United Nations E/2022/56

Economic and Social Council Distr.: General

4 May 2022

Original: English

2022 session
23 July 2021–22 July 2022
Agenda item 6
High-level political forum on sustainable development,
convened under the auspices of the Economic and
Social Council

Progress report on the 10-Year Framework of Programmes

on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns
Note by the Secretary-General

Summary
The Secretary-General transmits herewith the progress report on the 10-Year
Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns,
prepared by the United Nations Environment Programme, pursuant to General
Assembly resolutions 67/203, 68/210, 69/214 and 70/201. The objective of the report
is to share with Member States and other stakeholders progress on the implementation
of the 10-Year Framework. In addition to sharing progress achieved in 2021, the
report takes a retrospective look over the past 10 years of action, providing lessons
learned and action-oriented policy recommendations to guide the implementation of
the Framework’s extended mandate (see General Assembly resolution 76/202). The
report is hereby submitted through the Economic and Social Council for the
consideration of the high-level political forum on sustainable development in July
2022.

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I. Sustainable consumption and production as an enabler of

global efforts to build back better
A. How the impacts of the pandemic go far beyond human health

1. Since 2019, countries have struggled to eradicate and recover from a pandemic
that pays no heed to borders, pits livelihoods against lives and exacerbates existing
global challenges like inequality, climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.
Over 6 million lives have been lost. 1 In 2020, an equivalent of 255 million full-time
jobs, and roughly $3.7 trillion in wages, were lost. 2 The projected cumulative
financial losses during 2020 and 2021 are estimated at nearly $8.5 trillion. 3
2. Despite the roll-out of vaccination against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
for some, the socioeconomic recovery across countries is far from certain. Progress
on global sustainability goals was off track before the pandemic. 4 The disparity in
capacity to cope with the pandemic has exacerbated existing inequalities. 5 For the
first time in over 20 years, more people were pushed back into extreme poverty than
were able to escape it. 6
3. Despite economic slowdowns, global greenhouse gas emissions have continued
to rise. The climate crisis is occurring now, with the global average temperature 1.2°C
hotter than pre-industrial levels, the impacts of which are already being felt. 7,8 While
lockdowns provided a respite for natural habitats, the sudden halt in ecotourism
activities has meant that the financial resources upon which conservation and
restoration projects relied have dried up, and the extent to which human and natural
systems are intertwined has been made visible. 9 In 2021, 8.4 million tons of pandemic-
associated plastic waste were generated. 10 The impacts of the pandemic go far beyond
human health, affecting all aspects of our societies, economies and ecosystems.

B. A window of opportunity to learn from the past and accelerate

sustainability transitions to build back better

4. Since natural resources are the basis for the goods, services and infrastructure
necessary to support socioeconomic systems, the linear “take, make and throw away”
production and consumption systems that drive our global economy have meant that
prosperity and the depletion of natural resources have gone hand in hand. Fifty per
cent of global greenhouse gas emissions and ninety per cent of global biodiversity

__________________
1
World Health Organization (WHO), WHO Health Emergency Dashboard, WHO Coronavirus
(COVID-19) Dashboard database. Available at https://covid19.who.int.
2
International Labour Organization (ILO), “ILO Monitor: COVID-19 and the world of work:
seventh edition – updated estimates and analysis” (2021).
3
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, “Achieving SDGs in the wake of
COVID-19: scenarios for policymakers”, Decade of Action Policy Brief, No. 84 (August 2020).
4
United Nations, The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2021 (2021).
5
ILO, World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2022 (Geneva, 2022).
6
United Nations, The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2021.
7
Ibid.
8
Hans-Otto Pörtner and others, “Summary for policymakers”, in Climate Change 2022: Impacts,
Adaptation, and Vulnerability – Contribution of Working Group II to the Sixth Assessment Report
of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Hans-Otto Pörtner and others, eds.
(Cambridge, United Kingdom, Cambridge University Press, 2022), in press.
9
Amanda E. Bates and others, “Global COVID-19 lockdown highlights humans as both threats and
custodians of the environment”, Biological Conservation, vol. 263, No. 109175 (November 2021).
10
Yiming Peng and others, “Plastic waste release caused by COVID-19 and its fate in the global
ocean”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 118, No. 47 (November 2021).

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and water stress impacts are linked to the extraction, use and disposal of natural
resources in production systems. 11
5. In short, the economic systems on which we rely for our prosperity and well -
being are not fit for purpose. A window of opportunity exists to learn from the past
and to accelerate sustainability transitions to build forward better. 12
6. Despite evidence that fiscal policies that restore the environment may have the
largest beneficial impact on economic recovery, only 18 per cent of announced
recovery spending is going towards such investments. 13 Analysis of €716 billion
worth of recovery plans in 18 European Union countries shows that only 30 per cent
of such spending supports a green transition. 14 By 2022, Group of 20 (G20) countries
had committed 43 per cent of recovery packages to supporting fossil fuel energy, an
equivalent of $72.03 per capita. 15 The limited share of resources allocated to climate-
positive measures means that the cumulative impact of such measures on emissions
is still negative, often because of support for carbon-intensive industries. 16
7. Conflict, including the ongoing conflict between the Russian Federation and
Ukraine, has further exacerbated negative trends. Ukraine and the surrounding region
are important areas for agricultural exports, and the conflict may potentially lead to
increased global food insecurity. 17
8. The bottom line is that an inclusive, climate-resilient and nature-positive
pandemic recovery will not happen spontaneously; rather, it requires concerted
thinking about the interlinkages between global challenges, coordinated action using
science-based and proven best practices to address them and leveraging new ways of
sharing success stories to inspire stakeholders to action.

C. Sustainable consumption and production as a driver of

post-pandemic recovery

9. Sustainable consumption and production offers systemic solutions to transform

the way societies produce and consume goods and services while also positively
contributing to poverty alleviation, climate change mitigation and adaptation,
ecosystem protection and restoration, and the elimination of waste and pollution. The
following sections demonstrate and provide examples of how sustainable
consumption and production is linked to sustainability agendas. 18
__________________
11
Bruno Oberle and others, Global Resources Outlook 2019: Natural Resources for the Future We
Want, Report of the International Resource Panel (Nairobi, United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP), 2019).
12
European Environment Agency, Sustainability Transitions: Policy and Practice, EEA Report,
No 9/2019 (Luxembourg, Publications Office of the European Union, 2019); European
Commission, “The European Green Deal” (Brussels, 2019); Maurie J. Cohen, “Does the
COVID-19 outbreak mark the onset of a sustainable consumption transition?”, Sustainability:
Science, Practice and Policy, vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 1–3 (March 2020).
13
Brian J. O’Callaghan and Em Murdock, Are we Building Back Better? Evidence from 2020 and
Pathways to Inclusive Green Recovery Spending (Nairobi, United Nations Environment
Programme, 2021).
14
Helena Mölter and Timon Wehnert, “EU recovery: how green is recovery spending in different
sectors?” (Wuppertal, Germany, Wuppertal Institute; Berlin, E3G-Third Generation
Environmentalism, 2021).
15
Energypolicytracker.org, (“G20 countries”. Available at www.energypolicytracker.org/region/g20/
(updated 4 May 2020).
16
World Economic Forum, Centre for the New Economy and Society, Building Back Broader:
Policy Pathways for an Economic Transformation (Geneva, 2021).
17
General Assembly resolution ES-11/1.
18
Examples are drawn from the official reporting by 10-Year Framework national focal points on
indicator 12.1.1 of the Sustainable Development Goals, with the aim of geographic representation.

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1. Sustainable consumption and production, implemented through circular

economic models, as a driver of poverty alleviation and economic development
10. Modelling has shown that investing in sustainable consumption and production,
including though circular economy approaches, offers multiple benefits: net gains in
gross domestic product (GDP) and jobs, a stimulus for innovation, mitigation of
environmental degradation and improved energy security. 19,20 The modification of
production processes to lower emissions, resource use and environmental impacts
could create 18 million jobs by 2050. 21 Together, the business opportunities
associated with transforming our food, land and ocean-use systems towards a
restoration economy could generate almost $3.6 trillion of additional revenues or cost
savings by 2030 while creating 191 million new jobs. 22
11. Countries are already benefiting from the implementation of policies and
practices that promote a shift to sustainable consumption and production. The national
decarbonization action plan of Costa Rica 23 sets out the decarbonization strategy for
10 sectors by 2050, with an estimated $41 billion in benefits, even after investment
costs.24 Despite the impacts of the pandemic, Costa Rica is set to meet 83 per cent of
its first-stage goals in 2022. 25

2. Sustainable consumption and production as a pathway to achieving the

Paris Agreement
12. The sustainable management of natural resources through policies and practices
that promote a shift to sustainable consumption and production is at the centre of
virtually all viable solutions to climate change. 26 By 2060, resource efficiency
strategies could reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with the material cycle
of residential buildings by 790 million tons in China, India and Group of Seven (G7)
countries.27 Resource efficiency in passenger vehicles could reduce greenhouse gas
emissions by 70 per cent in G7 countries by 2050. 28 However, few countries have
integrated resource efficiency and sustainable consumption and production into
climate-related goals.
13. One country that is working towards this end is Turkey, which, through the
development of a road map to integrate sustainable consumption and production
within the housing and construction sector, outlined the requirements for a sustainable
and circular economy and evaluated the national housing and construction sector,

__________________
19
Richard Lewney and others, Modelling a Global Inclusive Green Economy COVID-19 Recovery
Programme (n.p., Partnership for Action on Green Economy and Cambridge Econometrics, 2021).
20
Mekala Krishnan and others, The Net-Zero Transition: What It Could Cost, What It Could Bring
(January 2022).
21
World Economic Forum, Centre for the New Economy and Society, Building Back Broader.
22
UNEP, “UN Environment Assembly 5.2: nature at the heart of sustainable development – a
contribution to the high-level segment of the resumed session of the 5th UN Environment
Assembly” (Nairobi, 2022).
23
See https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/NationalDecarbonizationPlan.pdf .
24
Costa Rica, “Según nuevo estudio: plan nacional de descarbonización traerá $41.000 millones en
beneficios netos a Costa Rica”, statement, available at www.presidencia.go.cr/comunicados/
2020/11/segun-nuevo-estudio-plan-nacional-de-descarbonizacion-traera-41-000-millones-en-
beneficios-netos-a-costa-rica.
25
Bnamericas, “Costa Rica to meet 83% of decarbonization plan’s 1st stage goals by end -2022”,
24 February 2020.
26
International Resource Panel and UNEP, “The International Resource Panel: 10 key messa ges on
climate change” (Nairobi, 2015).
27
Edgar Hertwich and others, Resource Efficiency and Climate Change: Material Efficiency Strategies
for a Low-Carbon Future, Report of the International Resource Panel (Nairobi, UNEP, 2020).
28
Ibid.

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including the impact of each component of the value chain on people, the environment
and the economy.

3. How sustainable consumption and production supports biodiversity protection

and restoration
14. Global ecosystem services are worth an estimated $125 trillion to $140 trillion
per year. 29 About 1.6 billion people benefit directly from forests for food, income and
livelihoods.30 Biodiversity decline risks causing dangerous and irreversible breakdowns
of ecosystems, threatening the foundations of social and economic provisioning
systems. By applying principles of natural resource management, targeted soluti ons
can be created to halt biodiversity loss while addressing other drivers of climate
change and environmental pollution. 31
15. For example, the national soil strategy of Switzerland 32 aims for a net zero soil use
in that country by 2050. By using a systems lens, soil functions are factored into planning
to ensure sustainability outcomes. In another example, Paraguay reconciles production
and biodiversity through quotas on the export of endangered palo santo trees.33

4. Sustainable consumption and production as key for a pollution-free planet

and health
16. Environmental factors contribute to 24 per cent of deaths worldwide. 34 In its
special report on climate change and health, the World Health Organization noted that
“protecting people’s health from climate change requires transformational action in
every sector, including on energy, transport, nature, food systems and finance”. 35 The
Democratic Republic of the Congo validated its national road map on environmental
standards for low sulfur fuels 36 to change the mode of consumption in the transport
sector and increase efficiency, improve air quality and reduce the impact of fuel with
a high sulfur content.
17. At the same time, the health sector itself is equivalent to the fifth-largest
greenhouse gas-emitting country. 37 In Sri Lanka, the national policy on sustainable
consumption and production includes a focus on the health sector, with the aim of
increasing health-care cost efficiency by 25 per cent. 38 Sustainable consumption and
production is an opportunity to address the causes of health crises, as well as make
health systems more efficient at responding to them.
__________________
29
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, “Biodiversity: finance and the
economic and business case for action: executive summary and synthesis”, report prepared for
the Group of Seven (G7) Environment Ministers’ Meeting, held in Metz, France , on 5 and 6 May
2019 (2019).
30
United Nations Forum on Forests, “Input to the 2016 meeting of the High-Level Political Forum
on Sustainable Development: bureau of the 12th session of the United Nations Forum on Forests
(UNFF12)” (2012).
31
Janez Potočnik and Izabella Teixeira, “Building biodiversity: the natural resource management
approach” (Paris, UNEP, International Resource Panel, 2021).
32
One Planet network, “Swiss national soil strategy”, 1 February 2022.
33
One Planet network, “Paraguayan Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development
resolution on the exportation quotas for palo santo trees”, 11 February 2022.
34
Annette Prüss-Ustün and others, Preventing Disease Through Healthy Environments: A Global
Assessment of the Burden of Disease from Environmental Risks (Geneva, WHO, 2017).
35
WHO, COP26 Special Report on Climate Change and Health: The Health Argument for Climate
Action (Geneva, 2021) (advanced proof).
36
Available at www.oneplanetnetwork.org/knowledge-centre/policies/norme-sur-le-carburant-propre.
37
Josh Karliner and others, “Health care’s climate footprint: how the health sector contributes to
the global climate crisis and opportunities for action”, Health Care Without Harm and Arup
Climate-smart Health Care Series, Green Paper, No. 1 (2019).
38
Sri Lanka, “National policy on sustainable consumption & production for Sri Lanka” (2019).

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II. Where the world stands on sustainable consumption

and production
A. Sustainable consumption and production through the lens of
Sustainable Development Goal 12

18. Sustainable consumption and production can be an enabler of global pandemic

recovery that enhances well-being while providing solutions to the triple planetary
crisis of biodiversity loss, climate change and pollution.
19. Measuring global progress on sustainable consumption and production is
fraught, as 7 out of 13 indicators (54 per cent) for Goal 12 are tier II indicators, that
is, the indicators are conceptually clear and have an internationally established
methodology, and standards are available, but data are not regularly produced by
countries. The lack of data for sustainable consumption and production is a gap which
requires urgent global attention.
20. Where measurements are available, progress in the implementation of Goal 12
is insufficient to achieve 2030 targets. A lack of data, 39 capacity, 40 technology 41 and
financial resources 42 is hindering progress overall. 43 The present section provides a
snapshot of where the world stands in terms of implementation of Goal 12 44 and
provides country examples based on the official policies reported in relation to
indicator 12.1.1.
21. Per unit of GDP, the material footprint (indicator 12.2.1) has increased, which
means that more resources are needed today to produce the same unit of GDP than 20
years ago. Global levels of individual material use (domestic material consumption
per capita) have increased by 40 per cent in the past 20 years. 45 In 2017, upper-middle-
income countries recorded the highest levels of domestic material consumption (a
direct measure of materials consumed within the boundaries of a national economy),
with countries in the Asia and the Pacific region accounting for almost 60 per cent of
the global total. 46 However, on the basis of demand-based measures that attribute
global material resources to the final consumer, people living in high-income
countries consumed 60 per cent more resources than those in upper-middle-income
countries, and over 13 times more than those in low-income countries. 47
22. Conversely, domestic material production measured per unit of GDP tells the
story of resource-intensive production processes being outsourced to developing and
__________________
39
Jeffrey D. Sachs and others, Sustainable Development Report 2021: The Decade of Action for the
Sustainable Development Goals (Cambridge, United Kingdom, Cambridge University Press, 2021).
40
United Nations, High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, “2018 HLPF review of
SDGs implementation: SDG 12-ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns” (2018).
41
UNEP and Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia “Arab Forum for Sustainable
Development: SDG 12 responsible consumption and production – ensure sustainable
consumption and production patterns” (2021).
42
See E/2019/64.
43
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, summary of expert group meetings
held during the thematic review of the 2021 high-level political forum on sustainable development
on Sustainable Development Goals 12, 13 and 17, held between 18 and 20 May 2021, available
at https://sdgs.un.org/sites/default/files/2021-06/2021%20HLPF%20EGM%20cross-
cutting%20session%20note%2012_13_17.pdf.
44
The information was drawn largely from the One Planet network, Sustainable Development Goal
12 hub, available at https://sdg12hub.org/.
45
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Statistics Division, “SDG 12:
responsible consumption and production”, in The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2021.
46
Oberle and others, Global Resources Outlook 2019: Natural Resources for the Future We Want.
47
Ibid.

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emerging economies. 48 Developed economies benefit from the use of global

resources, while developing economies are burdened with the attendant negative
impacts of extraction and processing, without the benefits accrued by their use, and
often struggle with challenges related to underconsumption.
23. By putting in place a package of resource efficiency and sustainable
consumption and production measures, by 2060 low-income countries can expect an
8 per cent increase in GDP, medium-income countries can expect an increase of 13 per
cent and high-income countries can expect a 4 per cent increase. 49 Such measures are
projected to result in slower growth of global natural resource use overall and are
based on increasing rates of consumption in emerging and other developing
economies being offset by absolute reductions in high-income countries. Policies to
ensure just and equitable distribution of the benefits of resource use are critical to
moderate inequalities within and among countries.
24. Countries are taking action to address consumption, including the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the Environment Act 2021, which
enables the introduction of “ecodesign” requirements relating to the durability,
reparability and recyclability of goods. The Act also enables the Government to
require labels that inform consumers of product characteristics and for the
implementation of “product passports” with information about material content
throughout the product life cycle. 50
25. The increase in standard accounting tools to monitor the economic and
environmental aspects of sustainable tourism (indicator 12.b.1) 51 is a positive
outcome. However, inequality in capacity and achievement is a trend reflected by
most targets across Goal 12. For example, the number of corporations in the
developing world that have reported on sustainability is limited (indicator 12.6.1). 52
This can reflect the prevalence of micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises or of
the informal sector. In the Philippines, the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise
Development Plan 2017–2022 cross-cutting strategy on the promotion of green
growth is aimed at addressing this challenge by providing guidance to such
enterprises on implementing environment-friendly and climate-smart actions. 53
26. No official data exist on how global citizenship education and education for
sustainable development are mainstreamed in national education policies, curricula,
teacher education and student assessment (indicator 12.8.1). However, many
countries include such education and related topics in their national curricula,
including Hungary, where in 2020 the national core curriculum 54 was updated to
include the prudent use of natural resources, the recognition of cultural heritage, and
sustainable consumption and lifestyles.
27. Governments have enormous potential to shape production and consumption
through the magnitude of goods and services they procure. According to results from
the first data collection exercise for indicator 12.7.1, on sustainable public
procurement, in 2021, 33 out of 40 national Governments (83 per cent) were
__________________
48
Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Statistics Division, “SDG 12: responsible
consumption and production”.
49
Ibid.
50
One Planet network, “Environment Act: powers on ecodesign and information”, 10 February
2022. Available at www.oneplanetnetwork.org/knowledge-centre/policies/environment-act-
powers-ecodesign-and-information.
51
Available at https://sdg12hub.org/sdg-12-hub/see-progress-on-sdg-12-by-target/12b-tourism.
52
Available at https://sdg-tracker.org/sustainable-consumption-production.
53
Available at www.oneplanetnetwork.org/knowledge-centre/policies/micro-small-and-medium-
enterprise-msme-development-plan-2017-2022-cross.
54
One Planet network, “Content regulation in general education”, 26 January 2022. Available at
www.oneplanetnetwork.org/knowledge-centre/policies/content-regulation-general-education.

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considered “compliant”. Overall performance in the implementation of sustainable

public procurement is varied, both within and across regions. Only 64 per cent of
countries with sustainable public procurement policy frameworks in place reported
monitoring the implementation of such procurement, and 15 per cent measure its
outcomes, such as reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. In Germany, the federal
administration aims to be climate-neutral by 2030, supported by guidelines such as
the General Administrative Regulation on the Procurement of Climate-Friendly
Services. 55 The regulation specifies how climate protection must be considered as part
of procurement processes.
28. While developing countries grew renewable energy-generating capacity by
9.5 per cent annually over a five-year period, reaching 246 watts per capita in 2020,
small island developing States, least developed countries and landlocked developing
countries had much lower growth rates (8.3, 5.2 and 2.4 per cent, respectively)
(indicator 12.a.1). At current annual growth rates, it would take small island
developing States almost 15 years and least developed countries and landlocked
developing countries almost 40 years to reach the level developing countries reached
in 2020. 56 As an economy in transition, Serbia is striving to decarbonize its energy
systems by updating its energy sector development strategy and its integrated national
energy and climate strategy to define targets for renewable energy, energy efficiency
and greenhouse gas reduction for 2030, with projections for 2040 and 2050. 57
29. Between 2018 and 2019, fossil fuel subsidies declined by 21 per cent, but were
still $432 billion (indicator 12.c.1). 58 The Swedish Environmental Protection
Agency’s emission reduction obligation creates better conditions for phasing out
fossil fuels in road transport by obliging petrol and diesel suppliers to reduce life
cycle CO 2 emissions by increasing blending with sustainable biofuels, creating long-
term rules for production and setting prerequisites for investment in the production
of sustainable biofuels. 59
30. Waste continues to be a global challenge, and data are scarce. Since 1999,
country response rates to the Statistics Division/United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) questionnaire on environment statistics have remained relatively
steady at 50 per cent. 60 Countries are reaching full compliance in reporting under the
Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, while other
international agreements on hazardous waste (Basel Convention on the Control of
Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal (61 per cent),
Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain
Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade (75 per cent) and
Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (50 per cent)) are having
mixed results (indicator 12.4.1). 61 Supply chains prior to retail lose an estimated
13.3 per cent of food at a cost of $400 billion (target 12.3). 62,63 At the consumer and

__________________
55
Available at www.oneplanetnetwork.org/knowledge-centre/policies/general-administrative-
regulation-procurement-climate-friendly-services.
56
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Statistics Division, Sustainable
Development Goal indicators database. Available at https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/dataportal.
57
One Planet network, “Energy sector development strategy of the Republic of Serbia for the
period by 2025 with projections by 2030”, 21 February 2022.
58
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Statistics Division, Sustainable
Development Goal indicators, “Overview”. Available at https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2021/
overview/.
59
One Planet network, “Emission reduction obligation”, 9 February 2022.
60
Available at https://unstats.un.org/unsd/envstats/questionnaire.
61
Available at https://sdg-tracker.org/sustainable-consumption-production.
62
Available at https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2021/Goal-12/.
63
See E/2021/58.

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retail level, each person wastes over 170 kg of food per year. 64 The United States of
America published a national recycling strategy in 2021 which identifies strategic
objectives and actions needed to create a stronger, more resilient and cost -effective
national municipal solid waste recycling system. The objectives it identifies are to
improve markets for recycling commodities, increase collection, improve materials
management infrastructure, reduce contamination in the recycled materials stream,
enhance policies and programmes to support circularity, standardize measurement and
increase data collection.
31. In 2021, an estimated 1 million plastic drinking bottles were purchased every
minute and 5 trillion single-use plastic bags thrown away. 65 Noting the scourge of
plastic pollution across the planet, countries have put in place mechanisms to control
or ban the use of plastic products, for example, the Environment Protection (Banning
of Plastic Bags) Regulations 2020 and Environment Protection (Control of Single Use
Plastic Products) Regulations 2020 in Mauritius and Law No. 8/2020 on Measures for
the Reduction of the Use of Plastic Bags in Sao Tome and Príncipe. 66 In Chile, the
national management strategy for marine litter and microplastics 67 leverages
sustainable consumption and production with the aim of reducing, recovering and
preventing the release of 40 per cent of marine waste and microplastics by 2030.
32. Of the 7.3 kg of electronic waste produced per person per year, only 1.7 kg is
managed in an environmentally sustainable way, with e-waste generation expected to
reach 9 kg per person by 2030 (indicator 12.4.2). 68 The annual rate of growth in
e-waste recycling will have to increase 10-fold to reach full recycling rates by 2030
(indicator 12.5.1). 69 Countries are working to address these challenges, including
through the multilateral work on e-waste under the Basel Convention. In Jordan, the
waste sector green growth national action plan for the period 2021–2025 includes 16
investment preparation, demonstration and enabling policy and institutional reform
actions, including the implementation of a pilot extended producer responsibility
programme for e-waste. 70

B. The 10-Year Framework as the implementation mechanism for

Sustainable Development Goal 12 and sustainable consumption
and production

33. Adopted in 201271 and extended in 2021, 72 the 10-Year Framework is a global
commitment to accelerate the shift towards sustainable consumption and production
everywhere, with developed countries taking the lead (see table). The One Planet
network implements the Framework by facilitating collaboration between over 850
partners from Governments, the United Nations system, civil society and the private
__________________
64
One Planet network, Sustainable Development Goal 12 hub; see also progress on Goal 12 by
target, “Target 12.3: food loss and waste”, available at https://sdg12hub.org/sdg-12-hub/see-
progress-on-sdg-12-by-target/123-food-loss-waste; and “Target 12.b: sustainable tourism”,
available at https://sdg12hub.org/sdg-12-hub/see-progress-on-sdg-12-by-target/12b-tourism.
65
Available at https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2021/Goal-12/.
66
Available at www.oneplanetnetwork.org/knowledge-centre/policies/law-n-82020-measures-
reduction-use-plastic-bags-sao-tome-and-principe.
67
One Planet network, “Marine litter and microplastics national management strategy (Estrategia
nacional para la gestion de residuos marinos y microplásticos)”, 9 February 2022. Available at
www.oneplanetnetwork.org/knowledge-centre/policies.
68
See E/2021/58.
69
Ibid.
70
Jordan, Ministry of Environment, Waste Sector: Green Growth National Action Plan 2021–2025
(Amman, 2020).
71
A/CONF.216/5 and General Assembly resolution 66/288.
72
General Assembly resolution 76/202.

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sector to elevate best practices and scale up and accelerate the transition to sustainable
consumption and production.
34. Countries engage directly with the 10-Year Framework, including through the
network of 140 country-nominated national focal points, or through one of the six
thematic programmes that convene partners, share best practice, develop resources
and implement projects with a focus on sectors and enabling conditions. By bringing
together initiatives and partners across the globe, the programmes build synergies,
leverage resources towards a common objective and advocate for, scale up and
replicate successful practices, which have been reported annually to the high -level
political forum on sustainable development.

Table
10-Year Framework programmes and their leads

Programmes Programme leads

Programmes with a sectoral focus

Sustainable Buildings Finland (Ministry of the Environment)
and Construction
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
Programme
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Sustainable Food Costa Rica (Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock)
Systems Programme
Switzerland (Federal Office for Agriculture)
World Wide Fund for Nature
Sustainable Tourism World Tourism Organization
Programme
Spain (Secretariat of State for Tourism, Ministry of Industry, Trade and
Tourism)
France (Ministry for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition of France)
Programmes addressing enabling conditions
Consumer Information Germany (Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation,
Programme Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection)
Consumers International
Indonesia (Ministry of the Environment and Forestry)
Sustainable Lifestyles Japan (Ministry of the Environment and Institute for Global
and Education Environmental Strategies)
Programme
Sweden (Ministry of the Environment and Stockholm Environment
Institute)
Sustainable Public China (Environmental Development Centre, Ministry of Ecology and
Procurement Programme Environment)
ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability
Netherlands (Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment)
UNEP

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C. Progress on the implementation of the 10-Year Framework as

measured through policy action on indicator 12.1.1

35. Target 12.1 calls for the implementation of the 10-Year Framework. Indicator
12.1.1 is the “number of countries developing, adopting or implementing policy
instruments aimed at supporting the shift to sustainable consumption and production”.
The Framework’s national focal point network is engaged each year to report on
target 12.1 and indicator 12.1.1. The following sections highlight the main findings
from the 2021 official reporting campaign, with a focus on policies.
36. In 2021, 83 policy instruments supporting the shift to sustainable consumption
and production were reported by 26 countries, bringing the total number of policies
developed, adopted and/or implemented to 438, as reported by 59 countries and the
European Union between 2019 and 2021. 73 The 2021 reporting cycle also saw 1,031
new resources, news articles, projects and events added to the database of over 6,500
such items. Trends related to implementation and uptake are described in the
following sections.

Figure I
Countries reporting policies related to indicator 12.1.1, 2019–2021 and 2017 pilot reporting

Disclaimers:
The present map covers countries that reported policy instruments aimed at supporting the shift to sust ainable
consumption and production between 2019 and 2021 under indicator 12.1.1 . Countries that took part only in
the 2017 pilot reporting exercise on the indicator are indicated in light yellow.
The present map does not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat
concerning the legal status of any country, territory or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the
delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
__________________
73
Previous reporting on indicator 12.1.1 reflected country submissions as part of the 2017 pilot
reporting exercise and official reporting of 2019–2020. The 2017 pilot reporting exercise was a
methodological exercise to verify and revise the indicator. Methodology and data collection
processes have since improved. The secretariat of the 10-Year Framework has engaged with
Member States, through national focal points, to confirm and either resubmi t or remove policies
reported in the pilot exercise. Based on these efforts, the secretariat is confident that the relevant
information from the pilot reporting has been captured in subsequent reporting cycles. Therefore,
the 2021 reporting on indicator 12.1.1 does not include information collected through the 2017
pilot reporting exercise, but rather focuses on the confirmed national data submitted from 2019 –
2021. Twenty-six countries have not reported beyond the 2017 pilot reporting exercise.

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Figure II
Overall regional distribution of official policies related to indicator 12.1.1 reported by
10-Year Framework national focal points, 2017–2021

37. The world is making consistent progress in creating policies and institutional
frameworks for sustainable consumption and production. About 31 per cent of all
10-Year Framework activities involve implementing sustainable consumption and
production projects and policies. 74

Figure III
Readiness and implementation of all 10-Year Framework activities

Resources 36%
Readiness

Outreach 33%
Implementation

Project 20%

Policy 11%

D. Sustainable consumption and production uptake is unequal across

regions and development categories

38. Between 2019 and 2021, 79 per cent of policies reported were from high-income
and upper-middle-income countries, 0.5 per cent were from low-income countries and
only 7.7 per cent were from least developed countries, landlocked developing
countries and small island developing States. Countries with special circumstances,
despite being committed to sustainable development, have limited means to

__________________
74
The activities in the implementation category are less than previously reported because the
methods for reporting have been revised, while new reporting protocols have meant that the
sample size is increased. This has led to new trend lines.

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implement sustainable consumption and production projects, including as a result of

constraints related to access to finance, technology and capacity.
39. Policy submissions from Europe and Central Asia dominated the portfolio
during the 2019–2021 period, at about 53 per cent of the total. Compared with a year
earlier, the total number of policies reported by the end of 2021 had increased by more
than 70 per cent in Africa (from 24 to 41), including first-time reporting from
Morocco and the Democratic Republic of the Congo; 24 per cent in Asia and the
Pacific (from 70 to 87, largely driven by policies reported by the Philippines); and
150 per cent in the Middle East (from 2 to 5). Reducing the gap in the uptake of
sustainable consumption and production policies presents an opportunity to
strengthen the implementation of sustainable consumption and production at the
country level.

Figure IV
Policy distribution by region, 2019–2021

1. Continued prioritization of the environmental and economic dimension of

sustainable consumption and production over its contributions to well-being
40. Having been especially affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and with limited
resources, developing nations can reap multiple benefits by shifting to sustainable
consumption and production. The environmental benefits have been recognized, with
about 77 per cent of policies citing a link to Sustainable Development Goals related
to climate (Goal 13), oceans (Goal 14), land (Goal 15) and water (Goal 6). Of these,
59 per cent of policies cited a link to climate action. A focus of sustainable
consumption and production on resource efficiency follows suit, with Goal 9 being
relevant to 46 per cent of official policies reported. Some 63 per cent of overall
10-Year Framework activities (excluding policies and projects) were aimed at having
an impact on material use, waste management, greenhouse gas emissions and energy
use, while 24 per cent of the One Planet network’s activities were aimed at affecting
environmental outcomes related to air, soil and water pollution; water use; and
biodiversity and sustainable land use.

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Figure V
Relevance of policies to Sustainable Development Goals other than Goal 12

41. While the environmental benefits of sustainable consumption and production

are well recognized, there is a “social gap” in terms of the linkages of officially
reported policies to well-being outcomes, including those related to poverty
(Sustainable Development Goal 1), inequality (Goal 10), peace and justice (Goal 16),
hunger (Goal 2), health (Goal 3), education (Goal 4) and gender (Goal 5), with only
44 per cent of official policy submissions noting their relevance. Of these, Goals
closely linked to the thematic work of the 10-Year Framework programmes on
Sustainable Food Systems, Consumer Information and Sustainable Lifestyles and
Education (Goals 2, 3 and 4, respectively) account for 37 per cent of the total, which
could indicate a positive correlation between Framework efforts and the closing of
the sustainable consumption and production “social gap”. Only 32 per cent of policies
noted relevance to decent work and economic growth (Goal 8), and only 11 per cent
of overall One Planet network activities were aimed at having an impact on inequality,
health and decent job outcomes.
42. Transitions towards sustainable consumption and production must be ena bled
by a focus on equity and human rights to avoid the costs of short-term impacts on
certain sectors. 75 It is no comfort to know that the transition to sustainable
consumption and production will create more jobs than it eliminates if one’s own job
is the among those eliminated. Policies that support workers and communities to adapt
and benefit are essential. The benefits of sustainable consumption and production in
terms of employment, gender equality and well-being indicators must be highlighted
and the “social gap” closed.

__________________
75
World Economic Forum, Global Risks Report 2022, 17th ed. (Geneva, 2022).

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2. Trends related to high-impact sectors unchanged by the implementation of

sustainable consumption and production
43. More than 70 per cent of reported policies are aimed at implementing
sustainable consumption and production measures in relation to three high-impact
sectors: food systems (agriculture and fisheries, and food and beverages), cited in
49 per cent of such policies; consumer goods (47 per cent); and buildings and
construction (34 per cent). These sectors are driving unsustainable consumption and
production, and the efforts to transform them have been insufficient. Further action is
needed to bend the curve on their impacts, which together contribute over 70 per cent
of the world’s total material footprint.
44. Based on a review of United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation
Frameworks and common country analysis frameworks for 16 countries, 76 the
secretariat of the 10-Year Framework found that national economies are analysed
predominantly through a domestic production lens, as opposed to a consumption
footprint approach, in which those impacts are considered across value chains and
borders. Key sectors that drive the socioeconomic development and the environmental
impacts of countries (mainly agriculture, energy, tourism and industry in the documents
analysed) are addressed; however, hotspot interventions and concrete solutions, which
science can help identify, are rarely described. An opportunity exists to introduce
science-based approaches and tools for the prioritization of action within high-impact
sectors and value chains to shape national-level policies and actions towards resource-
efficient and people-centred economic development.
45. The 10-Year Framework has advocated for and adopted the value chain
approach 77 recommended by a task group comprising the One Planet network and the
International Resource Panel that was convened in 2020 and 2021 to catalyse science -
based policy action on sustainable consumption and production. Armed with a
science-based understanding of where and why the impacts of production and
consumption systems occur, stakeholders can develop relevant and impactful sectoral
policies and practices and enable multidisciplinary coordination and collaboration for
the implementation of sustainable consumption and production solutions at the most
critical junctures of the production and consumption chain.
46. The benefits of this approach are being tested across different sectors, with the
secretariat of the 10-Year Framework, alongside those of several Framework
programmes, the UNEP Sustainable Infrastructure Partnership, the Global Alliance for
Buildings and Construction, the Green Fiscal Policy Network, the United Nations
Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) and the United Nations Office for
Project Services (UNOPS) coming together to understand what initiatives and
solutions currently exist at different stages of the value chains and to define gaps,
opportunities, interlinkages and trade-offs as the basis for the development of
prioritized objectives for sustainable consumption and production. These consultations
set the stage for coherent and coordinated interventions in those areas in which the
most positive impact is likely to be delivered across the food and construction sectors.

__________________
76
Latin America and the Caribbean (Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago, Mexico and Uruguay);
Eastern Europe (Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Serbia); Africa (Algeria, Ethiopia, Mauritius
and Nigeria); and Asia-Pacific (China, India, Indonesia and the Philippines). The secretariat of
the Framework will work with the Development Coordination Office to expand this number and
potentially consider 20 countries for concrete interventions. A needs assessment exer cise will be
conducted to assess potential opportunities for implementation and capacity-building.
77
One Planet network, “The value chain approach: identifying key points of intervention for
sustainable consumption and production”, available at www.oneplanetnetwork.org/value-
chains/value-chain-approach.

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47. Taking food systems as an example, policies reported to the secretariat of the
10-Year Framework predominantly target the early stages (production-focused) or the
end stages (consumption and disposal) of the value chain but rarely target the midd le
stages (the activities of food companies, retail and food services), where the structural
power exists to effect real changes in the system. 78 Indeed, based on reporting on the
link between policies and the sectors of the value chain, 79 only between 4 and 5 per
cent of food system policies target distribution and retail or the processing and
transport stages of the value chain. The implementation activities across the One
Planet network reflect this trend, with the middle stages of the value chain indica ted
as relevant only 12.7 per cent of the time.

Figure VI
Stages of the value chain addressed by policies related to agriculture, food
and beverages

Figure VII
Stages of the value chain addressed by policies related to the buildings and
construction sector

__________________
78
UNEP, Catalysing Science-based Policy Action on Sustainable Consumption and Production: The
Value-chain Approach and its Application to Food, Construction and Textiles (Nairobi, 2021).
79
Reporting on value chain stages has only been included as part of the Framework’s methodology
since 2020.

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48. A similar pattern emerges when looking at the buildings and construction sector.
While the majority of impacts occur at the material construction, production and
operation stages of this sector’s value chain, the actors with sufficient influence to
effect change are those operating at the financing and planning and design stages. 80
However, policies targeting this sector have indicated relevance to those areas only
8.7 per cent and 6.3 per cent of the time, respectively. Beyond policies, this trend is
reflected in the other activities implemented by the One Planet network, with only
11.0 per cent and 5.6 per cent of actions in the buildings and construction sector
targeting the product service, design and planning stage and the finance and
investment stage of the value chain, respectively. There exists a real opportunity to
scale up the impact of interventions on the sector if actions are taken to change
behaviours along the stages of the value chain with the most potential for impact.

3. How countries are leveraging circularity as a key approach to achieving the

shift to sustainable consumption and production
49. The importance of circular economy approaches as key to sustainable
consumption and production was recognized by the United Nations Environment
Assembly of the United Nations Environment Programme in its resolution 5/11 on
enhancing circular economy as a contribution to achieving sustainable consumption
and production. Since 2019, 36 policies that include references to circular economy
in either the title or the policy objective have been reported by national focal points
from 25 countries (1 policy from a country in Africa, 5 policies from 5 countries in
the Asia-Pacific region, 23 policies from 13 countries in Europe and Central Asia,
6 policies from 5 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, and 1 policy from
1 country in North America). The policy submissions reported to the 10-Year
Framework do not reflect the existing circular policy frameworks that countries have
not reported on as part of indicator 12.1.1. Most circularity policies reported to the
Framework had been adopted by European countries. By adopting circular econo my
road maps and national strategies, however, countries in Latin America, including
Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru, are demonstrating the validity and
increasing relevance of circular economy approaches to industrializing and
developing economies. In 2018, Colombia launched its national circular economy
strategy, which has six key strategic areas related to (a) the material flow of containers
and packaging, (b) water flows, (c) sources and flows of energy, (d) biomass flows,
(e) the material flow of buildings and (f) the material flow of industrial materials and
mass consumption products.
50. The African Circular Economy Alliance, a government-led coalition of African
nations and global partners, is committed to advancing circular economy approa ches
in Africa. 81 Members include Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria,
Rwanda, South Africa and the Sudan. In Asia and the Pacific, China has long taken
the lead in the implementation of circular economy policies and principles in its
economic development. The Global Alliance for Circular Economy and Resource
Efficiency aims to provide a global impetus to initiatives related to the circular
economy transition, resource efficiency, sustainable consumption and production, and
inclusive and sustainable industrialization. 82
51. Despite progress in this area, developing countries still require capacity,
technical and financial support to effectively assess the benefits of and implement
appropriate policies for a circular economy. In the climate agenda, around 27 per cent
of countries identify circular economy strategies as part of their nationally determined

__________________
80
UNEP, Catalysing Science-based Policy Action on Sustainable Consumption and Production.
81
Available at www.afdb.org/en.
82
European Commission, Directorate-General for Environment, “EU launches Global Alliance on
Circular Economy and Resource Efficiency”, 22 February 2021.

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contribution mitigation commitments. 83 There is a tendency for these strategies to

focus on waste management and recycling policies rather than on a life cycle or design
approach. Policymakers have called for increased capacity-building, peer exchange
and learning, as well as tools to develop and implement circular economy policy
instruments to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. 84

III. Beyond the decade: a global movement for achieving

Sustainable Development Goal 12 by 2030
52. Progress on sustainable consumption and production continues to be limited.
Results achieved to date, while showcasing localized positive impacts, have been
unequal, diffuse and not at the scale, speed and scope needed to implement the
transformational shifts required. The following sections provide a retrospective look
at the practices that have been developed and shared through the 10-Year Framework,
and include recommendations for policymakers.

A. Sustainable consumption and production as a system influencing

socioeconomic, climate, biodiversity, pollution and waste outcomes

53. Single-issue solutions that are not coordinated are likely to fail when efforts are
made to address the shift to sustainable consumption and production, which is a
complex network of multiple interactions across social, economic and environmental
dimensions. An integrated approach that enables the identification of synergies,
mitigates trade-offs and addresses the root causes of multidimensional environmental
problems can be both more cost-effective and more impactful. 85

1. Integration of sustainable consumption and production into global

sustainability commitments (biodiversity, climate, pollution and waste)
54. The outcomes of regional consultations hosted by the secretariat of the 10 -Year
Framework and a survey with the participation of national focal points under the
Framework and other multilateral environmental agreements have validated the need
for sustainable consumption and production to be connected to such agreements on
climate, biodiversity, chemicals and waste. Despite the well-documented potential of
sustainability approaches to deliver win-win outcomes, sustainable consumption and
production has not been integrated into the implementation mechanisms of these
international agendas. The secretariat of the Framework is developing the tools to
facilitate the integration of sustainable consumption and production approaches
across multilateral environmental agreements.
55. The secretariat of the 10-Year Framework, along with those of the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) (supported by the Netherlands and the Finnish
Innovation Fund Sitra) are developing a joint toolkit that will support countries in
integrating and implementing circular economy measures to reach mitigation targets

__________________
83
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, nationally determined contributions.
Available at https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/nationally-determined-
contributions-ndcs/nationally-determined-contributions-ndcs.
84
UNEP-10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns,
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and United Nations Development
Programme, Toolkit for Circular Economy and NDCs (forthcoming).
85
UNEP, Making Peace with Nature: A Scientific Blueprint to Tackle the Climate, Biodiversity and
Pollution Emergencies (Nairobi, 2021).

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set in their nationally determined contributions and build climate resilience as a way
to increase the ambitiousness of such contributions.
56. Also on climate integration, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the
Travel Foundation and Tourism Declares launched the Glasgow Declaration on Climate
Action in Tourism86 at the twenty-sixth session of the Conference of the Parties to the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, with more than 450
signatories agreeing to increase their climate ambitions. In the Declaration, signatories
expressed their support for the global commitment to halve carbon emissions by 2030
and achieve net zero as soon as possible before 2050, to develop or update climate
action plans within 12 months of becoming signatories, to align their plans with five
pathways, to report publicly on progress made and to work collaboratively.
57. The 10-Year Framework’s consumer information programme in 2021 launched
“Sustainable consumption for biodiversity and ecosystem services”, 87 a report
summarizing the state of knowledge on the impacts of consumption patterns on
biodiversity and ecosystem services and providing recommendations for policy
action. The programme also set up a working group on biodiversity communication,
which has launched an online toolkit supported by the Federal Agency for Nature
Conservation and the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and
Nuclear Safety of Germany through a research and development project implemented
by Adelphi Research and the Öko-Institut. The toolkit is designed to inform, inspire
and activate users by empowering them with knowledge to transform their
consumption habits.
58. A series of three online exchanges on food systems and the post-2020 global
biodiversity framework was co-convened by the Sustainable Food Systems Programme,
together with the Alliance of Biodiversity International and the International Centre for
Tropical Agriculture. The exchanges built consensus on the need to consider sustainable
food systems as a fundamental tool to halt loss and restore biodiversity, with a view to
achieving Convention of Biological Diversity objectives.
59. The historic agreement at the resumed session of the fifth United Nations
Environment Assembly on the formation of a legally binding treaty on plastics is an
opportunity to integrate sustainable consumption and production and circularity to
transform the drivers of plastic pollution, with a view to its elimination. The One
Planet Network-Wide Plastics Initiative 88 gathered experts from UNEP and the
Consumer Information, Sustainable Public Procurement, Sustainable Lifestyles and
Education, Sustainable Food Systems and Sustainable Tourism programmes to
develop solutions that address plastic pollution, which are reflected in the
forthcoming One Planet network report on plastics. 89 The report is in response to
Environment Assembly resolution 4/6 and focuses on plastic packaging at the use
stage of the value chain and how consumption choices can trigger changes across it.
60. The above are only a few examples of how the 10-Year Framework is advocating
for and driving the practical integration of sustainable consumption and production
as a key solution space for the challenges of climate, biodiversity and pollution. The
Framework, multilateral environmental agreements and United Nations entities must

__________________
86
See www.oneplanetnetwork.org/sites/default/files/2022-02/GlasgowDeclaration_EN_0.pdf.
87
Federal Agency for Nature Conservation and Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature
Conservation and Nuclear Safety of Germany (Bonn/Berlin, 2021). Available at
www.oneplanetnetwork.org/knowledge-centre/resources/sustainable-consumption-biodiversity-
and-ecosystem-services.
88
One Planet network, “One Planet launches network-wide initiative on plastics”, 1 November 2019.
89
See www.oneplanetnetwork.org/value-chains/plastics.

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continue to collaborate to develop tools and resources and to support their uptake and
implementation at the national level.

2. Going beyond technical fixes to implement systemic interventions

61. Awareness has grown with regard to the systemic nature of sustainable
consumption and production and how it relates to other priority international
environmental and sustainability agendas, as well as the multiple benefits across sectors
and issues that solutions related to it can afford. This has elevated the implementation of
and practices related to sustainable consumption and production from a focus on
historically technical and single-issue resource efficiency issues to include an
examination of systemic solutions across the life cycle of goods and services.
62. The Sustainable Food Systems Programme has been championing a systems-
based approach since its launch in 2015. A sustainable food systems approach,
explained in the publication “Towards a common understanding of sustainable food
systems: key approaches, concepts and terms”, is one that “considers food systems in
their totality, taking into account the interconnections and trade-offs among the
different elements of food systems, as well as their diverse actors, activities, dri vers
and outcomes. It seeks to simultaneously maximize societal outcomes across
environmental, social (including health) and economic dimensions.” 90 The United
Nations Food Systems Summit was a major moment for sustainable consumption and
production in food systems, leading to over 110 countries developing national
pathways for the transformation of food systems by 2030. The Programme and several
of its members made key contributions to this event. It also kicked off an initiative
focused on the role of the multi-stakeholder mechanisms of national and subnational
food systems. 91 The report analyses such mechanisms with a view to understanding
how they are designed, how they function, who participates, what works and what
doesn't and how they are contributing to transitions towards sustainable food systems.
63. Other 10-Year Framework programmes have embraced a systems lens in
developing programmatic guidance documents. The Sustainable Public Procurement
and the Sustainable Food Systems programmes joined together in 2021 to launch an
interest group on sustainable food procurement, co-led by the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and ICLEI-Local Governments for
Sustainability. By carefully integrating the impact of the food they purchase into
procurement decisions, public authorities can significantly contribute to supporting
environmental improvements, nutritious diets and producers.
64. Another example of such collaborations is the Transforming Tourism Value
Chains project, 92 through which main hotspots in the tourism value chain were
identified and concrete targets set for the accommodation sector in the Dominican
Republic, Mauritius, the Philippines and Saint Lucia. An accompanying tool is
helping over 100 businesses to measure, report and reduce their environmental
impacts, including on waste, food, energy, water and greenhouse gas emissions.
65. The potential to replicate these collaborations is being explored across the
10-Year Framework programmes through a series of written reports (comparison
briefings). It is hoped that these comparisons will help identify commonalities to
accelerate the shift to sustainable consumption and production, and to variations with
added value that should be supported.

__________________
90
www.oneplanetnetwork.org/knowledge-centre/resources/towards-common-understanding-
sustainable-food-systems-key-approaches?msclkid=083840c9ae7511ec887a84224c0e9cea.
91
www.oneplanetnetwork.org/knowledge-centre/resources/national-and-sub-national-food-systems-
multi-stakeholder-mechanisms#section-supporting-documents.
92
See www.oneplanetnetwork.org/value-chains/transforming-tourism.

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B. Leaving no one behind: launching a just and inclusive global

movement on sustainable consumption and production

66. To ramp up and scale up implementation of the 10-Year Framework, those

countries which have thus far been left behind in transitions towards sustainable
consumption and production must be engaged to aim for universal implementation of
the Framework. There is no “one size fits all” solution. Developed countries should
take the lead in this regard, as per Sustainable Development Goal 12. However, the
clear gap between developed and developing country uptake and implementation (due
to, among other things, issues of access to financial and human resources,
environmental technologies, and capacities) has implications for the global gains in
resource efficiency and material use, and their attendant environmental and social
impacts. Future action for sustainable consumption and production must ensure that no
one is left behind, by amplifying national-level support and implementation, including
through intensified collaboration across United Nations entities and by providing
platforms for global partnership on actions for sustainable consumption and production
supported by approaches to instigate behavioural changes among stakeholders.
67. A truly inclusive and global movement must be built on the foundations of
national actions. To this end, the secretariat of the 10-Year Framework invites all
Member States to nominate or reconfirm their national focal points, who are an
essential link between global action and national implementation.

1. Working as one United Nations to bring sustainable consumption and

production to the national level
68. Two key challenges to universal implementation of sustainable consumption and
production are a lack of financial resources and a lack of support for implementation
at the national level. The 10-Year Framework’s multi-partner trust fund is designed to
address these challenges by mobilizing resources for the implementation of
sustainable consumption and production projects at the national level in collaboration
with United Nations entities. The two projects of the trust fund each focus on one
resource-intensive sector: UN-Habitat, UNEP and UNOPS are jointly implementing a
project on Sustainable Development Goal 12 resource-efficient housing in Burkina
Faso and Sri Lanka, while FAO, UNEP, UNWTO and UNDP are working in Uganda
and Brazil on a project on promoting sustainable food consumption and production
patterns through integrated tools, advocacy and multi-stakeholder action. While the
two projects have paved the way for stronger collaboration across agencies, funds and
programmes, it will be important to secure funding for the continuation of activities
beyond 2022.
69. The Sustainable Development Goal 12 hub 93 was developed in collaboration
with the United Nations entities 94 that serve as custodians for Goal 12 targets. It is the
official monitoring and reporting platform for the Goal and is the central location for
accessing official government reporting on Goal 12 indicators, allowing Member
States and other users to browse progress on the Goal by country or by individual
target at the global, regional and national levels. The hub links to existing knowledge
platforms, databases, networks and communities of practice through which
stakeholders can engage, become inspired and share solutions. This initiative is part
of broader inter-agency collaboration to streamline methodologies and processes
across the indicators of Goal 12, in line with requests to the Secretary-General (see

__________________
93
Available at https://sdg12hub.org/.
94
One Planet network, Sustainable Development Goal 12 hub, “Who is behind the Hub?”.
Available at https://sdg12hub.org/sdg-12-hub/custodian-agencies.

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resolution 72/279) to ensure accessibility and transparency to increase reporting rates

across Member States and close the data gaps on the Goals.
70. Launched by the 10-Year Framework, the UNEP Life Cycle Initiative, the
International Resource Panel and scientific partners at the Vienna University of
Economics and Business and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research
Organization, the hotspots analysis tool for sustainable consumption and production 95
provides information on the past 25 years of environmental and socioeconomic
performance in 171 countries, using science-backed evidence to identify “hotspots”
of unsustainable consumption and production practices. The tool uses a consumption
footprint perspective, allocating the impacts of resource use to the final user, and thus
enables users to understand how production and consumption can influence
socioeconomic and environmental impacts across the whole life cycle of goods and
services. The tool has been applied in Argentina (where it was used to develop the
national strategy on sustainable consumption and production), Bhutan, Côte d’Ivoire,
Kazakhstan and Senegal, and is being applied by UNDP in the context of nationally
determined contributions.
71. Since the official release of the tool in 2019, the demand for technical support
and capacity-building has been growing to exploit its full potential in the design and
implementation of science-based national strategies. In response, UNEP, the 10-Year
Framework and the Life Cycle Initiative, in collaboration with the regional economic
commissions, are establishing a network of scientific partner institutions (Regional
Science Partners for SCP), with the objective of strengthening the science-policy
interface, including through the uptake and mainstreamed application of the tool in
various countries.
72. The secretariat of the 10-Year Framework is taking note of these and other best
practices related to sustainable consumption and production to develop the United
Nations toolbox for Sustainable Development Goal 12. The toolbox will consolidate
tools, including those on circularity, in an easily accessible database a nd promote
their uptake at the national level through the United Nations country teams. The
Framework took the first steps in the development of the toolbox in 2022, in close
cooperation with the United Nations custodian entities of Goal 12 targets, as wel l as
the entities contributing to the Framework’s multi-partner trust fund.

2. Mobilizing and supporting global multi-stakeholder movements for action

73. The ambition and breadth of the Sustainable Development Goals and sustainable
consumption and production make them unattainable without robust partnerships and
funding. Action at the nexus where business, Governments and other actors come
together can generate solutions to solve the greatest challenges of the present time. A
strengthened partnership is needed among stakeholders, and also between United
Nations entities, to ensure that scarce resources are directed towards the most high -
impact interventions with potential for multiplier effects across the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development.
74. Under the 10-Year Framework, global commitment mechanisms have been
launched to spur large-scale action. The Global Tourism Plastics Initiative, led by the
Sustainable Tourism Programme, UNEP and UNWTO, in collaboration with the Ellen
MacArthur Foundation, brings to the table tourism sector actors with over $43 billion
in annual revenue to tackle plastic pollution, with 115 signatories in 2021. Signatories
commit to a set of ambitious and actionable targets concerning the elimination,
recycling and reuse of plastic products, and to disclose progress on their actions. More

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95
Available at http://scp-hat.lifecycleinitiative.org.

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than 108 million plastic items and packaging were eliminated in 2020, representing
804 tons.
75. The World Green Building Council, a partner of the Sustainable Buildings an d
Construction Programme, has launched the updated Net Zero Carbon Buildings
Commitment, which recognizes leadership by businesses, organizations, cities and
subnational governments in tackling operational and embodied carbon emissions
from the building and construction sector. The Commitment builds on deep
collaboration across the value chain; radical transformation in the way buildings are
designed, built, occupied and deconstructed; and new business models that promote
circularity, reuse of buildings and materials, and ultimately a shift away from fossil
fuels.
76. The Circular and Fair ICT Pact, launched in June 2021 under the Sustainable
Public Procurement Programme and the leadership of the Netherlands, in
collaboration with the Governments of Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Norway,
Switzerland and the United Kingdom, is an international procurement-led partnership
to accelerate circularity, fairness and sustainability in the information and
communications technology (ICT) sector. By enabling the use of common, accessible
procurement criteria, and by providing guidance and facilitating knowledge -sharing,
signatories leverage their collective procurement power to effect change and
innovation in the ICT sector.

3. Using best practices to support behavioural change across sectors

77. Over the past decade, best practices have emerged based on the types of policies
and actions that have proven most effective in the shift towards sustainable
consumption and production. Attention now needs to be directed to ramping up those
actions that have the most potential for wide-scale transformative change while
delivering the most benefit to all. The 10-Year Framework programmes have
developed several gold-standard tools and initiatives that set the benchmark for
action.
78. The Consumer Information Programme’s Guidelines for Providing Product
Sustainability Information continues to be the most downloaded resource of the One
Planet network. They provide businesses and labelling organizations with guidance
on how to make effective, trustworthy claims to consumers on product-related
sustainability information. In 2021, the Programme published a report entitled
“Policy instruments on product lifetime extension”, 96 which points to the need for
more policy attention to the design and use phases of products to reduce waste.
79. Options exist in every sector (energy, land use, industry, urban, buildings and
transport) to reduce climate emissions by at least half by 2030. 97 Changes to consumer
demand and lifestyles are essential, and can bring down global emissions by 40 to
70 per cent by 2050. 98 Actions taken at the individual level, including shifts to
renewable energy and changes in diet, could quickly cut emissions. 99 The Sustainable
Lifestyles and Education Programme has launched a series of publications based on
inclusive consultations under the project on envisioning future low-carbon lifestyles
and transitioning instruments. The project co-developed low-carbon lifestyle
pathways in line with the Paris Agreement by engaging citizens in workshops,
household experiments and scenario-building in six cities: Cape Town, South Africa;

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96
Available at www.oneplanetnetwork.org/sites/default/files/from-crm/ple_policy_instruments_
report_final.pdf.
97
Pörtner and others, “Summary for policymakers”, in Climate Change 2022.
98
Ibid.
99
Ibid.

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Kyoto and Yokohama, Japan; New Delhi; Nonthaburi, Thailand; and São Paulo,
Brazil.100
80. The Sustainable Lifestyles and Education Programme also formed a working
group on behavioural science, which conducted a survey and found that while there
is interest in and appetite for implementing behavioural change strategies as part of
sustainability initiatives, only 25 per cent of organizations leveraged such strategies
for change. The Programme is working on developing further initiatives in this
regard. 101
81. The second edition of the Sustainable Public Procurement Implementation
Guidelines outlines best practice in the design and implementation of sustainable
public procurement policies. The Guidelines give advice on setting up and
strengthening a country’s long-term work on sustainable public procurement and are
also intended to be a point of reference and inspiration. 102

C. Inspiring action on sustainable consumption and production

through enhanced science, monitoring and reporting

82. Monitoring and reporting on sustainable consumption and production is critical

to identify emerging trends and strategic gaps, demonstrate the benefits of such
consumption and production, replicate innovative and impactful practices, and foster
collaboration. Setting common objectives and systematic data collection supports
prioritizing, planning and communicating results and mobilizing support based on
implementation gaps and stakeholder needs. The 10-Year Framework developed the
“indicators of success” framework to guide and measure, in a participatory way, the
collective impact of the shift to sustainable consumption and production. The
Framework is intended to reflect key milestones in the global shift to sustainable
consumption and production, primarily as supported by the Framework.
83. Progress has been made in the classification of indicators used to measure
progress on Sustainable Development Goal 12. The work of the Sustainable Public
Procurement Programme on the development of the methodology for reporting on
indicator 12.7.1, on the number of countries implementing sustainable public
procurement policies and action plans, and the launch of formal reporting in 2020,
have enabled the reclassification of the indicator composite index into tier II by the
Inter-Agency Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators. Submissions
were received from 40 national Governments and 39 subnational gov ernments.
84. An enhanced 10-Year Framework online knowledge and monitoring platform
was launched in 2021, including the updated One Planet network website
(www.oneplanetnetwork.org), a new data management system and an improved user
interface for data collection and dissemination, including a policy database 103 and
dynamic country profiles. 104 The refreshed digital infrastructure strengthens the
Framework’s ability to monitor the shift to sustainable consumption and production
and to identify and communicate strategic trends, gaps and impactful tools and
solutions. Based on this work, 3,323 tools and solutions have been uploaded, with

__________________
100
Ibid.
101
One Planet network, “Behavioural science for sustainable organisations: experiences and best
practices in behaviour change” (2021).
102
UNEP, Sustainable Public Procurement: How to “Wake the Sleeping Giant” – Introducing the
United Nations Environment Programme’s Approach (Nairobi, 2021).
103
Available at www.oneplanetnetwork.org/knowledge-centre/policies.
104
Available at www.oneplanetnetwork.org/country-profiles.

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78,000 downloads of publications and resources and over 25,000 unique monthly
visitors to the website.

IV. Acting together for the future that we want, and that future
generations deserve
85. Sustainable consumption and production approaches offer a message of hope to
stakeholders wanting to take action to reach global climate, biodiversity, pollution
and well-being goals. Tried and tested science-based policies and practices that
promote a shift to sustainable consumption and production, inclusive and
multisectoral partnerships, and the momentum of a global movement for change can
ensure that the global community does not miss the window of opportunity to effect
real and lasting transformations so that societies and economies can thrive.
86. With only eight years to go to achieve the global 2030 sustainability goals, now
is the time to build on practices that have worked and to scale up coordinated and
high-impact action in those sectors and stages of the value chain that have the
potential to change our current sustainability trajectories, especially in high -impact
sectors such as food, the built environment and consumer goods and services,
including tourism. The 10-Year Framework has the potential to serve as an accelerator
of Sustainable Development Goal 12 and other related Goals, and to aggregate, learn
from and catalyse the numerous small efforts across its network into a larger
movement with greater impact.
87. The extension of the mandate of the 10-Year Framework highlights the
importance that Member States place on sustainable consumption and production wi th
regard to achieving the overall 2030 Agenda. The importance of sustainable
production and consumption was recalled in the ministerial declaration adopted by
the United Nations Environment Assembly at its resumed fifth session and underlines
the relevance of the Framework mandate. To ramp up and scale up implementation of
the Framework, a key pillar moving forward must be the concerted effort to engage
those countries which have thus far been left behind in shifts towards sustainable
consumption and production and to aim for universal implementation of the
Framework. To that end, the Board of the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on
Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns 105 and the group of friends for
sustainable consumption and production are developing, based on consultations
across high-impact sectors and in partnership with Framework stakeholders, an
ambitious vision for multilateral and multi-stakeholder cooperation on sustainable
consumption and production to guide programmatic work up to 2030.
88. The 10-Year Framework and the One Planet network invite all Member States
and stakeholders to engage in this global drive. Together we can act for the future that
we want, and that future generations deserve.

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105
The members of the Board for 2022–2024 are Costa Rica (Co-Chair), Croatia, Kuwait, Mauritius,
Pakistan (Chair), Senegal, Sweden and the United States. There remain two vacant seats (Eastern
European States and Latin American and Caribbean States).

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