Role of Major Groups in the Marrakech Process

Marrakech Process

Role of Major Groups in the Marrakech Process

admin 06-19-2007, 2:16 AM

In Stockholm, on the afternoon of Tuesday, June 26, there will be a panel discussion on the role of Major Groups in the Marrakech Process. The panel will feature speakers representing Industry, Local Authorities, Consumer Organizations, and NGOs. The topic involves a range of questions and issues. The concept of "major groups" was highlighted in Agenda 21 in order to encourage "broad public participation in decision making" and "new forms of participation." In the two previous International Expert Meetings, NGOs have only played a minor role in the process. The Stockholm meeting has made a greater outreach effort, with this panel asking a critical question as to how these different groups can best contribute to the process. However, this is a discussion which is much bigger than the brief hour and a half allotted to the discussion. Given the importance of the question, we should get this discussion started early.

Re: Role of Major Groups in the Marrakech Process

Uchita de Zoysa 06-23-2007, 9:51 AM

(Please post your response/ recommendations/suggestions & send copy to uchita@sltnet.lk)

 

(Note: the following is based on the NGO Recommendations & Context papers circulated during the past weeks)

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Multi-Stakeholder Panel 

Role of major groups in the Marrakech Process: an NGO Position

 

 

Marrakech Process: slowly and unsurely – not getting there?

  1. A slow process - vision and content seem to be far away from being achieved – even 5 years since commencement.
  2. In 1992 Maurice Strong (Chair-UNCED) said the Earth Summit was the last chance to save the earth.
  3. Now the Marrakech process wants action to happen by 2021 (ref: Background paper #1).
  4. 50 years from UNCHE in Stockholm (’72), 30 years from UNCED in Rio (’92) and 20 years from WSSD in Johannesburg (2002).
  5. Can we wait for so long????? We say NO!

 

 

Main Focus for the Marrakech Process

  1. We need to go beyond the attempts of greening of individual consumer behaviour and understand how the dynamics of reducing demand for resources are in the hands of industry and governments.
  2. We need to go beyond improving existing technologies along the value chains and resource webs and need to think about system-wide innovations and deep structural changes.
  3. We need to go beyond aligning SCP with environmental sustainability and address questions of value creation, wealth distribution, power, visions, and social learning.
  4. We need to address the issues of more than half of the humanity that are under consuming, while working to regulate over consumption.

 

 

NGO Recommendation 01: Identify specific programs of the 10 year framework

Identify and clarify the specific programmes to be provided by the UN 10-Year Framework, and how and when these programmes are intended to support national and regional initiatives.

 

1.       Define the broader objectives of an SCP framework to achieve wellbeing of all people on Earth, with clear goals that ensures poverty alleviation, appropriate human living standards, and equitable consumption and production opportunities.

2.       Adopt and implement a clear programme plan for the next two years to prepare the draft of a feasible and effective framework of programmes on SCP to support all regions and countries to move towards SCP patterns.

3.       Adopt a systematic framework to simplify structure and communicate the work and opportunities within the sustainable consumption and production area.

4.       Adopt and implement a more meaningful process to engage greater regional and sectoral actors necessary to evolve a globally acceptable and implementable framework and programme of actions on sustainable consumption and production.

 

Role of NGOs:

Help in making knowledge to action more practical and visible in the 10YFP.

 

 

NGO Recommendation 02:  Review progress since Rio92

Organize a comprehensive multi-stakeholder review of efforts, success and failure to implement the Agenda 21 objectives and action commitments on production and consumption agreed to in 1992 by governments.

 

  1. Conduct a full scale review of global commitments on SCP made since UNCED in Rio92 – eg; Agenda 21, WSSD JPOI, UN Consumer Protection Guidelines (Section G on SC) etc.
  2. 1st draft should be presented at the 4th International Meeting of Experts on SCP in 2009 
  3. A full report to be available for the  2010/11 CSD cycle.
  4. Identify and provide analyses of some of the major obstacles and difficulties faced by these efforts.
  5. Engage stakeholder groups through consultation and other activities to provide a diversity of relevant perspectives and concerns as part of their input in the review.

 

Role of NGOs:

  1. Participate as a stakeholder in Review committees
  2. Act as a source of information provider to from national,  regional to international levels.

 

 

NGO Recommendation 03: Identify and Analysis the national barriers to develop nation SCP strategies

Conduct and report on the analysis of the primary national concerns and barriers (political, economic, cultural, etc.) within and among governments in and outside the Marrakech Process to (1) developing domestic policy frameworks to encourage the shift in production and consumption patterns, and (2) developing and instituting action plans to implement those policies.

  1. National SCP strategies should be aimed at achieving wellbeing of all citizens and target eliminating poverty.
  2. National SCP Guideline development process of UNEP needs to have a greater regional government and stakeholder engagement
  3. Governments need to include all stakeholders in formulating the Strategy as well as in the monitoring & evaluation. 
  4. National SCP policies should move society towards a establishing at a minimum - sufficiency economies with adequate integration of ecological fiscal reform, eco-effective production, etc.
  5. National SCP Strategies should counter the negative forces of economic globalization through internationally developed regulatory mechanisms, and to foster cooperation among countries of the world. 
  6. Develop and implement national policies and strategies on SCP, and do so by 2010/11 CSD cycle

 

Role of NGOs:

  1. Represent public interest
  2. Provide extensive outreach towards communities
  3. Watch dog –checks and balances
  4. Act as a driver of the process getting governments to act

 

 

Recommendation 04: Develop operational guidelines for the Marrakech Process

Develop a clear set of operational guidelines ensuring civil society participation and public transparency for all existing and newly proposed Marrakech Task Forces on SCP. NGOs are not yet full and equal partners in the Marrakech Process, and their inclusion and the means for their contributions need to be more clearly established.

  1. All Task Forces should have operational guidelines based on greater regional GO and stakeholder participation.
  2. A “Central Task Force Secretariat” to facilitate a participatory and transparent process and conduct periodic reviews  should be set-up within the Marrakech Process. 
  3. Governments from all regions should be encouraged and supported to take leadership in setting-up new Task Forces with more meaningful contributions towards SCP on: (eg: well-being- equity and poverty eradication for SCP, urban dimension of sustainability, sustainable innovations,)

 

Role of NGOs:

  1. Build knowledge and action linkages for more insightful Task Force deliberations
  2. Lobby governments to participate and establish meaningful Task Forces
  3. Identify specific partnerships and initiatives that can strengthen the Marrakech process

 

NGO Recommendation 05:  Establish a global dialogue on SCP

Help establish a broader global dialogue on sustainable production and consumption with greater outreach towards all nations and stakeholders.

  1. Support the proposal to set-up an independent, global stakeholder forum on SCP as an open, participatory mechanism to promote the international SCP objectives.
  2. Make information adequately available on sustainable consumption and production to all, and also ensure and include:
    1. A broader right to know/right to information and knowledge (e.g. go beyond a discussion of experts”)
    2. The involvement of stakeholders into decision-making and into consultative structures; and
    3. The development and provision of effective, transparent and verifiable consumer information tools relating to sustainable consumption and production.


Role of NGOs:

  1. Take lead in the establishment and facilitation of a multi-stakeholder global dialogue
  2. Develop strong partnerships with research groups for knowledge to action processes
  3. Proactively reach out to communities for knowledge dissemination

 

Recommendation 06: Define corporate accountability

Establish a process to define “corporate accountability,” in contrast to corporate responsibility, with a practical assessment of the different contributions of voluntary and regulatory approaches in the transition to sustainable production and consumption.

  1. Identify mechanism to clearly define and provide guidelines for corporate accountability.
  2. Engage stakeholders as independent monitoring in accountability assurance and reporting
  3. Survey and report on research and efforts to develop ethical corporate guidelines for foreign companies operating in developing countries, with regard to key areas of unsustainable production and consumption. 
  4. Study and report on regulatory and voluntary efforts to make advertising practices more socially and environmentally responsible and accountable.

 

Role of NGOs:

  1. Keep government and business accountable
  2. Intervene to ensure public-private partnerships are meaningful and sincere
  3. Make CSR meaningful
  4. Watch dog to ensure corporate accountability
  5. Participating actively in the establishment of national and international (ISO 26000) CSR standards/guidelines

 

 

Role of NGOs in the Marrakech Process

The role NGOs have played during the past 5 years of Marrakech process needs to be highlighted and looked into furthering;

 

  1. Representing the interest of consumers and people in general (eg: consumer surveys, comparative product testing, consumer rights litigation, awareness creation and education, etc.)
  2. Promoting the equity debate in distribution of resources to opportunity (eg:  access to resources, rights campaigning, consumption opportunities, fair trade, food security, etc.)
  3. Pushing the under consumption issues of the global South (eg: need for adequate consumption, poverty eradication, limits to greening the consumer, limits to green technology, etc.)
  4. Agitating for corporate accountability (eg: CSR as a promotional tool, CSR to replace accountability, making the dark visible, etc.)
  5. Partnering knowledge and research processes (eg; partnering academics for knowledge to action research, partnering UN agencies for policy research, conducting community level research, etc.)\
  6. Lobbying for governmental action for “NAP on SCP” (eg: informer and awareness creators of the Marrakech process, acting as path maker for policy processes, guiding NAP processes, etc.)

 

Engaging Stakeholders

    1. Equity - in expert consultations, content providing and process determination
    2. Transparency & Openness – in selection of participants  and for real expertise to have opportunities to contribute 
    3. Collectiveness & Inclusiveness – is important from consultation to conclusion deriving and to ensure that the consultation is heard for action and not because stakeholder consultation has to be exercised democratic display.

 

 

 

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