1. IES / IEEP Environmental Policy Forum
Sustainable Consumption & Production Action Plan:
Some comments based on preliminary results
from the ASCEE research project
24 October 2008
Katja Biedenkopf

2. ASCEE Research Project
Assessing the potential of various instruments for sustainable consumption practices and greening of the market
February January 2009
1st step: Identification of innovative approaches to SC policy
2nd step: In-depth analysis of 9 case studies
3rd step: Policy recommendations
Focus on sustainable consumption as opposed to production
1st step: - about 80 semi-structured interviews - representatives from public administrations, NGOs, industry and academia - All EU Member States, plus Norway, Switzerland - Aim was not a comprehensive overview but rather obtaining an idea of what new approaches there are being discussed and applied
2nd step: - After assessment of identified policy instruments, 9 case studies of particularly interesting approaches were chosen for in-depth analysis - 3 categories of policy instruments: making SC easy, raising awareness, creating markets
3rd step: - Currently working on final report based on ASCEE internal reports, workshop held in May, desk research - Aim of final report is to provide policy recommendation based on our findings - My comment today is based on the preliminary policy recommendations

3. Partners
Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IÖW), Berlin & Heidelberg
National Institute for Consumer Research (SIFO), Oslo
Institute for European Studies (IES), Brussels
Next slide is preliminary policy recommendations

4. Preliminary Recommendations (I)
General:
Understand SC as policy field in its own right
Organisational / structural level:
Flexible role for public administration
Appropriate multi-stakeholder approaches
Suitable institutional framework
Quickly go through the preliminary policy recommendations
Understand SC as a policy field in its own right. And design policy in response to modern consumption patterns - Include the entire consumption cycle: purchase, use, disposal - SCP has two sides of the coin: (1) one is efficiency improvements of products etc. (2) the other, equally important, one is changes in consumption patterns / reductions in consumption levels
Flexible role for public authorities: regulator & facilitator
Appropriate multi-stakeholder approaches: encourage business & civil society engagement in SC(P)
Suitable institutional framework: - Clear responsibility for SC in public administration, maybe a central department in charge of assisting all other departments in policy-making (UK behaviour change unit) - interdepartmental cooperation - setting of objectives and targets for SC (also to give guidance to private business etc.)

5. Preliminary Recommendations (II)
Policy instrument level:
Adaptable
Evidence-based
Environmental & social sustainability
Monitoring & dissemination:
Common indicators
Dissemination of successful approaches
Instruments should be adaptable to changes in technology, behaviour etc.
Sound data on products and on behaviour is needed to design effective policy. LCA data but also social science data.
Although ASCEE focused on the environmental dimension of sustainability, we asked interviewees about the social dimension. The social dimension seems often to be neglected, less well developed. But it should, of course, also be addressed.
Common indicators of what sustainable behaviour is and how it can be measured is important to guide policy and to measure its success/failure. - Example: sustainable eating: number of overweight people, market share of organic products etc.
Dissemination and diffusion of successful approaches amongst EU Member States and globally is important.
Next slide: SCP Action Plan
Based on these preliminary findings and policy recommendations, I would like to provide brief comments on the SCP Action Plan to start the discussion.

6. SCP Action Plan Stakeholder involvement
Public administration as regulator and facilitator
Flexible / dynamic policy instruments
Focus on products and supply side
Focus on consumer information tools
I start with the attributes of policy instruments and policy-making.
The importance of stakeholder involvement seems to be recognised and pushed forward by the Action Plan. The Eco-design Directive has a strong stakeholder involvement element and also initiative like the Retailer Forum.
The dual role of the public administration as regulator and facilitator seem partially addressed. GPP aims at creating markets for sustainable products and facilitate market penetration of green goods.
Dynamic elements can be detected in the Ecolable (flower). It is a front runner label (top 10%). And also in the benchmarking element of the Eco-design Directive and eco-innovation.
But from a SC point of view the main criticism the the Action Plan could be that it focuses very much on products and the supply side.
“Smater consumption” featured in the list of core elements of the Action Plan but the policy measures proposed only include consumer information as SC policy and otherwise only indirect measures that improve the efficiency of products. - SC policy has more elements to it than only more efficient consumption. It is also about changing behaviour and life-styles. - Blind spots of the Action Plan but also SC policy in Member States that we looked at: habits, context, infrastructure. SC is about enabling consumers and about addressing consumption patterns. - There is a risk of a rebound effect. If more efficient appliances are used additionally to the old ones, are used more often than the old ones or if consumers buy more products.
Information alone does not change behaviour. - Provision of information is important but not enough. Consumption is shaped by habits and routines. It requires more to change it. - Behaviour change requires enabling of consumers to be sustainable and changing of attitudes. - Windows of opportunity / critical events in life (when routines are broken up: retirement, child birth, job change etc.) - Influencing consumption behaviour should also consider social and symbolic aspects of consumption.

7. SCP Action Plan What is needed for better SC policy?
Consideration of consumer abilities and opportunities to consume sustainably
Great evidence base, need for data on consumption behaviour and patterns to effectively change consumption
Maybe two lessons that could be drawn from the ASCEE project:
Consumer abilities and opportunities to consume sustainably has to play an important role.
More data is needed on behaviour and consumption patterns in order to design effective policy. Because after all, we might need a more radical change and more innovative ideas - maybe like this one:

8. Innovative Solution?