Switch Asia Policy Support Group - Capacity Building and Policy Needs Assessment for Sustainable Consumption and Production

Publication Date: January 2012

This document summarizes findings of a collaborative study by the United Nations Environment Programme, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO, Australia) and the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES, Japan) under the EU funded SWITCH-Asia Policy Support Component (SWITCH-PSC).

The overall objective of the SWITCH-PSC is to strengthen national and regional policy frameworks to promote the shift towards more sustainable consumption and production patterns and Resource Efficiency (RE), thereby contributing to green growth and reduction of poverty in Asian countries and assisting countries in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). For more information on the SWITCH-PSC please refer to Annex 1 of this document and also to http://www.switchasia.eu/switchpolicy.html

To achieve this overall objective and purpose, the SWITCH-PSC focuses on the achievement of two specific and interlinked objectives:

i. To build the capacities of national authorities to strengthen or put in place policies helping to mainstream SCP and RE into regional, sub-regional and national development programmes.

ii. To assist stakeholders in the project countries (government, private sector, civil society), in designing and implementing specific policy-oriented activities to shift towards Sustainable Consumption and Production.