Proliferation of Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) in Asia – the Next 5 Countries (SCP Outreach)

CONTEXT

Sustainable public procurement and eco-labels have gained significant importance in the Southeast Asian region in recent years. With the support of the International Climate Initiative (IKI), Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines have successfully started to introduce Green Public Procurement (GPP) systems and eco-labelling schemes. However, the progress of implementation varies from country to country due to different factors.

There is great potential to reduce GHG emissions through GPP and eco-labelling because the public sector has immense purchasing power. As the countries in the Southeast Asian region have similar product ranges, experiences with GPP can be transferred or replicated directly from one country to another, Thailand is taking up the role as a pioneer by supporting other countries in the region, while Vietnam has also published strategies to promote and establish eco-labels for several years. Cambodia, Lao PDR, Bhutan and Myanmar are still at the beginning of this process. None of these countries has established an eco-label, passed a GPP-related law or developed a strategy to integrate sustainability criteria into public procurement.

OBJECTIVE

To contribute to the reduction of GHG emissions by continuing to develop and establish policy instruments and policy frameworks in the area of “Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP)” to promote a low carbon economy. In particular, environmental labels, sustainable public procurement as well as other instruments that contribute to a better-informed purchasing decision from consumers are to be strengthened.

APPROACHES

The project supports the development and implementation of eco-labels and SCP patterns, particularly in the field of public procurement in five Asian developing countries with the support of Thailand. The project activities will be adapted to the specific country contexts and requirements within the framework of SCP.

The activities focus on strengthening institutions, including the provision of technical training courses for government officials, knowledge transfer and the drafting of integrated policy solutions on a regional level. This includes regional workshops for knowledge transfer between different implementation partners as well as stakeholder meetings to define cross-border core criteria for eco-labels and GPP in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). It is planned to support partner institutions in different countries by the integration of climate friendly and low-carbon criteria into eco-labels through capacity development and awareness raising. This will be done with training courses, train-the-trainer packages and by analysing international GPP’s best practices.

Main areas of support are:

• the establishment of the legal frameworks, communication systems and appropriate incentive mechanisms to address the particularly climate-relevant products and services within the framework of public, sustainable procurement and the environmental label system in the target countries;
• the preparation of the strategies for sustainable public procurement;
• the support of the environmental labels (type I) in the partner countries at the institutional level;
• the improvement of the mutual recognition of environmental labels in the target countries.

FINANCED BY

The German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV)

COUNTRY

Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Bhutan

PROJECT PARTNERS

Thailand: Pollution Control Department (PCD); Bhutan Gross National Happiness Commission; Cambodia: National Council for Sustainable Development; Laos: Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE); Myanmar: Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation (MONREC); and Vietnam Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI)

PROJECT DURATION

03/2020 – 12/2024

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