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Programme
on Sustainable Consumption
Work Plan for the new Millennium
Background
As a consumer protection organisation, CUTS is closely
involved with promotion of sustainable patterns of consumption and production.
Under sustainable consumption, CUTS would like to focus its work on Chapter
4 of the Agenda 21 and the various principles of the Rio Declaration.
Action Plan
I Policy Framework on Sustainable Consumption
Here the endeavour will be not only to understand and
disseminate the concept of sustainable consumption but also its inter-linkages
with other related areas such as production patterns, underconsumption,
poverty, demography etc. The work will be divided into two parts, i.e.
first, developing the policy statement on sustainable consumption and then
lobbying with government and non-government organisations to get it implemented
in the country. This experience would be shared with consumer and environment
groups in India and in other countries.
IA UN Guidelines for Consumer Protection Including
the New Elements on
Sustainable Consumption
Activities
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Process
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Target Group
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A) Expansion of the UN Guidelines on Consumer Protection
into other related areas, such as under-consumption, safe drinking water
etc.
B) Evaluating implementation of the Guidelines
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Lobby along with CI
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CUTS is preparing a detailed report which evaluates implementation
of the Guidelines (State of the Indian Consumer)
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Organising conferences to incorporate feedback, ideas of
other organisations (Ongoing)
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Identifying consumer organisations as regular partners for
developing a network (using the existing Ecofrig network)
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Consumer and environment groups,
media, government officials, manufacturers, academia |
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Developing a National Consumer Policy Statement for India
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CUTS has prepared a draft Policy Statement
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Sharing this draft with the network partners and incorporating
their suggestions
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Consumer and environment groups,
media, government officials, manufacturers, academia |
IB Policy Advocacy on the Guidelines
Activities
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Process
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Target Group
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Lobbying with the government to adopt and implement this
policy in India
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Sharing the draft with officials of the Ministry of Consumer
Affairs
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Lobbying
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Together with the network and with Central Consumer Protection
Council (CCPC)
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Publishing articles in newspapers
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Ministry of Consumer Affairs
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Ministry of Environment & Forests
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Media
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Analysis of the implementation in India
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A regular review of the implementation status
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Sharing the concern with network partners
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Using the above analysis to develop similar Policy Statements
for other countries.
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Identification of countries and Consumer organisations with
whom to work on this agenda
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Use the above analysis to develop similar analyses and policy
statements for these.
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Developing and sharing a toolkit proposal for implementing
the Guidelines in other countries (Ongoing)
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Consumer Organisations in developing countries and economies
in transition
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VROM*
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*Note: Dutch Ministry of Environment (VROM) has expressed
interest in 3 above with certain qualifications.
IC Sustainable-India Study and Lobbying
Activities
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Process
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Target Group
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Prepare sustainability reports for Indian states
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Begin with Sustainable Rajasthan
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Develop proposal and fundraise in collaboration with Friends
of Earth, Netherlands and experts/research organisations in India
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Rajasthan government
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State Pollution Control Board
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State Planning Commission
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Other relevant ministries
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Probable research partners (NCAER, IGIDR, SID, CARS etc)
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Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, Norway, IGIDR
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Prepare Sustainable India report and policy statement
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Build a Sustainable India network
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Replicate Sustainable Rajasthan work
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Prepare Sustainable India report and Policy statement and
present at Rio +10
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Consumer and Environmental NGOs
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Research partners (NCAER, IGIDR, SID, CARS etc)
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(A) Lobby for adoption with the state government and government
of India
(B) Interact with the governments of other countries
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Involve Sustainable India network
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Share draft policy statement with partners
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Ministry of Environment and Forests
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National Planning Commission
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Other relevant Ministries
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National governments
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Intergovernmental organisations
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ID Consumption Study of South Asia
Activities
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Process
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Target Group
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A study of class based consumption patterns and their sustainability
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Meetings to discuss benchmarks/parameters and scope
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Research including data collection and statistical analysis
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Policy pointers
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A sample of the upper, middle and the lower class of South
Asian countries
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UNEP/TIE
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Policy debate on appropriateness/portability of Northern
sustainable consumption policies/concepts in the Southern context
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Multi-stakeholder meetings
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Note: UNEP/TIE is interested to work on this project with
CUTS. A concept paper was sent to UNEP/TIE, which is under consideration
under their Year 2000 work programme. It can be noted that lobbying activities
are not discussed for this project, as this will be decided on the basis
of outputs and in consultation with UNEP/TIE
II Environment-Friendly Technologies & Practices
Activities
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Process
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Target Group
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Identification of good and bad practices of business
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Documentation of the Good and Bad Practices and Models that
exist on waste disposal, recycling etc.
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Critically reviewing contents/development/implementation
various codes of conduct of industry/business
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Consumer and environment groups, especially those working
on sustainable consumption issues
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UN Commission on Sustainable Development and other intergovernmental
bodies
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DFID, Norway
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Information dissemination and campaign to promote good practices,
general promotion of 4Rs (reduce, refuse, reuse and recycle)
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Acting as a clearing-house for information on good and bad
practices
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Outreach through printed and audio-visual media to disseminate
information and train volunteers/ representatives of network partners
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Consumer and environment groups, media, manufacturers, government
officials
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Promoting `good’ advertising and condemning `bad’ advertising
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Identifying and documenting good advertising practices that
promote sustainable consumption
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Identifying and documenting bad (misleading/dud) advertising
which promotes overconsumption/unsustainable consumption or misleads the
consumer in other ways
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Organising campaigns as a follow up to the above activities
and linking this campaign to the work programme on ecolabelling
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Advertising firms
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Manufacturers
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Ministries of Environment/Food and Consumer Affairs
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‘Leapfrogging’ from old technologies to environmentally sustainable
technologies
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Selection of areas such as four stroke engines, retrofitting
in refrigerators, automobile engines etc., which offer opportunities to
switchover to environment friendly options
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Manufacturers
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GEF
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SDC
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DGXI (EC) GTZ
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Campaigns to be developed in these selected areas, as per
the ongoing campaign on Ecofrig
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For example Ecofrig Action Plan
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Identified as per the Action Plan
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III Ecolabelling: Ecomark
Activities
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Process
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Target Group
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Analysis of the existing standards that have been developed
and the existing range of products.
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A review of the BIS standards and the Ecomark standards,
output being used as a Fact Sheet
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A review on the existing status of the Ecomark scheme
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A survey on the awareness levels as well as attitudes among
manufacturers and consumers (Completed)
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The output of the above being presented as a Discussion Paper
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Bureau of Indian Standards
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Central Pollution Control Board
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Steering Committee and Technical Committee on Ecomark
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Comparative analysis among ecolabelling criteria in other
countries
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Internet surfing on ecolabelling sites
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Correspondence with NGOs/governments for obtaining ecolabelling
criteria (Ongoing)
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Output in the form of a briefing paper
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Targeting of few selected products for promoting Ecomark
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Organising campaigns to educate consumers/industry on Ecomark
(conferences)
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Lobbying with manufacturers to go for these criteria by siting
advantages of doing so
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Training and awareness generation of manufacturers (big and
small) on ways and means to produce eco-friendly products
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Lobbying with Madhya Bharat Paper Limited for using the Ecomark
on their products
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Network partners
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Media
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Manufacturers of the selected products (lead-acid batteries,
fly-ash bricks etc)
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Ministry of Environment & Forests
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Challenging false environmental claims by manufacturers (Link
with work under `advertising’ above)
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Compiling all the relevant information of such cases
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Approaching MRTP commission/State Commission
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Manufacturers
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Media
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Network partners
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MRTP Commission
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State Commission
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Influencing government procurement
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Representations to the government officials, using print
media etc. to stress on importance of procuring only ecolabelled products
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Director General of Supplies and Disposals, DRDO etc.
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IV Energy Availability & Efficiency
Activities
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Process
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Target Group
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Identification of alternatives for energy production and
transmission
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Undertaking research to document and analyse various alternatives
that are available including renewable energy areas
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Information dissemination
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Awareness campaign, reader friendly manuals etc.
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Government officials, media, civil society
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Joyce – Mertz Gilmore Foundation
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Advocating with the government for an environment friendly
energy policy
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Using the window available in the draft regulations of the
Central Electricity Regulatory Commission
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Central Electricity Regulatory Commission, State Electricity
Boards
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Revised on December 18, ‘99
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