmes as a tool for implementing the 2030 Agenda;
4. Also encourages all countries to promote public procurement practices that are sustainable, in accordance with national policies and priorities;
5. Requests the Executive Director to ensure that the United Nations Environment Programme continues and strengthens its work to facilitate coordinated efforts in all regions to ensure sustainable consumption and production and implementation of the goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development that are relevant to sustainable consumption and production, including through continued efforts to provide support, analyses and data;
6. Also requests the Executive Director to continue and strengthen the efforts of the United Nations Environment Programme to facilitate implementation of all programmes of the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns, taking into account national strategies, capabilities and priorities, including through:
(a) Strengthening multi-stakeholder partnerships within and between the thematic programmes, including through strategic linkages with other global initiatives that showcase best practices, business cases, innovation and new business models for resource efficiency and sustainable consumption and production, and that facilitate implementation of the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns;
(b) Broadening the funding resources for the implementation of the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns;
(c) Establishing implementing measures for the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns, in support of the Sustainable Development Goals
(d) Monitoring and evaluating progress towards implementing the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns through the indicator framework;
(e) Supporting statistical capacity building in developing countries for an adequate measurement, follow-up and review of the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns, including through the agreed indicators for Sustainable Development Goal targets related to sustainable consumption and production;
7. Encourages member States and stakeholders, engaging both public and private sector interests, to collaborate to initiate partnerships and alliances in order to find innovative ways towards achieving resource-efficient societies;
8. Requests the Executive Director in particular to initiate and strengthen multi stakeholder partnerships within available resources to facilitate sharing and implementation of best practices of sustainable consumption and production across relevant sectors;
9. Invites member States to further develop and implement sustainable urban development policies that promote resource efficiency and resilience and respectively align sectoral policies such as transport, energy, waste and waste water management and sustainable buildings and construction, including making use of opportunities from digitization, and request the Executive Director to explore opportunities to strengthen cooperation to promote it at the city level within the United Nations system and with other relevant stakeholders;
10. Notes that sustainable consumption and production approaches and policies, at all levels such as good practices, public-private partnerships and economic incentives can be useful tools in improving sustainability in different areas, including urban planning, natural resource conservation, resources management, land use management and nutrient management, which can be promoted through regional frameworks and forums, and other initiatives
11. Requests the Executive Director within and between UNEP’s programmes and activities to facilitate sharing of information and best practices and strengthen multi-stakeholder cooperation to advance good practices and generate multiple benefits of sustainable consumption and production in different areas
12. Encourages the Executive Director to continue to provide scientific and expert support through the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns, in cooperation with relevant organizations, programmes and forums, to increase the understanding of sustainable consumption and production patterns in the different regions and the effectiveness of policies, programmes and/or strategies in promoting sustainable consumption and production;
13. Invites the international resource panel and other relevant scientific and expert groups, to make available reports relevant to this resolution, including on the state, trends, and outlook of sustainable consumption and production to a future meeting of the United Nations Environment Assembly but not later than 2019;
14. Encourages member States, and others in a position to do so, to mobilize voluntary contributions from multiple sources to support the Trust Fund of the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns to develop sustainable consumption and production programmes in developing countries and in countries with economies in transition.