Sustainable Consumption and Production

Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) Area is a policy research hub that also functions as a think tank operating both in Asia and globally. Its activities are geared at facilitating the transition to how we organise ourselves as individuals and through different levels of society to meet our needs in sustainable ways. As a knowledge catalyst, it focuses on the following three major research and policy areas:

• Partnerships and experimentation to orchestrate a transition towards sustainable lifestyles, staying within the aspirational 1.5 degrees Celsius increase in global temperature and at a one-planet level of consumption.
• Mainstreaming resource efficiency agenda, including the 3Rs, both at global and regional level.
• Capacity building of developing countries for strategic planning, policy development and implementation especially on integrated waste management.

Technical expertise of SCP Area includes 1) framework and scenario development and analysis, 2) policy analysis and design on sustainable societal systems, resource efficiency, and extended producer responsibility; 3) strategic planning and development of integrated waste management at national, regional and city level, 4) quantitative analysis on climate and resource management nexus.

SCP Area takes a leading role in a number of international policy areas and implementation agendas, including the United Nations 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production (10YFP), Future Earth, and SWITCH-Asia. It is involved in processes such as OECD Working Party on Resource Productivity and Waste, the World Resources Forum, as well as contributing to the G7 Alliance on Resource Efficiency, and the International Resource Panel. It serves as the coordination organisation for the State of the 3Rs in Asia and the Pacific Report, a joint initiative of Ministry of the Environment of Japan and UN Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD). It hosts the IGES Centre Collaborating with UNEP on Environmental Technologies (CCET) which also works with other UN agencies, international partners and governments in Asia to support less developed economies for sustainable waste and resource management.